It was while watching the above bunch of flowers in the morning sunshine I had the following train of thoughts!
The sunshine falling on the flowers made the flowers look elegant and beautiful !
But when I noticed how the sunlight filtered by the petals of flowers, made the flowers look almost transparent, I remained still watching this scene in a sense of wonder and inward search!
The light making a flower translucent!
The light within us makes our lives transparent!
Our interior is not known to others. What resides within us is expressed through our thoughts. actions and behaviour.
A confession I came across in the Old Testament of the Bible by the prophet Isaiah, recorded in the Book of Isiah 6: verses 1-7 came to my mind as I watched the opaque petals of a flower becoming translucent to reveal the substance of the petals. Isaiah after having a vision of a Holy God, said to himself: 'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts'.
To me, this honest self appraisal, arising out of the illuminating vision he had of God, was the beginning of a new experience for the prophet. His response at the end of this honest confession about himself was readiness to be led by God, which he announced by saying, 'Here am I, send me' (v8).
I have struggled with myself about how much of my interior needs to be open before people! It is after I have been able to receive the light of clarity, healing and forgiveness within me, I have been able to share openly my acts of commissions and omission. It is a long journey when one travels in t pathway towards openness. As I discover the dichotomous dimensions in my life where I am different from what I am within, I realise how long this journey is to become the True Self!
The flower above is only partly known through the first two photographs. It is the third photograph which reveals more about its texture and character of t petals.
I encountered a challenging situation to the practice of honesty and regretful confession two days back in the evening while driving home. While I was overtaking a parked car, the stationary car moved which resulted both cars rubbing with each other on the side. I stopped the car and noticed that there were marks of that impact without any dent on both doors of the car. The driver of the other car also stopped. He and his wife, older than me, looked tired and appeared anxious. My first impulse was to ask him, why he started a car without putting on the side indicator. But on seeing their disposition, I received a prompting from within to be kind and courteous. Their car also did not have any damage except a superficial scratch. When I said, 'we are safe and our cars are in good shape', the response of his wife, was that they had not recognised that a car was coming from behind. We greeted each other and parted in peace.
While driving back home I relived the experience. There is a normal tendency to blame others whenever we are caught in a road traffic event. That was what surfaced within in me as the first thought! But the light within me guided me to a different approach.
My thoughts turned to nurturing this inner consciousness to be considerate and thoughtful towards others.
I felt that a journey into self awareness needs the light from a lamp. I remembered the verse from the Bible in Psalms 119: 105, 'Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path'. I felt encouraged, by this consciousness. My habitual pattern of reading the Scripture suffered during the recent years as I returned home around eight at night from my work place on most days. When a rhythm is disturbed, the truth it normally brings into one's life gets subsumed or faint!
To have the inner lamp provide the light to our path is a defining experience. One becomes more truthful inwardly and that is what makes a person transparent!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment