Finding daily moments of transcendence
When I was growing up I was told that there was only one truth, one story and one pathway in life. Truth was a hard, or perhaps harsh, concept with pointy edges that sliced through falsehoods and paved a delineated path towards correct living. I know this is the story that many people grew up with. This made me quietly judgemental in most situations – nodding my head in agreement with others when they told me their story but internally my reaction was to pity them because I had the truth and they did not.
With a delightful shock I realised later in life that truth is much softer, kinder and more multi-faceted than I had been led to believe.
Truth now comes to me gently, disguised in daily micro-moments of ordinariness that point to transcendence. The way I access this truth is by slowing down and paying attention.
Spiritual teacher Mirabai Starr writes this;
One of the things it means to be an ordinary mystic is to bow at the feet of your everyday existence, with its disappointments and dramas, its peaceful mornings and luminous nights, and to honor yourself just as you are…. A mystic finds the magic in the midst of the nitty-gritty, the crusty spaghetti sauce pot in the sink and the crocus poking out of a spring snowfall, the unsigned divorce papers on the kitchen table and the results of your latest blood work on your computer screen.
As I realise that my everyday existence is filled with wonder and awe this connects me with a truth within – the sound of the genuine – as Howard Thurman says. There is a resonance with things that simply are – an internal compass that tells me what rings true and what is opposite to that. I was told as a child not to trust my feelings – my inner self- as this was damaged. But learning to trust the sound of the genuine within is about trusting that inner self and compass. And boldly believing that this is truth.
The way I access this inner-self is through spiritual practices. These are habits most religions have in common that lead us to reflection, self-nurture and transformation. Even if we don’t have a faith we all engage in rituals that self-soothe and shape us into who we want to be. Typical practices for people of faith would be prayer, meditation, fasting. But there are other ordinary practices that we might already be engaging in for our nourishment.
I’m reading Gutsy Girls by Josie McSkimming and she writes about her and her sister’s practice of bird-watching. Originally she hated bird-watching but later in life she shares that she and her sister Dod started to see it as a spiritual practice. Neither Josie or Dod would describe themselves as “believers” or that they have a faith. Yet they experienced moments of transcendence when they stopped to pay attention to birds, usually hidden from sight, as they waited for these little creatures to show up unexpectedly.
Josie writes;
Bird-watching is about sudden presence , quiet observation, complete absorption.
And Dod writes;
Bird-watching can slow time, as each moment fills with something precious outside of oneself. For me bird-watching is, without exaggeration, a religious experience.
Bird-watching as a spiritual practice – I had never thought about that.
But I can imagine that sitting in one spot for a long time waiting, watching, and paying attention slows us down, calms our nervous system so we can truly seen things as they are. And then the delicious wonder of being surprised by a bird entering our field of vision and watching some more – we take a peek into another world for a moment.
Much of life is noisy and confusing. Everyday, ordinary spiritual practices help us to hear the sound of the genuine within and to see and absorb truths that resonate as they gently, softly fall into our hearts and reveal themselves to us. As this flourishes within us so do we.
What are some ordinary spiritual practices that you engage in everyday which self-soothe, nourish and give you energy to partner with our earth for its flourishing?
Rev. Dr Karina Kreminski, Mission Catalyst – Formation and Fresh Expressions, Uniting Mission and Education. Karina also blogs at An Ordinary Mystic
