There's More Here Than What You See

There is a wetlands area at the bottom of the hill where we live that is the home to a beautiful, white egret and several other varieties of wildlife. As I was driving past there the other day, I was searching for the white egret. I spotted it and surrounding it were about a dozen mallard ducks with their heads in the water and their tails in the air. It was the funniest picture and I laughed out loud at the sight of all those fuzzy tails where I expected to see heads!

It made me think of what they were looking at under the surface and what they had found for lunch. There is another world that they inhabit that we know nothing of, but it is an important world, for that is where they get their food and what keeps them alive.

It makes a great metaphor for understanding the role of meditation in our spiritual journey. It is like an invisible world, but it is what feeds the soul and sustains the spirit. It is by going within that we can abide in quiet contemplation about the goodness of our Creator and that we can listen for the voice of Spirit in our lives.

It is also in meditation that we come into contact with the essential and vital information we need to know about whom we are and whom we are here to serve. It is by abiding in the sanctuary of the heart with Christ that we can gain access to a deeper knowing of our soul.

Who better to go to in finding out about our heavenly soul, our divine soul, than to the One who made us? Modern culture offers many things that promise to bring fulfillment and answers to the deep questions in life. Usually these offers cost money! Isn’t it interesting, however, that we are easily swayed to spend our money on something that promises, at best, shallow answers, and yet are so reticent to do something that costs us nothing but our time and attention.

Here we discover the modern-day dilemma that is a part of the wounded feminine aspect in creation and that is the reluctance to become submissive to Spirit and let the power of God incubate in our hearts and minds and grow into something worthwhile which is the realization of our true self.

Apart from our living our true calling in life, we have very little power and influence for positive change in the world. Living our true destiny and from within the center of authenticity we become a powerful vehicle for change in the world.

When I think about those ducks, I doubt that they were worrying too much about how they might look from the road with their tails sticking up in the air. They were more concerned with getting their daily nourishment. We can learn something from those ducks. We might feel a little silly at first, sitting quietly before God with our eyes shut and to the appearance of the rest of the world doing nothing worthwhile, but in reality, we will be attending to the most important business of the day, receiving the nourishment we need to be who we really are.