I believe I can state, with a fair degree of certainty, that at some point you woke up, shortly thereafter got up and engaged in your normal morning pleasantries. Perhaps you even ate a little something before rushing out the door to face the challenges of the day, before being confronted by the “same old, same old.”

Which begs the question:  How do we find the deeper divine that lingers oft unnoticed in the still places between the mundane moments of everyday life? What does that mean to each of us as we grind away the hours between sunrise and sunset? What does it even matter anyway? Won’t the sun rise the same tomorrow as today and won’t we still have to get up, eat, work, sleep and pay the bills? On top of which won’t we have to find some way to honor our own needs, care for the kids and pay attention to our spouses, partners, friends and beloveds? 

How often do we feel overwhelmed by stress and underwhelmed by the sameness of our daily routines? How often do we feel a subtle internal pressure longing for something deeper and more meaningful yet wonder how to find it in the middle of life’s demands? That the divine sparkles and simmers in every breath; that unlimited potentiality pulsates in the very particles of air with which we fill our lungs matters little or not, if we are not of a mind to notice. How often do we relegate our spiritual reality to the role of “Schrödinger’s cat”:  formless until finally we think to lift the lid off our box and notice it?

Once, there was this strange little creature, living in the flow of a great crystal river, who, growing old and weary of its travels, decided to settle to the bottom of the river and cling for a small time to a moss covered twig. It was welcomed by all, for never before had someone new come into their midst. Others would gather around and listen to its stories and call it a great master, all the while clutching to their rocks and whispering to themselves, “Maybe that worked for you, but it could never work for me.”

 

 After awhile, it forgot the freedom of the flow and clutched tighter to its new home. “I’m just resting for a short while,” it told the neighbors as the years past.

 

 One morning it awoke to find a young one making its way over the twigs and rocks, carefully clinging to each as it crawled by.

 

 “Venerable Sir,” the young one said, “There must be more to life than this eternal clinging.”

 

 “Ahhh. . .” the old one responded, noticing for the first time the length of its beard and the tightness in its joints from clutching at the same twig all those years. “When I was your age, I asked much the same question. Let me tell you, I got some flack back then.”

 

 “What did you do?”

“Well, I let go of the rock and entered into the divine flow of the river, trusting the current to carry me where it will, where I most needed to be.”

 

 “I wish I could do that,” the young one sighed.

 

 “You can! You must! There is no other way to know such freedom, such joy.”

 

 

 “But weren’t you tumbled and smashed upon the rocks? I’m afraid. It must hurt terribly.”

 

 “Yes, at first, but then the current lifts you up and away. Young one, my heart swells with gratitude. Thank you for reminding me whom I once was and who I can be again. I have clung to this twig for too long. I shall consolidate my experiences, celebrate my rest here and let go once again. Thus shall I transcend to the next level!”

 

The old one carefully unfolded its fingers, creaky from long clinging, and with a joyful shout let go. The current caught the old one up and tumbled it out of sight.

 

 The young one looked mournfully after it and clutched tighter to its perch. Suddenly words echoed faintly back. “Let go of the rock, young one, and keep letting go. In this way you shall learn even as I have learned. In each moment, reexamine to what you are clinging. Does it serve you? If not – let it go. I have gone before you to show you the way.”

 

 Courage burst into the young one’s heart and it also let go of the rock, tumbled down the river, slipped out of sight and into a new way of being within itself.

 

 I have been richly blessed in my journey down the river yet there remains that to which I cling that no longer serves me, that which I fear that no longer protects me.  Like everyone else, I face the challenge of shifting my awareness from the mundane to the divine in each moment and in the celebration of that perfectly divine moment consolidating my experience, understanding and thought processes, letting go of that which no longer serves me and transcending to the next level in each area of personal growth.

For me at least, this process seems to require a constant reminder to renew my commitment to doing things differently and better. If our instinct cries out to us “cling to the twigs and rocks,” only constant, conscious awareness can combat blind instinct and open the way to a new level of learning and a new level of letting go.  Only constant, conscious awareness can open our eyes to the flow of the river, the divine current that eternally surrounds us with magic and majesty.

So if the question is:  How do we find the deeper divine that lingers oft unnoticed in the still places between the mundane moments of everyday life? My answer becomes a simple one – breathe more deeply more often and let go of the rock. Challenge yourself to one new thing that frightens you, yet be gentle with yourself for if it were easy, it wouldn’t be frightening. Remember, remember, remember to look for the divine that surrounds us and flows into us with each and every breath.

Each one of us is a beautiful, magical, majestic, powerful person. All of us are doing the best we know in each moment with the tools we have. Most of us are trying to learn better tools. If only we could see clearly our own divinity.  How awesome! May your hearts burst with joy at who you truly are.

 

 

Thank you for sharing this Morning Moment with me.

Aloha, Peace and Wellness,

 

 Holman

Contents © 2008 by  Holman R. Meyerhoffer, LMT—Project Transformation