Shining Spirit

I know. Some people don’t like to open a website and have a bug staring at them. But I submit to you that this is a work of art, not a picture of a bug. The anatomy is amazing; the wings are wonderful. Overall, a masterpiece of creative marvel. Do you know how many things are in this world that could rightly be categorized “amazing”? More than that! So, today is unofficially “amazing day” and our assignment is this: Look for the amazing. Note each amazing thing you see in a little notebook or on a simple piece of paper. Be generous; count everything that amazes you. Then, tonight before you sleep, go back over the list and say thank you for each entry. Everything around you qualifies; if you think it is amazing, then it is amazing. One way to remind ourselves that we are surrounded by and immersed in wonder. And, one way to be reminded about the source of all beauty and wonder. Thanks be to God who makes flying bugs and universes upon universes. Notebooks ready? Press on.

I live in a world that values noise.
It must; there is so much of it.
It communicates. It irritates.
It becomes the tolerable backdrop for life
until, purely by chance, I discover
that there is a state of being,
far superior to noise.
It is that moment when
hiking the forest trail, I step into a
dimension beyond word description,
beyond physical parameters. Motionless.
Not even the sound of the world breathing.
No bird song.

No melody of the river.
No leaf crunch under foot.
The marvelous mystery lasts until my
next breath or until I shift my weight
from one foot to the other, snapping the
brittle branch, creating the rolling echo
that races toward a distant star.
If I create noise, which I can,
I call it life. If I create silence,
which I must, I call it sacred.
Perhaps today is your day to
step into that holy place that
is always on the verge of becoming.
You are good at making noise.
Now, make silence.
Be still and know.

Never walk past a burning bush without saying “Hello!” You might hear a response, one that would comfort, challenge, encourage you, and sometimes we need those things, don’t we? Burning bushes are not all that common, so you have to be on the lookout for them, alert to the possibility, conscious of the Sacred as you walk the path. Today, try not to be a point A to point B person, destination driven. Instead, watch for the burning bushes, stand still in the Presence, and listen to your heart. You and I live in the great ocean of spiritual reality. Float. Float as if you are held up by strong, caring arms. As a matter of fact… Press on!