There's a Buddhist parable that runs something like this: One day as the Buddha was sitting under a tree, a young, trim soldier walked by, looked at the Buddha, noticed his weight and his fat, and said: "You look like a pig!" The Buddha looked up calmly at the soldier and said: "And you look like God!"
Taken aback by the comment, the soldier asked the Buddha: "Why do you say that I look like God?" The Buddha replied: "Well, we don't really see what's outside of ourselves, we see what's inside of us and project it out. I sit under this tree all day and I think about God, so that when I look out, that's what I see. And you, you must be thinking about other things!"
How we see the world on a given day is deeply influenced and coloured by our own interiority. Perhaps that should give us insight into those days when we feel sad, depressed or anything but grateful for God's tremendous gift of life.
I can't imagine Mary, the Mother of Jesus, being anything but full of Grace even on the day they were crucifying Christ. And Jesus, on the cross, was still filled with his mission of salvation when he said to Dismas, "This day you will be with me in paradise."
When someone we love is dying, when we get a dreadful diagnosis, then we find our perspective of reality challenged.
Someone observed recently that the church does not do a good job of helping us handle suffering and pain. These are tough areas to accommodate. But Jesus helps us through the Cross, and that is the universal sign in any church. It points to another world, another reality.
Wake up lovers; it is time to start the journey! We've seen enough of this world; it is time to see another. Rumi. The Persian poet Rumi gives us a challenging wake up call for that time in our lives when we ponder the great mystery that our physical decay is also the beginning of life.
Joy and hope are not lost when our physical strength and beauty wane. We are reminded of a loving God in the words of a song echoing Jeremiah 31: "I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have called you, and you are mine."
Every day is still a gift from a loving God. True, it brings us one day closer to that union with love and all the saints. Now is that a cause for worry?
Time is a great mystery. Time can heal. Time can seem endless, and it can seem fleeting. However we experience it, we know that God is outside of time. Whether we now measure time by the hour, by the day or by the year, God is with us, pouring out grace and comfort.
"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
