“God willing, and the creek don’t rise.”

There’s an old phrase that hes been rattling around in my brain for a few days.  I’ve heard it a dozen times or so, mostly from an older generation.  It’s a response one might get to a request for help, an invitation to be somewhere, or a query about someone’s ability to do something.  “God wiling, and the creek don’t rise” is a way of saying, “I’ll do what I can” or “I’ll do what is in my power to do.”

What I love most about this phrase is how it reminds us that we aren’t always capable of doing what we would like to be able to do.  Whatever one’s stand on religion, it is a catchphrase that acknowledges that we are not all-powerful.  The unknown, the unexpected, even Nature can interrupt our best intentions.

I know that I can get caught up in things I think I should do, or want to do, or even think I need to do.  But, simply enough, sometimes the unexpected gets in the way.  A flat tire, construction on the highway, illness, or even schedule conflicts can derail the best of plans.  When that happened, I used to get angry, frustrated and upset. It was about control.  It was about my agenda being disrupted.

But when I step back and remind myself “God willing and the creek don’t rise”, well, it helps me to see the circumstances that are thwarting me in a larger perspective.  If the creek rises and you can’t get out of the driveway, there’s nothing you can do to change it, until the creek feels like receding. If it feels like the universe if conspiring to prevent you from accomplishing a certain task, well, sometimes the universe is right.  Patience, resilience, and ingenuity are better mental states than rigidity, frustration, and stubborn determination.