Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Holy Encounter

When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter.  As you see him, you will see yourself.  As you treat him, you will treat yourself.  As you think of him, you will think of yourself.  Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself.   ...from A Course In Miracles.
  

Loving all of it:  Trash.  Heartache.  Wishing-it/this-were-different.  Love encompasses the messed-up as well as the possibilities.

It is not easy for me to love trash.  Litter literally sends me off the deep end.  My pockets are always full of stuff I pick up, from fish hooks through plastic bags.  There is a lot of trash in between, let me assure you.  Martyr I am not:  I grouse and grumble and write scathing horrible rants.  Oh, and I complain.

Now, I have started taking photos of everything that I see.  A miracle moves into the viewfinder, up my nose, and voila!  I'm in love.  Maybe not rhapsodising; I mean how gorgeous is a mattress and box springs thrown into a houseless 1900 cellar with last year's Xmas tree?
I admit, the little graffiti guy is just kinda cute.  Something happens in there, framing the scene in front of me brings focus.  With the focus comes new awareness.  

Old stuff, garbage, whatever... shifts with conscious seeing.  In 1970ish a book came out called "The Zen of Seeing" (I just went and picked it off the shelf: 1973 to be exact, AND I paid $3.45 for it!!!).  The author quotes Meister Eckhart, "The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me."  Spirit living within me is in this with me!  Today I look gently upon the day, and all that this day holds.

xoxoLC

2 comments:

Sorrow said...

I love the quote and the whole concept, and like yourself, i grumble a lot when picking up trash, OR even worse when i have to go repair foot paths and bridges that bored drunk adolescents have destroyed for no apparent reason.
Grrrrr.
but you never know when your going to meet the Buddha in the road, and that Buddha could be you!

Annie Jeffries said...

You have perfectly shown us how the backside of anger is beauty and joy and insight and ...and...and... You get my drift. What was once ugly, you have made beautiful. Not pretty by any means, but beautiful for sure.

 
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