Sometimes, something will resonate with us for reasons we do not understand. One Friend, James (Genius of Insanity blog), found the music of Ravi Shankar struck a deep chord within him. For another friend, David, (Friendly Kwakersaur blog), a passage in the Bible, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” resonated and gave him cause for deep reflection, yet he could not readily discern the ‘reason’ for the resonance. He is an intellectual, a thinker, yet he recognized that something within the passage was touching him at a non-cognitive level.
A metaphor I heard recently, that struck a chord with me, is that our brains are like the part of an iceberg that is above the water. Much of our consciousness is underneath, submerged, being affected by waves and currents our brains are not even aware of. When I am touched in ways I do not understand, I like to rest with it, smile about it, savor it. I don't try too hard to 'work it' – to figure it out or comprehend the reasons for it. Rational comprehension isn't always necessary. In fact, too much thinking seems to take a bit of the poetry away. All that is needed is to feel the peace that permeates from that which touches us, and reflect and share this with others. Sometimes, in time, deeper understandings come forth, to be understood cognitively... but sometimes not.
This is all a little mystery of Grace.
6 comments:
What kind of love writes like this? There is an ecstasy in these words one can feel. Not knowing, she touches the pulse of existence. She manifests that joy I imagine lingering in the flowers after Krishna passed by, the shimmer on the surface of a small creek where barefoot, Buddha walked. She manifests the sweetness in the heart of Mary Magdalene just listening to the softness in her friend's voice, drinking in the fragrance found in that face. In her words you might sense the deep peace of the desert rocks that listened to Rumi's uncontainable song. Can you imagine the happiness of those rocks, bathed in that music, their thirst so thoroughly quenched with the simple song of a madman?
"Amen" to the previous comment: a deep sense of serenity indeed.
Posted by Melinda
The mind as an iceberg, true on many levels. The waves, I've started to feel them when I'm washed with gratitude. Thinking can be such a burden at times (truly it is a gift, but all gifts may be burdens at times). The gratitude comes in the stillness, its ecstasy. I'm grateful to you, for your posts, and all those who share comments here.
"All that is needed is to feel the peace that permeates from that which touches us, and reflect and share this with others."
M- your writing takes me to that place where peace is always waiting, and your words deeply touch me. Thank you for sharing of yourself with such grace and clarity.
I love the Ice berg story. That is so very true.
Melinda, Marjorie, Isaiah, James, and my friend the Madman,
Thank you all for your comments here. It is a sweet realization to have friends who resonate with me.
M
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