Thursday, March 29, 2012

Living in the symbols (Sunday, March 25, 2012)


Living in the symbols

To treat all things as symbols
and every act as ritual
is to see in every being another manifestation
of the divine.

This is how we can approach life
when we slow down enough
and let go of the need to prove ourselves worthy
by demonstrating how busy we are.

Not merely to stand back, withdraw from life,
or let it flow on past us;
nor simply to throw ourselves into the vortex
of the maddening swirl,
only to find ourselves consumed by it.

But consciously--
for it is in our consciousness that mind and universe meet--
consciously to live
as though all things were symbols
pointing out life's lessons to us;
as though every deliberate act was a ritual
connecting us to the cosmos;
as though every being, every creature, every natural element
was, indeed,
like each of us,
another manifestation of the holiness and godliness
of Life itself.

jbs
11/6/98          3/25/12