Shining Spirit

Consider that we are in the midst of an horrendous pandemic,
the political world is in shambles,
racial tensions are palpable,
and it is only a short step from anxiety to angst.
Might any or all of this contribute to the Green Board outside a local abandoned facility,
a Green Board expressing anonymous public sentiment?

Here are some of the pressing issues on peoples’ minds:
Build more houses — economics
This too shall pass — hopefulness
Save the trail — ecology
No rezoning — community
Eat wildlife — Survivalism
The USSR will rise — international relations (?)
Josie + Cora — personal
This is shite — a Brit, no doubt.  It rhymes with “height”

But the message written in the biggest letters, signifying its overarching importance:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change” — religion/spirituality
What needs to be added to the Green Board is the line that follows the request for Serenity:  “God grant me the Courage to change the things I can.”
We all want Serenity, but we desperately need the Courage to obtain it.

But Reinhold Niebuhr’s idea isn’t complete without his third and final statement:
“God grant me the Wisdom to know the difference.”
Wisdom is life’s balance found in a spiritual consciousness of The Sacred,
The Other, The Unnamable.

1. It used to be a pile of rocks
2. It didn’t make itself
3.  Somebody had a dream
4. The dream became the design
5. The design shaped the stone
6.  The hand of the artist placed each stone
with precision and patience
7.  Behold, the Mosaic
And it is good
No, make that beautiful

MAY YOUR DAY BE WONDER-FILLED.
LOOK FOR BEAUTY.   LIVE IN THE MOMENT.
BE GLAD.

Serene
Perfectly manicured
Graceful
Sorry, but this isn’t life.
Life is strength and pain, laughter and tears, joy and sadness,
births and deaths, success and failure, health and sickness,
and more.
That’s a far cry from serene and perfectly manicured.
But in spite of everything that happens on this
roller coaster ride, Grace is present.
Grace as Presence
Grace as Love
Grace as Gift
Sufficient Grace that invites our hearts to sing
At least to hum
Come on, you can do it

I can’t decide whether to write about life’s pieces joined together, or
the need for perserverance, or patience, or how much I dislike
jig-saw puzzles.  But during this Covid captivity, these puzzles have
saved my sanity.  And, quite to my surprise, I like putting them together.

Why are we hestitant to try new and different things?
Jig-saw puzzles, possibilities, the way we regard people.
I think it’s because I’m lazy.  Lazy.
It’s hard work to put the puzzle together,
It’s hard to put the pieces of life together
because that takes courage, open-mindedness, and
the release of long held certainties.

Just so you know, there are two more birds waiting
to appear in the puzzle.  Beautiful colors.
But they won’t come to life unless I put the pieces
together…and that will take patience,
perserverance, and the willingness to carefully
study each piece to see its uniqueness and
its value in the overall picture.

Would that we could regard every human being
with the same patience, value and importance in the
great picture of life.
But, isn’t that the way we have agreed to live?
Isn’t that who we are?
Isn’t that The Way?

Isn’t Welcome a nice word!
Welcome to my home…
Welcome to my heart…
Welcome into my world…
Welcome to The Way that makes sense
and paints the world in the brilliant colors of hope.
Welcome without hesitation, merit, reputation
to the Presence who knows your heart
and loves you anyway.
Welcome to your real home, the place from
which you came and the place to which
you will return.
Isn’t Welcome a nice word!

If I were to tell you that the photograph was taken during the
Bighorn blaze in the Catalinas, would the colors be less beautiful?
Nature seems to be neutral to feeling or emotion.  It is the
interpretation that ascribes beauty or ugliness.
It is how one sees.  As the song lyric suggests:
“Everything is beautiful in its own way…”
So, how do you see the world around you?
Is it filled with turmoil, tragedy, terror?
Even with its scars, is not the inherent beauty
our sign of hope?
Do not surrender hope that is grounded in beauty
that is the gift of Creation.
Don’t let life take away your Life.

Now, this is a big test for St. Francis.  History says he loved
all the animals, but he probably never met a large
green rabbit, or a multi-color lizard, or even a
rusty bullfrog.  Just run-of-the-mill antelopes and
aardvarks, and an occasional wombat.

If he had met these three beautifully different,
unique creatures he would have cared for them
as part of the grand creation of life.  Size doesn’t matter.
Color doesn’t mean anything.  A place in the animal
social order?  No, Francis saw each one as lovely
as the other.  Some of us look at the three and think they’re weird.
He thought they were beautiful.
Do you have to be a saint to love all sacred beings?

There is a bird flying around somewhere and he’s missing a feather.
But, that’s not a big deal, is it?
Ornithologists, my big word for the day, report that preening and
plucking feathers is a big advantage for the average bird.  The
process releases a fine oil that aids in flying, and
the bird knows that in order to get a new feather,
an old feather has to go.  Is there something wrong with an
old feather?  Not really.  But the new feather is strong and
anchored deeply for smooth and safe flight.  In that
sense, the new is better than the old.
Make no application to human beings.
Having said that, I know some old birds that
would be better served with a few new feathers.
The old ones have served their purpose, or there have
been improvements in the newer model, or society has
moved on and old feathers don’t match the flying requirements
of the day.
Preening is painless and a new feather or two might just do
the trick in a time when we all need to fly a little higher.

Let him who has ears (and old feathers) listen…

Traffic patterns.  Patterns to make a new dress.  Patterns of speech.
When I watch my favorite TV detective shows, police officers
are always looking for a pattern of behavior in order to catch the criminal.

A few days ago it occurred to me that I look for patterns, too.  That explains why
I take pictures of a pile of rocks, or tree leaves, or cloud formations.  The
object is of interest, but it’s the pattern that catches my eye…design,
shape, form.

In the photo above, the sunlight through the tree is striking, and the tree, itself,
has an interesting form and shape, but it’s the pattern of light and dark on
the street…the shadow…that causes me to stop and pay attention.  Brilliant
light coming through the impressive tree produces an eye-catching beauty
that is here for a moment and then gone.

Do you feel a metaphor coming on?
You and I are here for a moment in time, the blink of an eye in relation to
planets and stars, and during that flicker of human life, we have chosen to let
a powerful light shine through us.  The pattern cast from the Light is a reflection
of who we are and to whom we belong.

“Let your light shine…” Yes, but it’s not “your” Light or “my” Light.  It is the
Light of Creation, filtered through our leaves and branches, casting a shadow
that is beautiful to see.  Patterns of hope, love and charity are produced
when we allow the Light to flow through us.