Running. With a Mystical Moment.

~ Live & Learn

parec simon

The eyes pan the green carpet of the unmarked plots at the Spring Grove Cemetery. Geese feed silently, showing their respect. The Police station is to my left. The Public Library in front. And there’s four miles of track ahead.

I slow my pace.

The eyes are drawn to the flock of Canada Geese.  It’s a large flock, fifty or so.

The eyes spot a difference. I’m awed at how the eyes can hone in so quickly on “what’s off.” I begin to hum the Sesame Street jingle: “One of these things (is Not like the others).” (Your mind works in mysterious ways, friend. Wow.)

She’s limping, badly. Her children, late season goslings, furry now, trail behind her.  Their necks are all down, pecking at seeds, the grass.

It’s been a week now and the image remains fresh.

Was it a car that hit her?  Or was it a scar from fleeing from the clutches of a predator? A hunter’s bullet grazing her webbed foot?  Or was she simply born lame? There’s no emergency room for repair. No splint or cast to heal.  No morphine to cut the edge. She limps. She lives. She protects her family.

And it’s Sunday. And your morning sermon doesn’t come from the inside of a Church, or from a person of Cloth, but from a Book.  This Agnostic is deep into his readings of Thomas Moore and his teachings of creating a personal religion. It’s as if he opened this chapter speaking to me:

“DK, listen up.  Open The Book to Chapter 2, page 39, titled: ‘The Natural Mystic’. And, now, let us pray”:

Anyone can be an ordinary mystic…you may be lifted out of your body and become lost in a beautiful piece of art or a scene in nature…Brief experiences of sublime absorption, as ordinary as being struck by the brilliant blue of a cloudless sky, may contribute to your sense of being religious…Ordinary absorption, being seized by an activity or a sight or sound, qualifies as a small mystical moment when it takes us beyond, to a place carved out by wonder and amazement…the mere sight of suffering can be the beginning of a deep journey of questioning and wonder…The edges become softer…Religion begins in the sensation that your life makes sense within a larger one, that you and the animals have a bond, that the trees and rocks and rivers are to the body of the world as your bones and hair and bloodstream are to your body. You understand, at least in some primal way, that your happiness depends on the happiness of the beings around you.

The edges become softer…

Our kids tease me by parroting my enunciation of “hold” when I see a puppy, a bunny or kitten or birdie or….

“I want to hooooold it”

My thoughts roll back to Mother Goose and her family feeding in some green field somewhere, and I smile. Here it comes:

“I want to hooooold it”

Steps: 12,046.

Nap Time.

Posted Inspired by Albert Schweitzer:

We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.

~ Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization

Notes:

 

 

36 thoughts on “Running. With a Mystical Moment.”

  7. Coming to understand that we are part of the larger picture, a small speck in Nature’s vast array, and yet, at the same time our actions have import, we *can* make a difference within our little ‘biosphere,’ for good or for ill. Appreciating, respecting, observing, acting…the delicate dance we engage in.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. And I thought I was the only one who incorporates the “One of these things is not like the other” song into my adult life. Quite frequently, as a matter of fact. Please sign me up for the Ordinary Mystics club. I have been lifted out of my body and lost in the beauty of the world while sitting on a soccer sideline, as well as on a daily basis in my own back garden. Thanks Dave!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. I love the Schweitzer quote. I have always been bonded to the animal and plant kingdoms since I was a child. I am so glad you took your attention to the injured goose – for in so doing, I am certain your focus was as good as a prayer for her. From one ‘agnostic’ to another, it’s all god or none of it is. Mumbled prayers and incantations have the feel of utter detachment, to me. Separating oneself from the Mystery by viewing it as ‘above’ one’s own abilities to access same within does little to effect intention. So blessings to you, David – enjoy your ramblings. And reading Moore is good for a person 😉 I also conducted radio interviews with forward-thinking authors for 9 years. And though we didn’t talk on-air, I somehow recall Marsha Sinetar’s Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics to be a good read, as well. Aloha.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. It materialized already, David, in your words and the aftermath you created , in the comments. I’m seeing a new side to everyone that I haven’t before.
    And from a third ‘agnostic’, I love what Bela said, “It’s all God, or none of it is.”
    I’ve encountered ‘God’ in nonbelievers/doubters more than I ever did in all others combined.

    You have created a community here.
    So beautiful.
    Leadership + Artistry + Mysticism
    It does take all that.
    🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I’d love to say that I know enough about agnostics to comment. But, I don’t and that’s quite okay because your words are beautiful and mine are mostly about God…yet, we both read the others’ and are moved. Surely, there’s a bigger thing than us that set us on the other’s path.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Being agnostic (or in my case, an atheist), means we are always on the look-out for that mystical experience. At least that’s what it means to me. Finding it in the connections to our Fellow Travelers, in small kindnesses, in that feeling of time slowing for a moment to SEE or to HEAR, I transcend.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply