One of the flowers in this cluster lost its filaments-that is how the flowers begin to fade away after their brilliant presence. A second flower is also showing a change in colour of its filaments announcing that its too shall soon loose its filaments. The colour of the petals remain intact even at this stage of disintegration of a flower.
Anna and I have been through this week experiencing loss. The following photo is that of the corner of our property following the fire, lit by our domestic worker under the influence of alcohol.
How are we to endure when one feels loss of trust! That is the time to 'let your light shine'! It calls for patience, forbearance and gentle responses. People loose trust in friends and companions when they are overwhelmed by disappointments. Often disappointments are attributed to someone whom you are suspicious about. So loss of trust is gradual and prolonged.
As I watched this young coconut palm getting burnt in the fire that was set by a drunken person, I felt the agony of seeing a person loose his sense of awareness under the influence of alcohol.
That mad me journey inward to recall the recent events when I too might have behaved under the influence of bias, prejudice, suspicion or preoccupation. There is within us a shadow which is different from truth, which Carl Jung referred to as the 'divided self'. The human responses to any situation can arise from the dominance of the shadow or truth within. It is a question of how much we lean towards the truth. The 'disowned part of self' such as shadow needs attention as the shadow can come to dominate the consciousness because of which our actions can become a distortion or aberration. We need to be hospitable to our shadow as it is integral part of our lives.
Dr. David G Benner in his book, Spirituality and the Awakening Self suggests, 'Reflection is a gentle action of holding experience in hospitality and openness... Reflection starts with the act of making space for the experience and then spending time with it, allowing to reveal itself to you... I maintain that without reflection there can be no depth to life, because reflection cultivates the interior space that is shaped by experience...Experience is not simply what happens but how I sense the event; how it registers on my body in my emotions and how I process it in my mind' (p124).
We loose and gain and this is the ongoing experience in our lives. The apostle Paul in I Corinthians chapter 13 of the New Testament made a contrast between childhood and adulthood. He drew a portrait of growth in adulthood through the loss of habits of childhood.
We might loose friendships, property, belongings, etc. We feel sad when that happens. However it is a journey forward in life, when those looses are trappings which add to the weight of a redundant baggage. A pilgrim is a light traveller. Look back or look forward is then the choice. Looking back can be paralysing or freezing. Did it not happen to Lot's wife! She became a pillar and became lifeless. Look back only when eyes are steadfastly fixed on the journey ahead. That happens when we allow the essentials of the past to get integrated to experience the new life. A rose plant produces new shoots in its stem when ready to flower. It is from the stem, which is a symbol of its history the new shoots appear. The past and present make the pant to bring forth its flower. However dark might be the past or however evident be the shadow, the new life is what we need to aspire for, just as the flower in the rose springs forth from its history thus far !
Life, Living and Learning are public to all. We are seen by all around us and are Calle dot be witnesses of truth eternal, because we are followers of Jesus of Nazareth who said, ' I am the truth and the way and Life'. Truth dispels darkness and shadows because God is present in the truth.
Dr Benner says, 'But brought into light it (shadow) inevitably shrinks and can be seen for what it is: a lost fragment of self that was set aside because it didn't seem to fit with who I thought I should be, Although I never really am my shadow, this is the illusion that we easily slip into when we identify with our shadow.... But shadow work is essential if we are to move to higher levels of consciousness' (p 129).
All of us are called to move into the light of truth from our shadows. We shall incrementally loose our shadows and shades of the fragmented self, as we become whole incrementally because God is at work in our lives.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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