It occurs to me…

 

I was listening recently to a podcast interview of Claudia Rankine, an author who writes a lot on racial issues and other issues that divide us.  She does a lot of book tours and speaking, and so is picked up and driven by strangers to and from airports.  On this she noted:

“I am often being driven by people who are not me, and I spend a lot of time thinking about how can I say this so that we can stay in this car together and yet explore the things that I want to explore with you.”

On that line, “how can I say this so that we can stay in this car together,” the interviewer, Krista Tippett noted – “that should be a national motto for us.”  Indeed, thinking on that it occurred to me, literally and figuratively, that we all seem to be driving alone in our cars these days, and when we seek company, it is the company of people who look, think, talk, and act like us.  Often, when we choose to speak in response to others speaking, it takes on a divisive “my way or the highway” tone clearly not geared to the thought that “we can stay in this car together.”

Anyway, I like that thought, the thought of managing conversation “so that we can stay in this car together” and learn something about each other as people, perhaps focusing on what we have in common as opposed to what we don’t.

“Strive for peace with everyone….”  Hebrews 12:14

 

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”  Marcel Proust

It occurs to me that this “having new eyes” is akin to Paul’s statement in Romans 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  It is when we filter observations through the mind/heart/soul that we go beyond seeing.

It seems to be a fairly low risk approach.  I mean, much of what I see with my “current eyes” is pretty disturbing and concerning.  What can I see today through “new eyes,” with a renewed mind?

Cleaning up in my room at home, I came across this from Joan Chittister, which is as fresh and applicable as the first time I read it years ago:

“Life is very short.  To get the most out of it, we must begin to attend to its spiritual dimensions without which life is only half lived.  Holiness is in the Now but we go through lie only half conscious of it, asleep or intent on being someplace other than where we are.  We need to open our eyes and see things as they exist around us. What is valuable and what is not, what enriches and what does not, what is of God and what is not.”

Amen.

From a song by Stephen Kellogg – Prayers:

“Every unkind thing we say leads to our unhappiness.”

To that I might add — Sometimes immediately, sometimes, over time, but indeed, always.  If not them, then us.

 

Photo was one of those “oops” photos taken, I guess, as I have no memory of taking it.  I do know, from my phone, that it was taken in Portland.

“[W]e are all here to grow in wisdom and learn how to love better.  As we each do this in our own ways, we slowly become a blessing to those around us and a light in the world.”

Rachel Remen

 So much is packed in here.  I am not here to be wise in an absolute sense, none of us are.  We are just to “grow in wisdom,” to be a little wiser today than last week, last month, last year.  The same thing with love, I just need to love better.  Baby steps, so far so good.  But then there is the recognition of the source of much frustration, we “each do this in our own ways,” and to make it worse, we do so “slowly,” in our own time.  So, I have to not only be patient with myself as I (hopefully) grow in wisdom and love, but with others also.  Only then can I/we “become a blessing to those around [me]us and a light to the world.”

Lord-o-mighty, no one told me it was going to be this difficult!

 

From Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata:

“[W]hatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.”

So much is captured in these 16 words:

“Whatever your labors and aspirations” – Not “if you have any.”  We all have them.  Different ones, yes, but we all have “labors and aspiration.

“In the noisy confusion of life” – A recognition that life is both noisy and confusing.  My experience certainly validates that.

“Keep peace with your soul” – Keeping peace is difficult.  Keeping peace with others is difficult, and at times, aspirational.  But most important is keeping peace with yourself, your soul.

What comes to mind here is Guy Clark’s song, The Cape, and its great chorus:

“He’s one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith.  Spread your arms, hold your breath, and always trust your cape.”

Perhaps “keep peace with your soul” and “always trust your cape” are guiding us in the same direction – the direction that is Clark’s last line:

“He didn’t know he couldn’t fly – so he did.”

More on “must be present to win,” at least sort of:

An old Hebrew prayer:

“Days pass and years vanish and we walk sightless among miracles.  Lord, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing.  Let there be moments when your Presence, like lightning, illuminates the darkness I which we walk.  Help us so see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns, unconsumed.  And we, clay touched by God, will reach our for holiness and exclaim in wonder, “How filled with awe is this place and we did not know it.”

Sad but true – “we walk sightless among miracles.”  This weekend, walking the neighborhood, I was listening to a podcast talking about the wonders in our everyday lives, and the person being interviewed used trees as an example.  This caused me, for the first time in this walk, to gaze up at the tree above me.  She was correct.  I took this picture.

Sometimes, “we walk sightless among miracles,” at others, we recognize “how filled with awe this place is.  Photo attached.

Sitting down at my desk to type this morning I noticed out my south-facing window that things outside had this unique, calming, pinkish tint to them.  I pondered that a moment before the dots connected, then looked to my left (east) to see a magnificent sunrise over the roof of the house next door.  As Homer Simpson would say – Doh!  It is so easy to miss that which surrounds me, either miss it completely, or miss its significance.  This brought me to the title of one of the things I read this morning, a phrase we have all heard countless times in relation to contests – “Must be present to win.”

It occurs to me that the phrase applies not just to contests, but to life also – “MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN!”  Note to self: Doh!  Don’t be a Homer.