The Gift of Surprise

During this period of wandering, I have found immense pleasure in walking along the river Thames, following its curves and contours, soaking in the sense of its gently moving stillness.

Spending time by this great river has reminded me of the beautiful poem 'Fluent' by John O'Donohue:

I would love to live

Like a river flows,

Carried by the surprise

Of its own unfolding.

One of the beautiful things that I have discovered in these first few weeks of wandering is that the more open I become, the more I am able to invite into my life the life-giving gift of surprise.

In his brilliant reflection about surprise and gratitude ('Giving Thanks for All the Little (and Big) Things in Life'), the monk David Steindl-Rast writes:

Have you ever noticed how your eyes open a bit wider when you are surprised? It is as if you had been asleep, merely day-dreaming or sleepwalking through some routine activity, and you hear your favorite tune on the radio, or look up from the puddles on the parking lot and see a rainbow, or the telephone rings and it's the voice of an old friend, and all of a sudden you're awake. Even an unwelcome surprise shakes us out of complacency and makes us come alive. We may not like it at first, but looking back, we can always recognize it as a gift. Humdrum equals deadness; surprise equals life. In fact, my favorite name for the One I worship in wonder - the only name that does not limit God - is Surprise.

The great rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel made a similar point when he said:

I would say about individuals, an individual dies when he ceases to be surprised. I am surprised every morning that I see the sunshine again. When I see an evil act I'm not accommodated. I don't accommodate myself to the violence that goes on everywhere; I'm still surprised. That's why I'm against it, why I can hope against it. We must learn how to be surprised. Not to adjust ourselves. I am the most maladjusted person in society.

Since coming to London, I have been surprised time and time again. I've been surprised at internal shifts and transformations happening within me, bringing new emotions and desires to the surface to be tasted and explored. I've been surprised to hear the wonderful news of an unexpected victory in the Supreme Court for some courageous friends of mine who risked their liberty to make a stand against the greed and corruption of the arms trade. I've been surprised by the joy of meeting new people (including a date!) and having alive and exciting conversations that have taken me into new terrains of thought and feeling.

It doesn't matter whether a surprise is small and fleeting, like being taken aback by the smell of honeysuckle as you walk past a beautiful garden, or big and profound, like the moment it suddenly dawns on you just how terrifyingly absurd it is that we wrap everything we eat in single use plastic. Every surprise is a gift and can be welcomed in as a wise teacher, viewed as an invitation to embrace reality more intensely, received as a reminder to live our lives ever more fully!

With each day of this wandering, I am learning what it means to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding. 

I wish the same for you!

Photo by Johannes Plenio from Pexels