Reverence
“When we
experience ourselves as one small part of nature, we feel reverence.
Zen teaches that we should feel reverence for all beings no matter
how insignificant they might seem. From the enlightened vantage
point, we should appreciate everything equally, from the most basic
and small to the most complex and vast. Each has the whole reflected
within.” C. Alexander
& Annellen Simpkins (Simple Zen)
Everyday, when I walk
Liza, we pass one special tree—an oak tree among many oaks. It is
not a very big tree, nor in any season other than fall, particularly
eye-catching. But this oak is different; it has these funky, furry
cups atop the medium sized acorns. I don't know what kind of oak it
is, and it doesn't matter—I'm intrigued with these perfect cups. I
cannot pass without picking up a few to bring home. They conjure up
memories of childhood, when my cousin, Sandy, and I made fairy rings
and used acorn cups as little dishes. Doesn't every girl-child play
such games?
I heard on NPR yesterday
that one of the few silver linings in the whole disaster that has
befallen Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is that, with the power
out, children are playing outside, riding bikes and making up games.
Sounds small, but is really huge! Reverence, you see, is nature
based. It is fueled by our relationship to the world around us. We
need that reverence to lift us out of indifference and reconnect us
to the heartbeat of life.
In Soul to Soul
Meditations, Gary Zukov wrote, “When reverence becomes central
to the human experience the exploitation of all forms of Life by the
human species, including the exploitation of humans by humans, will
cease.” Can we even imagine such a day—no human trafficking,
no killing of endangered species, no forced labor, no child soldiers
or little girl sex-slaves. When you read that, can you even wrap your
head around the idea that these things are still part of everyday
commerce in the twenty-first century?
The spiritual practice of
reverence for all life is essential to the survival of our species.
We can spend a few hundred years staring at screens, addicted to
technology, and mesmerized into complacency, or we can get out into
the world and learn to love it again. On our walk yesterday, Liza and
I passed a young family who were suiting up in reflective gear, and
putting on helmets in preparation for a bike ride—mom, dad, boy of
about ten, and baby in a tow-along carriage—out for a peddle around
the park. It made my heart happy.
I hope your heart is
happy today. Get outside and soak up the beautiful autumn weather.
Grow in reverence and love for the creation of which you are part.
In the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment