Have you ever sat by a river and watched the mesmerizingly graceful movement of the river grasses, which surrender themselves completely to the flow of the river?

At their base they are firmly attached to a rock on the riverbed. If they were not securely attached in this way, they would be carried away by the current and would perish.

The upper part of these grasses has absolutely no resistance and is thus free to flow in an infinite variety of movements caused by the river’s ever-changing flow pattern.

A similar type of event may be seen while observing various sea grasses, which are attached to the bottom of the sea and move with the gentle currents and tides.

We have something to learn from these grasses. We can learn the delicate balance between discipline and freedom, between routine and diversity, between control and surrender, between tradition and change. Obviously, too much of any of these opposite qualities will create problems.

On the one hand we need to have discipline, routine, control and tradition to give us a security base, a moral base, a sense of inner strength and stability in facing the ever-changing circumstances of life.

Spiritual disciplines such as prayer, concentration, meditation, proper diet, self-analysis, exercises and breathing techniques help to create that centered feeling of an inner stability and inner security.

Then we can feel free to allow ourselves to flow with life, trusting the Divine, life, others and our own selves; free from the fear of being harmed, overcome or swept off our feet.

The greater our connection with our inner security base, the more spontaneous and free we can allow ourselves to be.

We all need to find our own way of connecting ourselves to the spiritual rock within us, so that we may adjust and cope in a more relaxed way with the ever-changing situations and tests of life.

Be disciplined and flow.

(This small “Parable – Model” is one of over 90 to be found in the forthcoming book “Contemporary Parables” by Robert Elias Najemy.)