Day 11
divine
The divine is that presence that continues to show up, even after you have rejected ritual, belief, religion, the texts and spiritual comforts, both real and false. It has no need for a name, or form, or even for a home. The divine is at home everywhere, even in the ugly and dark places we avoid, because even there, people must make their way.
The many names are given in a weak attempt to hold onto something that cannot be appropriated. If you have ever encountered an unexpected grief or joy, had no way to articulate its source or purpose, yet were tempted to name or give language to the experience; then perhaps you have more in common with the prophet Mohammed, or the disciples of Jesus, or the followers of Siddhartha, than you imagine. It is not our encounters with the divine, but rather our attachment to talking about it, that presents a problem.
The divine is not known to the few, but is the presence that greets us when we arrive in new or unknown places. When we hold the impossible miracle of a child, witness the fury and aftermath of a hurricane, see the planet from space, give our full attention to a square of chocolate, or touch the body of a person as they die.
The divine is manifest most of all in our questions, our fascination with what we sense but do not yet comprehend. Science is in conversation with the divine constantly; it arrives at each frontier, explaining ten thousand things while revealing ten thousand more, still shrouded in mystery. The mystics too are engaged with the divine, and where the scientist finds answers, the mystic finds a muse.
What the scientist is eager to examine and explain, the mystic simply swallows whole. The longings of each are met.
This may sound very esoteric, I realize; but I am not digging for clarity. I only want us to be fearless and open. While I point at the moon, I ask that you not focus on my finger. I hope that you see the myriad ways in which you too are pointing at her; and not that we might gather around some secret, but that we might find more common ground.
We are all children in this ancient place; and to be together, awash in moonlight, is divine.
