Eyes Open–Eyes Closed

When Shining Spirit: Welcoming the Wonder of Life was born in 2013, I’m not sure I made this point clearly: You don’t have to agree with everything written in the blog, but it would be nice if the reader gave genuine consideration to outrageous ideas. Truth, or spiritual insight, comes from some strange places, but sometimes you have to invite Insight in for a cup of tea and a friendly conversation in order to comprehend what otherwise seems like foolishness or faithlessness. In the give and take, spiritual insight grows like the diverse wildflowers in the field: different but beautiful, simple and sacred. Two entities side by side: we call them flowers that grow from the same earth, breathe the same air, prosper from the same sunlight, welcome the same raindrops and offer their seeds to the same wind. Different but the same.

I have on my bookshelf a picture of a small Buddha statue I saw nestled among flowering plants in someone’s garden. I don’t remember who or where, but I kept it because it reminds me of peaceful serenity, a noble and beautiful goal. As in most depictions of the Buddha, whether statue or painting, the figure’s eyes are closed, a signal that spiritual insight is found deep within one’s self. The meaning of life and the ways to live it are treasures inherent in all living begins, and to find those things, one has to explore deep within. It is there that spiritual wisdom resides and the door is open to anyone who follows that interior pathway.

While I don’t have a picture of Jesus, I do have depictions in pieces of art. It’s unlikely that anyone ever took a Polaroid of the man, so we depend on artistic interpretations. And in those interpretations, I have never seen Jesus with his eyes closed. On the contrary, he says “look and see,” “open your eyes! Wake up to The Presence. Be aware of life around you.” God moves through the world in the creation that was deemed “good” in the biblical stories of creation. One man with his eyes closed, following the interior voice of Creative Love. One man with his eyes open, observing and responding to the visible presence of Creative Love in the world. Dare we say which one is right or wrong? The best I can do is choose the path that calls me and to walk that path with trust and courage. And when I make that choice and set out on the journey, I find myself surrounded by divine diversity, avenues of insight that I never expected or experienced before.

Creation is a magnificent mystery and the wind blows from all directions. My prayer today is that we will let that Divine Breath carry us into and through the Mystery until we encounter the Eternal, eyes open or eyes closed….or both.