On a recent walk with a friend along Armand Bayou, the fog took away the pictures I really wanted to take.  It kept me from shooting pictures of majestic Herons in flight.  It made the brilliant colors of the sky, water, and trees dull and lackluster.  My ego wanted big and colorful.  I was disappointed until I began to notice the more subtle beauty in the fog.  The stark contrast in shapes and shadows spoke to my soul.  The gentle quiet that rested on the images echoed in my heart.  The fragrant subtlety of the still water filled my senses with one word, peace.  It was a good morning to be with the sacred in that gentle fog.

The ego is a powerful force in the human experience.  The “me” demands its’ due in every moment of every day.  It can dominate the conversations we have with ourselves.  It can intrude into relationships and shield our eyes from the other.  It can even replace the need for a relationship with one greater than ourselves.  This may be why we struggle to find the sacred in our lives.  It takes a powerful experience to break through the ego and steal away our breath as we stand in awe of that which is “not me.”

The first order of business in the spiritual journey may require that we acquire genuine humility.  Humility is simply knowing ourselves as we are.  No more and no less.  It means seeing ourselves in our victories as well as our defeats, in our weaknesses as well as in our strengths.  In our fears as well as in our faith.  Humility can see beyond the wall constructed by the ego.  It can still the voice of the ego in our minds and listen for the whispers of the holy.  It can find the sacred in the lives of all those around us.  It can sense the presence of the holy in the subtle sensations that surround us in the natural world.

As we make our way into a deeper relationship with the Holy, may each of us not think less of ourselves.  But let us think more accurately of ourselves.  When we do this the sacred will break through and be our companion in every moment.  We will no longer need the sun by day nor the moon by night.  We will have all that we need to love and trust.  We will live in joy and hope.  Know thyself and we shall be free to live!

Namaste’

Bob