LIFE IS BUT A DREAM
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream;
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
A children’s song from way back when that I learned as a child and some of you older folks I’m sure remember it as well. A simple little melodious song of merriment; At least so I thought until recently when I was having a conversation with a friend about the essence of life. And suddenly I saw the meaningful depth of this frolicking, seemingly simplistic, children’s rhyme.
Time, space and the meaning of life have fascinated people for as long as they have existed, myself included. Beyond being a fun, uplifting song to sing, I saw another more profound intricate declaration of life and our journey through it. Often, I’ve heard references to the “Stream of Life”. And I saw how easily this could be applied here as we travel down the “Stream of Life” through time and space. And our body, as well as our consciousness, is the boat and we are encouraged to travel gently down the stream of life and do it joyfully for it is nothing more than a fading dream; it is not our true reality, not our final destination.
Buddhism calls it Maya, an illusion, a temporal existence. All major spiritual traditions recognize this. Jesus said we were passing through and not to store up earthly treasures that the moth will eat and it will rot and rust but to store our treasures in Heaven where they last forever. Shakespeare wrote that life is but a stage and each must play their part; we enter and we exit. Elvis Presley incorporated this in one of his songs.
So my fellow Pilgrims, as we travel down the stream of life, let us do so as gently as possible with a happy heart knowing that it is but a fading dream and there’s a better world awaiting that will last forever as soon as we wake up. And sing this little song from time to time, as often as you like, as a reminder that you are just passing through and this life is but a dream. Sweet Dreams my fellow travelers, sweet dreams. S. M.