giving yourself to life

Daniel Namod gave a talk about a trip he took to Yellowstone at a service last Sunday (You can hear it on the unitytustin.org website.).  His talk started out to be very entertaining and kind of light.  As I was listening the thought popped into my head that this wasn't as deep as I would like.  For a second I questioned whether I should have come.  I did not attach to these thoughts.  I just noticed them and went back to listening to what Daniel was saying.  He talked about being on a hike and encountering a buffalo who blocked the trail and would not let him proceed.  Daniel had been feeling very much at home, like he belonged in Yellowstone so this experience was very disconcerting.  As it turned out there was a killing about 1/4 of a mile from where Daniel encountered the buffalo...2 bears had killed another buffalo and were in the process of eating it.  If Daniel had gone a little further he would have been killed by the bears.

This story really touched my heart and helped me to heal from the experience with my dog. Perhaps acknowledging and then letting go of the thoughts and feelings about my dog being attacked helped me to open to this healing.  I also recognize the value in not attaching to the chatter of my mind.  My mind is constantly producing some kind of commentary or judgment (e.g., this is not deep enough for me) that can prevent me from being fully present to what I am experiencing in the moment.

Here is a passage from Resurrecting Jesus that relates to what I have been writing about:

"Jesus concludes that passage in the Gospel of Thomas by saying 'If he does not shine, he is darkness.'  That's the challenge...Either we are in light or we are in darkness.  That's a teaching meant to shake us from our slumber.  In order to come into our full potential and to embody truth and radiance of what we are, we must come vitally alive; we must lean once again into presence; we must pour ourselves forth into life, instead of tying to escape life and avoid its challenges.  Then our lives themselves become expressions of love, of overflow, because we have compassionately given ourselves to life, to our incarnation, as a means to redeem it---to bring everything home, back to its source, to the eternal radiance within each and every one of us."  (p. 34-35).