Hidden and open!

The photo above is a twilight scene across our garden in the field below, where the visibility was masked with the morning misty look, a few days ago. It was difficult to notice any details of the trees a that time.

As the Sun sent its early rays into the foliage, as seen in the photo below, about ten minutes later, the visibility had improved. 

While looking out with better visibility in the sunshine, although the mist was still clouding the trees, I was able to notice the following birds- two Egrets, a Magpie Robin and Kingfisher. 

What was misty suddenly, became different with some details in the sunshine. 

In another half an hour, the sunshine  dispelled the mist and improved the visibility with even coconuts visible in the coconut palms. 

But by then, the birds had left the trees !

 

This remained as a paradox for most of the morning in my mind. 

The birds needed the cover of the mist and later the bright sunshine. 

One of the Egrets came to our garden and was strolling on the lawn obviously looking for the morning feed. 

The birds need the cover of darkness as well as the light of the day for their rhythm. It is when it stays hidden,  away from the light,  it recovers from the toil of its flight movements of the day. During the day it chooses its path and pattern. 

A lot of bird's existence is hidden. As I flash into the thick foliage of the trees with a lamp, where some birds are perched for the night in our garden,  they are often found between leaves, which cover them from all around. They are hidden and protected. 

Ther is a private and public life for birds. 

I wonder whether humans have lost the distinction between the dimensions of our existence- private and public!  It is only when we have a hidden dimension to our life where we nurture and renew ourselves, our public life becomes altruistic and transparent. 

The social media is often a narration of the private lives of people. In fact, some long to have their private life lived in public. This is a serious distortion. 

Our public life becomes a mirror of our private life, obliterating the common dichotomy that exists, so that we live our public life with truthfulness and integrity. It is when we nurture our lives and create order and richness to our private life, our lives lived relationally with others become an aroma of goodness, mercy and mindfulness!

Birds have chosen wisely and live their lives hidden and open, giving us a glimpse of the wellness they find from this rhythm!

The inner room of prayer,  that Jesus of Nazareth referred to in Matthew 6:6, to which Jesus pointed to, as a place to stay in prayer is the place of formation, re-formation and transformation. That is where we meet with ourselves in God's presence. 

We encounter our acts of commission and omission, which can intensify the feelings within towards ourselves, as St Paul experienced,' For the good I wish, I do not do; but I the very evil that I do not wish' (Romans7:19). This can arouse self doubt, unsettlement, and self blaming thoughts. The consolation that Jesus offers in the latter part of the verse in Matthew's gospel quoted above, is 'pray to your Heavenly Father who is in secret and your Father who seems in secret will repay you' !

A seeing, hearing and feeling Heavenly Father, who meets with us in our inner room! His nature is to receive, pardon and heal us. That is the recovery experience we can receive when we live our lives hidden in God. Our lives are 'hid' in God of our being. That consciousness helps us to experience the nurturing presence of God in the biography of our lives. 

 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)