Power of Water

A recurring theme in Taoism is water.

Water is a simple substance.

It is humble, because it always flows down. Rather than be above others, water wants to return and connect to its source - the ocean.

Water is also flexible. It conforms itself to cracks and containers.

Because of these traits, water is the most powerful force on earth. It can erode mountains.

Yesterday, I got a reminder of this. One of our friend's upstairs toilet started to overflow and the water, in its single-minded determination to go down, worked its way through their dining room ceiling, down the chandelier and dining table, and ended up working its way into the basement.

Something similar happened to us back in July. The icemaker of our fridge started leaking and we did not discover it until a portion of the rug in our basement got wet.

We thought the basement had a leak, but it had not rained recently. The plumber ended up tracing it back to the fridge.

The plumber respected water - he was not surprised that the water worked its way down in a twisted path. He said that you can't predict how water will flow - it takes advantage of opportunities, and will adjust and take advantage of pipes, openings, etc.

All this is part of the reason that Bruce Lee, the famous martial artist, always said "Be like water"