(Audio version of the following reflection)
Sometimes it hits me what a mystery all of this is…moments when I step out of ‘normal’ life and feel a wave of just how vast it all is and how little we know of what’s really going on. It would probably be frightening, except that so often in those moments I have felt a deep sense that whatever is going on is pulsing with Love.
And then the moment fades and I’m back inside the story of my life, lost in some worry or daydream.
How interesting that this unfathomable mystery lies hidden in plain sight, just beneath the surface of our ‘ordinary’ lives. We move through our days, struggling with what challenges us, enjoying what delights us, and paying the bills, barely aware of anything else. So much of the time, life doesn’t feel vast or mysterious or pulsing with Love. It feels plain, or boring, or hard. Sometimes really hard.
But the mystery is there. And the mystery is here. Right now, as I write this. Right now, as you read this. It’s sitting in the corner smiling, waiting for you to stop rushing long enough to notice. Or not. How funny how little it seems to need our attention. Sometimes I wonder if we’re not meant to notice it. Maybe we’re supposed to just be lost in our stories; characters in the play.
And yet, we have the ability to pause and see more. And there is such peace in the pausing. Such freedom in knowing we are far more than just our worries and daydreams and dramas; and the world is far more than just its challenges and delights and bills. So for a while, I rest here, smiling back at how, noticed or not noticed, this ‘mystery’ quietly holds our lives.
In case it’s helpful, here’s the link to my Substack Homepage where you can find all of my posts.
Christian mystic Cynthia Bourgeault uses the language of quantum physics to describe us as both discrete particles and waves. This post calls to my mind that in our ordinary daily existence, we are particles: discrete bundles of organs, skin, thoughts, hopes, worries, and needs. Every so often, though, if we tap into the wider source of love around us, we can be like waves radiating and receiving divine energy across the realms.
So happy that Ian Jr. is doing so well and is starting at CU! And yes, those small moments of recognition of something beyond the normal - little miracles.
We have spotted towhees all day long on our bedroom window bird feeder!