Water Under the Bridge

water under the bridge: Something in the past that cannot be controlled or undone, but must be accepted, forgiven, or forgotten.

If you want a true visual of what "water under the bridge" means, you merely have to look at any moving body of water in the area and see how the rain has pushed the flow into high gear.

The origin of the phrase actually comes from the ancient Greek Heraclitus, who said, "You could not step twice into the same river." The river is ever changing because of the flow of the water, the river is never the same a second later. In other words, what happened in the past should stay in the past. People can change and become better persons.

Forgive and forget. That's water under the bridge.

Or is it?

After church today I went to my nephew Tony, who is eyeing up his release next month after serving time in prison and participating in a correctional facility guided treatment program of sorts. With each visit over the past 2 years, he has been more positive, more honest, more goal-driven, more like his true self. He is so close to being done with this stage, but there is a long road (or river) ahead.

Freedom comes with many strings attached. Rules to follow. And a general re-entry into society. That may be the hardest part.

While we can't entirely dismiss the seriousness of some of his actions, I sure hope people recognize how serious he is about learning from those, moving forward and not repeating them.

His focus right now is inspiring. It has been a privilege to have been a part of his journey and a witness to his transformation. We realized today that it was probably going to be our last visit in a setting where we sit with a table between us, under the watchful eye of security guards. That's OK. We know our paths going forward will be intertwined.

Thankfully, the water he was treading in the past has moved under the bridge and down river and been replaced by water flowing in a new direction.

I pray it is mostly smooth sailing.