The other day, while I was waiting in a busy café to get served, instead of growing restless, I decided to relax and take time to look at the diversity of faces around me. Lately, I’ve been practicing a sense of presence, of feeling connected to life as a whole. I am the ocean as well as the wave; I am the field as well as the flower; I am the sky as well as a star.
As I took in the smiles, the laughter, and the orchestra of voices in this cozy café space, a warm sense of belonging came over me. I invited myself to see the people around me as my brothers and sisters.
We are all siblings of the Infinite: brother sun and sister moon. ~ James Finley
How can we connect ourselves to the whole of life, and stop seeing ourselves as separate? How do we cultivate a sense of belonging, and offer that respect to every flower and every person, knowing we are all intimately connected in Divine Love?
As the spiritual teacher and writer, James Finley, said in a retreat I attended recently, “We are all siblings of the Infinite: brother sun and sister moon.” His words inspired me to open my eyes and my heart, to more consciously and consistently see that I’m an interconnected part of creation.
Let us read and ponder the opening of this poem by the 19th century poet, William Blake, and enter into a larger perspective and way of seeing.
To See a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour…
How can we practice this sense of connection in our daily lives? Here are a few suggestions:
• For today, take a few moments to look and ponder a flower, a tree, or the sky, or anything from the natural world. Try not to describe what you are seeing in your mind, but rather allow yourself to gaze at it and take it in whole. I invite you to feel your connection to all of creation, and to sense your kinship with “brother sun and sister moon.”
• For today, feel your connection to other people. Practice slowing down and taking time to look at the people around you with a loving and open heart. The next time you are waiting in a line, simply gaze at the people around you, and allow a soft smile to form on your lips.
• One way to live more easily in the flow of creation is the practice of surrendering to the moment. I wrote about this recently with, Seven Ways to Practice Surrender Today.
• Make a collage on the theme of being part of creation and feeling interconnected to all of life. Here’s the collage I made, which I call: I am part of Creation.
And as we leave the darker days of winter, and turn towards the flow of spring, may true unity fill our hearts and our lives with gratitude and joy.