It was while viewing the above photos daily of a Lily plant in our garden, I felt surprised the way the buds became open in an incremental way over eight days. I suppose it will be another week before all the four buds would have fully opened. By that time the first flower might be in a stage of withering.
To me this became a symbol of birth, growing, ageing and fading away.
All these are critical life events.
I wonder whether these life events are attended to with a sense of nearness and engagement amidst the pressures of life that we encounter existentially!
Jesus of Nazareth in His teachings, recorded in the gospel of Mathew in the New Testament of the Bible paused a question to His listeners: "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and body than clothing?" (Matthew 6;25).
This is a searching question on Life, Living and Learning.
Life receives a sacred position because God is actively present in the biography of our lives. Living is an experience of receiving the provision given to meet our daily needs. Learning is a becoming process when we grow in the awareness of who we are and whose we are !.
The Lily plant above featured this message. It grew each day receiving the provisions from the soil and the ambience around. It lived to open its buds to bring the colourful flowers. The opening of its buds became a natural continuity of its life !
As the photos were taken daily to capture the buds and flower from different positions, the growth each day is well demonstrated!
The buds grew to become a flower!
Every flower is giving in its purpose!
The distinction that Jesus made between body and life is worth meditating upon.
Dr David G. Benner in his book, Spirituality and Awakening self-The sacred journey of Transformation has four chapters in the book to suggest the human journey in selfhood: The body centred self (p89), The mind centred self (105), The Soul centred self (121) and The Spirit centred self (p137).
Let me quote from the introduction in the book (px): "The spirit of God-the source of all generativity, and all creativity and all life- invites us to participate in the grand adventure of human becoming. Openness to becoming is openness to God... It is however, alarmingly easy to fail to discern the ever-present nudges of the Spirit to become all that we are meant to be. The culture of family and society and rhythms of our lives lull us into a sleep of complacency within the small, safe places we have arranged for ourselves. Seekers settle for being finders even when what is found is so much less than what their spirits call them forward. Being and becoming are both routinely sacrificed on the altar of doing. The gentle but persistent heartbeat of our deep longings to find our true place in God is gradually drowned out by the cacaphony of superficial desires and we are left with a small ego-self rather than an awakening self that is ever becoming in the Spirt "
There is a journey beyond body centred living or mind centred living. To enter into the becoming process where we bring in the dimensions of living Soul centred and Spirit centred, is that journey that the Lily buds reminded me of. The plant was growing up to give flowers. It ia a mission beyond its survival or existence. The plant fulfilled its purpose bearing buds and flowers. Even the buds needed growth to become flowers !
The human becoming is for being integrated beings, where the body, mind, soul and spirit converge to create within our true self, a 'temple for God' !
Look at the envy with which the president of the United States of America is eying on a sovereign nation of Greenland to acquire it peacefully or by invasion! That is a pointer to the ego driven self, which gets imposed on others because the source of that strength is the might of the armed forces. The acquisitive nature versus a giving nature! Since this president took over the leadership of USA, it withdrew from all the United Nations Organisations or international confederations to donate to support the global needs. How is that the president did not consider to offer support to make a difference in the lives of people in Greenland when the climate changes threaten the very existence of people and their livelihood !
As individuals we can get derailed from our growing process. As institutions we can embrace existence rather than growing and becoming. Churches can become inward looking rather than engage in its mission to be self giving! The mind set in society can become acquisitive. The nations can slip into dominate rather than take initiatives to share the resources of the earth justly and equitably.
The becoming is at the heart of the human mission on earth!
A daily wage earner who came to help us to desilt our irrigation pond, said to me, ' Thank you for asking me to help to clean the pond'! For him the wages mattered less than the opportunity to be involved in sharing his skills and abilities What a noble view of his abilities and the purpose with which he works!
The Lily plants become flowers! How much am I becoming to grow and become open to give? The giving God calls all of us to be giving !
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment