Our everyday humanity is divine.

I have begun a new spiritual practice. It’s not one that has to be slotted in between waking, rising and breakfast. In fact it will not require any planning, or any equipment, or even any extra time.  Sound good?

All that is required is consciousness. 

That may sound simple and in fact it is, but that doesn’t make it easy.

The new practice to which I have committed is to find the spiritual in the ordinary, the sacred in the mundane.  Holiness among a grove of pines, or a Beethoven sonata, or the eyes of a street panhandler (there but for the grace of God go I).

Consider the observation that everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle.  On which side of the fence are you? Give it some thought.

If nothing is a miracle, then we do live in a mundane, mechanical world where proper, linear, empirical science accounts for everything. 

Now cast that perspective aside momentarily, and imagine that everything is miraculous: 

   The morning sunrise,

         bird song,

            the rose as it blooms and scents the air,

               your sleeping child,

                   the jolt of connection that accompanies a hug,

                        a full yellow moon hanging in the night sky, 

                            dark chocolate melting on the tongue,

                                a lover’s kiss.  

This is finding the spiritual in the ordinary. It is to see through the literal and find meaning and insight in every event or in each person.  To find the greater mystery that is at work.

The mere act of washing my hands can be a sacrament, if I do it with conscious intent, especially if I use my favourite lavender soap. Warm or cool water running over my wrists, lavender scent calming my spirit. 

Or instead, it can be a rote activity while I plan my next move. 

In this moment, as I write, the howl of a coyote comes floating over the night air and into my room.  It is a sound that never ceases to thrill and mystify me.  I smile with gratitude at the interruption.   

American composer/philosopher John Cage tells us, “Thoreau got up each morning and walked to the woods as though he had never been where he was going to, so that whatever was there came to him like liquid into an empty glass.”

Read Thoreau’s Walden if you need inspiration to capture the essence of holiness in the mundane.  It contains myriad details to gain profound insight into this practice.

Who can forget the moment of truth in 1969 when American astronauts spotted planet Earth from space.  Suddenly she was miraculous, mysterious and even sacred.  It began a whole environmental movement. We looked at our planet with wonder, most of us, for the first time.  Earth had not changed.  Our consciousness had.

This new practice of noticing is, of course, a prelude to gratitude.  When I walk out my door and stop even briefly to gaze up at the summer sky, my immediate emotion is a thrill of gratitude.  It is pausing to reflect in the moment and be joyful.  Joy is my new spiritual practice.

Some times are easier than others. When things get tough and we need this practice the most, we struggle.  But if the habit is there, then we can step back and regain composure.  At least this is my theory.  I am only just beginning this new venture into the mystic and cannot give any solid results yet. 

But as Deepak Chopra would say, with gratitude comes grace.  And I believe it.  Grace is that connection to the divine that changes a life from mundane to blissful.  And that, my friends, is what I am going for.   I invite you to join me and enjoy the miracle of existence. Washing your hands or the dishes, watching the moon, hearing the call of the wild, savouring a long, tall latte – each of our senses can be a pathway to bliss if we tune in. 

Set your dial at B-L-I-S-S and open up to discovering the spiritual in the ordinary.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

                                                                                                                                       -- Albert Einstein