Today I cried. I cried for myself, for those in pain and for all those like me who hold onto the hope that life on Earth could be free of suffering and the sadness it births.
So many hurt by the ravages of war and violence, the deprivation of famine and the loss of the safety and security that home and homeland used to provide. So many others are reeling from the loss of a beloved or the realization that with or without loved ones they are alone to face life challenges and find their way out of the cellar of sadness.
Many reading this may well identify.
My human personality has been struggling with this for quite some time. The trap for me, and maybe for you, is that my coping has been misdirected. My attention has been focused on the humans inhabiting the Earth and not the beauty and perfection of the Earth and the Universe within which it is suspended.
I recently picked up a small flower that had fallen off one of the plants in my garden. I was transfixed by its beauty and reminded of the brilliance and perfection that is visible in creation. It is all around us – the Divine expressing Its perfection in nature.
I instantly felt the calming influence of this remembrance.
I realized that I have no expectations about nature, no silent hopes that it will meet my needs as I do for some of the important people in my life. The only futile exception is my hope that Bambi and her friends would not devour the plants in my garden.
With this realization, I connected what I know in my head with the sadness in my heart.
The route out of the cellar of sadness is to accept that not everyone realizes that they are a morsel of the Divine and without this awareness they can not be expected to act as if they are.
You will however benefit from taking note of the myriad examples of the Divine manifesting Its perfection that are right in front of us – the beauty of flowers, snowflakes, raindrops, butterflies, dragonflies and hummingbirds, the sophistication and order within an ant colony, the predictability of the tides, sunrises and sunsets and the lunar cycle, the cooling effect of a breeze, the power of lightning and the magnitude and brilliance of the Universe.
In the future, I plan to focus more on where the Divine’s perfection manifests. It is everywhere in nature so I will not have to look far. All I will have to do is remind myself not to look in the same places that It has failed to show itself. It will someday, just not now and I for one don’t have exhaustive patience.
Joanne
