We talked on Sunday about the need for us to meet our desire for more life by learning to stop and delight in life, to drink life in, to “taste and see that the Lord [and the life God gives us] is good.” When we find the grace and delight that is at the heart of all Creation, it helps us to recognize that all of Creation is united by grace and delight.
Richard Rohr talks about that in terms of mysticism in The Naked Now. He writes, “Do not let the word ‘mystic’ scare you off. It simply means one who has moved from mere belief systems or belonging systems to actual inner experience.” As an example, Rohr talks about three different ways of viewing a sunrise. With your ‘first eye’ you can see and enjoy the sheer physical beauty of the event itself - and that is a good thing to do. But that does not fully get at the kind of inner delight we are talking about. With your ‘second eye’ you can see the physical beauty of the first eye while also being able to explain - thru reason, thru scientific understanding of the rotation of the earth, thru knowledge of the refractions of light as the sun approaches the horizon - exactly what is happening. But still, that does not lead us into the deepest delight. It is only when we can see more deeply thru the ‘third eye’ that we move beyond mere seeing and mere explaining to tasting the experience, leading us to stand “in awe before an underlying mystery, coherence, and spaciousness that connects [us] with everything else.”
Rohr goes on to write something that seems especially appropriate, not only for this series, but for the time in which we currently find ourselves: “One wonders how far spiritual and political leaders can genuinely lead us without some degree of mystical seeing. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that ‘us-and-them’ seeing, and the dualistic thinking that results, is the foundation of almost all discontent and violence in the world. It allows heads of religion and state to avoid their own founders, their own national ideals, and their own better instincts. Lacking the contemplative gaze, such leaders will remain mere functionaries, without any big picture to guide them.”
In all that we experience, one key to becoming soul-centered is to see things more deeply. For the deeper we see the more we recognize our connection with everything and everyone around us.
Prayer: Lord, help me see… and know… and delight. Amen.