Being present to oneself

 

A pair of water birds inland on a frosty morning! Their plumage appeared in a light shade of golden brown in the morning sun. They look white, when air born. 

My  presence although about 200 meters away seems to have disturbed  them. They flew away to a tree top. Some birds sense any inhospitable sign and protect themselves from being vulnerable. Their sense of presence is outstanding. They move sensing the environment. 

To be able to have such a sense of heightened awareness of what is around them is a big advantage. 

Humans also are with such a gift of sense of presence. 

A friend told me that he had to travel in a bus  to visit a friend. Once he got in to the bus, he felt uncomfortable as the bus looked unkept. He got down from the bus and waited for the next bus to come.  On his way, he noticed the earlier bus parked on the road side due to a breakdown. 

While talking about this incident, he told me that the attitude of listening to the movements within is a habit he has been cultivating for a few years now. His way is to be silent for a few moments to go inward to sense the message from within before he enters into an activity. He pauses to answer when a question is asked, which is his way of speaking the thoughts that he feels within, rather than be impulsive to give in to the first thought that surfaces in his mind. 

Being present to myself and to what is around me is a habit that I feel inspired to pursue after!

To become present to oneself is a mystical experience, according to the desert fathers, because they believed in the drawing power of God resident in the inner life! In that sense it is when God draws us to Himself that we shall find the solitude in His presence. 

The readiness to have a visitation from God is my part of the responsibility. 

The habit of aloneness,  that Jesus practiced early in the morning in the mountain,  is a pathway for all those who 'have set their heart on pilgrimage'. 

This pilgrimage is inward and into our being, which is the 'temple of the living God'!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)