As seed germinates in fertile soil,
the Seed of Divine Thought
will grow in soul-silence.
Ground yourself with deep roots
in the Great Mystery.
(Nan Merrill)
Happy Spring Dear Friends!
The mystery of new birth and transformation is all around us. The earth which was in a deep winter’s rest, is awakening. You might like to watch this short video from National Geographic featuring time-lapse blossoming of flowers. As you watch, let yourself be drawn in to the astonishing beauty of their unfolding. https://youtu.be/m6Uw2DJ9Md8
When I was young, I lived by this guiding thought: "If I can just figure out what's true, I'll be safe." This worked well enough for many years. I created structures of understanding that gave me purpose and direction. But on our spiritual journey, there is a limit to where our mind can take us. As St. Augustine wrote, “If you think you understand God, it isn’t God." For many of us, a time inevitably comes when we are called to travel beyond the limits of what our minds can understand or imagine. There is often a sense of "something more" that we find ourselves longing for, even if we don't know what that is, or how to get there.
One thing I know is that this journey is taken, one step at a time. As Christine Valters Paintner shares:
“God is never a set of concepts to be understood and grasped, but a relationship to encounter and engage. In this way, the spiritual life is always a journey and in process. We do not let go once and for all, but move through the layers of clinging in our lives until we are living more from our hearts than our minds. We do not arrive, but are always traveling toward the horizon...
This Lent I will fast from the places in my life where I crave certainty and sure outcomes, and release them to the great Mystery. I will celebrate a God who is infinitely larger than my imagination...”
Awe and wonder can carry us into the presence of what Nan Merrill and Christine Valters Paintner call the "Great Mystery." It can be something simple or profound: a tiny spring flower, the birth of a baby, music, birdsong, prayer, a sunrise or sunset... It often surprises us. They are moments of grace. We do not create them, but suddenly some larger space opens, and we are part of it.
Author James Finley describes the experience of such transcendent moments: "We intuit we are in a great presence, which evokes a sense of awe. It is a presence that utterly transcends us...
In this moment you realize that the presence that utterly transcends you is in this moment revealing, sharing, and giving itself as the very presence of you and others and all things. There is no otherness in it.
You belong. There is a feeling of homecoming."
A recent moment of transcendence for me was a trip to Middle Creek Wildlife Area to witness the migration of snow geese. Over the past years of observing them, I've often wondered why I am so deeply moved by these birds. Now, as I consider the Great Mystery, I recognize this yearly viewing as a place of holy encounter. Watching these birds fly overhead, I feel lifted to the heavens with them. They are like angels - white and translucent against the brilliant blue sky - the patterns of their flight like waves in the ocean, undulating in wide arcs across the sky. For me, there is a dazzling sense of sacred communion.
Music: Holy As a Day is Spent by Carrie Newcomer
excerpts from: What is There Beyond Knowing
What is there beyond knowing that keeps calling to me? I can’t
turn in any direction but it’s there. I don’t mean
the leaves’ grip and shine or even the thrush’s silk song, but the far-off
fires, for example, of the stars, heaven’s slowly turning
theater of light, or the wind playful with its breath;
or time that’s always rushing forward, or standing still
in the same–what shall I say– moment.
What I know I could put into a pack
as if it were bread and cheese, and carry it on one shoulder
important and honorable, but so small! While everything else continues, unexplained
and unexplainable.
How wonderful it is to follow a thought quietly
to its logical end. I have done this a few times.
But mostly I just stand in the dark field, in the middle of the world,
breathing in and out...
Questions for reflection: (Please feel free to share in the comments below)
1) What places in your life are you more likely to "crave certainty and sure outcomes" - how might you release them to the Divine Mystery?
2) What helps you enter into moments of transcendence and communion? Is it a place? or an experience?
Prayer:
Sacred Mystery abides within us all. As we develop a deeper connection to the Infinite Source of Life, we learn to love the Mystery and trust the Process of its life in us. We become aware that wherever the journey leads, Divine Presence travels in us, through us, and with us amidst the joys, challenges, and diminishments in our lives. We are never alone!
So in the Silence, may we make room in our hearts, minds, and souls for the Divine Mystery of all life to more consciously unfold in our lives … (Nan Merrill)
Sources:
Finley, James. "Transforming Trauma," Sounds True audio course.
Merrill, Nan. "Lumen Christi...Holy Wisdom: Journey to Awakening." New York: Continuum, 2002, 159. (opening poem)
Oliver, Mary. “What is There Beyond Knowing.” New and Selected Poems. Volume Two. Boston, MA: Beacon, 2005. 6.
Merrill, Nan. "Friends of Silence" Newsletter, October 2007. (closing prayer)
Spring is here and I am reminded God's infinite love and regenerative powers never wane. His love, not my doing or man's doing, fills me with hope for our broken world.