Life
on Earth
“Life
on earth is whole, yet it expresses itself in unique, time-bound bodies,
microscopic or visible, plant or animal. So, there is no one place to be. There
can be no one way to be, no one way to practice, no one way to learn, no one way
to love, no one way to grow or to heal, no one way to live, no one way to feel,
no one thing to know or be known. The particulars count.”
Jon
Kabat-Zinn
It’s
surprising how many of us think in black and white. I have a small box of acrylic
paints—thirty-six colors in all, and black and white are only two of them. I
have jonquils poking up through last year’s dead leaves, at least three varieties.
In my neighborhood, there are maple, oak, pecan, dogwood, crepe myrtle, pine,
hickory, redbud, poplar, and magnolia trees—and probably a few I am forgetting.
There’s every kind of dog—from Great Dane to mutt-Liza, and a multitude of multicolored
feral cats. There are too many bird species to list here, but the crows are
hands-down my favorite because like me, they run their mouths all the time. You
catch my drift, I’m sure—there exists in this one small neighborhood, in this
one medium-sized city, a wide variety of lifeforms, and I didn’t even list shrubs, fungi
and mushrooms. Or insects--I left them out on purpose. The earth is teeming with life—all of it diverse, abundant, and
magnificent.
We know
that humanity originated somewhere in Africa and changed in size, shape, and
color as we migrated out of that area to inhabit almost the entire globe. We
are all one species even though we may be drastically different in appearance,
in lifestyle, and in cultural traditions. As we marched along, we wove a human
tapestry across the planet, with as much variety as the trees and the
birds. We are as diverse as my box of paints, and all of us are unique, interesting,
and beautiful, and thank God, we come with a vast array of interests and talents.
We all
have a purpose and a niche to fill—one that is particular to us. Jon Kabat-Zinn
says, “Perhaps the most ‘spiritual’ thing any of us can do is to look
through our own eyes, see with eyes of wholeness, and act with integrity and kindness.”
If each of us brought our unique gifts, and gave freely from our abundance, without
withholding or feeling afraid of not having enough, this would be a world filled with hope and possibilities. The table is big. There is room for everybody.
Including you and me.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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