The Way of the River for Flute and Piano by Rhonda Larson

Program notes:
If life is in the “river of living water”, then we must be like leaves floating on its surface. Sometimes we traverse the blissfully smooth, glassy waters, while other times we are catapulted into whitewater – we might even turn the bend and hit a rock! In the end, though, I believe the analogy teaches something about “surrender”, which inevitably implies that you can only surrender to something larger than your own self, or your own understanding. Call it God, call it Mystery, as it is both. This surrender is the very thing that will bring one to the peaceful state that follows: gratitude. As the monk David Steindl-Rast says, “it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy!” Life is just such a practicing of this wise little gem. May you joyfully surrender yourself to the Way of the River. – Rhonda