I recently went river rafting in Colorado. It was a hot July day and my raft had five people plus a guide. At first I was nervous, not having rafted since college, which was 17 years ago. Luckily for me, however, I was rafting with a beginner’s group and there were several small children in other rafts that were going along with us. This made me feel more comfortable and equipped to handle whatever rapids lie ahead.
Soon into our float downstream I noticed how much less effort we all had to exert than I thought. It wasn’t that we were trying to keep the raft straight the whole time, because it did inevitably turn around several times anyway, but even just navigating around the boulders was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.
It was here that I recalled the teachings of Abraham. I remembered that when you simply allow the river to take you forward, it will. You do not need to force it and you do not need to fight it. You simply need to relax. Less is more. When I looked up at our guide, who truly was doing the bulk of the navigating anyway, I noticed how calm he was. And after a while, his confidence became contagious.
During this time in my life, I was reading A Course in Miracles. And Jesus was the master teacher I was learning from. When I thought about having Him as my Guide, I felt such peace come over me. I related it to the rafting trip, because without this guide, I would have felt very scared going over those rapids alone. But he took care of us. He told us when to paddle and how to paddle. Then he commented on the beauty of the landscape and directed our attention to the things he knew we wouldn’t want to miss while we were here.
All of a sudden, the idea of surrender became so clear to me. Not that it wasn’t important before, but having a direct experience of not being in control and noticing how well our guide took care of us, made me realize the importance of having a guide in our own daily lives. When we surrender and accept help, we become more empowered and understand more deeply that things don’t have to be done all on our own. I was so appreciative to our guide, who taught me through his actions that life is so much easier and more enjoyable when you can put your trust in another.