"Out of the Tomb"

There is an ancient Islamic legend that tells of a king who sewed his peacock’s head in a bag so it wouldn’t distract anyone from the beauty of its spectacular tail. While that misguided bit of stitchery did accommodate the king’s nutty notion, it turned out to be a real bummer for our fine feathered friend.

Quite predictably, as the years of unbroken darkness passed by, the peacock’s memory of a world of shapes, color and movement gradually faded to be replaced by a dark emptiness void of any meaning or purpose.

It would seem that being stuck in a reality system blinding us to the beauty and richness of our earth experience is tragic enough, but our peacock’s tale of woe gets even bleaker. In addition to losing touch with the glorious play of shapes, sizes, color and movement going on around him, the unfortunate peacock also lost sight of his own spectacular beauty. His relationship with the creation had been reduced to the same spiritual darkness responsible for the chronic human tendency to think of life as an ordeal of "quiet desperation."

Certainly not the kind of legend most of us would want to dwell on, but, thinking about it for a moment, can you sense a kind of haunting similarity between the peacock’s dilemma and how your life seems to unfold from time to time? Lord knows I can! Though I’ve never had a king sew a bag over my head, that hasn’t rescued me from the foolishness of creating perceptions of my world and my "self" that are chock-full of lonely, scary darkness.

That happens when I stop paying attention to what I’m paying attention to, and get lost in the dark-side chronicles that I mind-weave so well. When I get caught up in that unskillful use of mind I’m just like the king in the legend. I become a mental monarch sewing "bags" of irrational, critical, self-condemning thoughts over my head . . . "thought-bags" that blind me to my own unique beauty and the rich grace of God’s grand garden of life.

Whenever we get lost in the darkness of believing the false, distorted thoughts we so often use in describing ourselves and our world, our feelings about our lives will inevitably become as dark as the peacock’s. And, if we stay trapped in that way of thinking and feeling long enough, just like the peacock, we too will find ourselves lost in the tragic bondage of forgetting just how beautiful we truly are. And what then . . .?

WAKE UP! THINK LENT! REPENT FROM SPIRITUALLY UNINFORMED THINKING AND RESURRECT THE SPIRITUAL ART OF MINDFULNESS... yes mindfulness, the anointed practice of noticing the absurdity of the self-demeaning mind play we buy into. Remember, we are not made in the image and likeness of an object worthy of scorn or ridicule or shame. Let us be faithful in honoring the impeccable nature of our lineage! Let us remember with perfect fidelity the immaculate nature of the pedigree we spring from! Let us take the bag of deception off our heads and give ourselves the Easter blessing of affirming...

Now, let us agree to pin that eternal identity on our respective foreheads and work with it ‘til we’ve got it down so right and so tight we’ll never again hypnotize ourselves into believing we are anything but prodigal children of a loving God engaged in the sacred adventure of finding our way home.

If that comes hard for you . . . if you’ve forgotten you are a beloved child and in the forgetting embraced the dark notion that life is the "pits"... STOP FOR A MOMENT, RIGHT NOW, GET OFF YOUR SPIRITUAL ASS, MOUNT YOUR DONKEY AND RIDE THE FOLLOWING SPIRITUAL PRACTICE RIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE HOLY CITY!

Sit... head erect... back straight... hands and feet comfortable and relaxed. Now take a deep breath and as you do so begin to focus all your attention on the sensation of breathing. Just be there, watching, sensing, as the rising breath moves through your nostrils, expanding your lungs to a fullness that quiets the breath for a healing moment of stillness. Capture a deep sense of the transforming quality of that resting place and then, letting go, follow the breath as it gently releases into the silence of the resting place at the bottom of the breath.

Now, follow that cycle of breath rising and falling, notice it moving from stillness to silence, from resting place to resting place . . . Embrace its lovely rhythm and capture every nuance of its gentle passage until you begin to feel a deepening sense of clarity, serenity and well-being.

Now, as the breath moves in, imagine that you are going with it to that still place in the center of your being where the breath comes full. Now imagine yourself staying in that place watching the breath move out of your body and into the silence. And there you are, right in the center of your being . . . still, secure, focused . . . noticing nothing but the easy rise and fall of the breath as it moves gently in its graceful rhythm... slow... deep... quiet... calm.

Now catch a breath that’s moving out of your being and allow a soft, contented sigh to accompany its passage . . . Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . repeat that practice of gently sighing on the out breath for a number of repetitions and then affirm

Continue that practice, gently moving the breath in and then releasing it with a contented sigh that purifies the physical body and cleanses all tension and turmoil from your emotional nature. Stay with that practice ‘til you’re feeling warm and secure, quiet and peaceful.

Then, when you are feeling really solid and centered, continue to focus your attention on the cleansing breath, but take a moment to ask this question... "FATHER/MOTHER GOD, HOW AM I DOING?"

After asking, just go back to being with the breath as it makes its gentle, healing passage in and out. Don’t get caught up waiting for an answer... just be there with your breath and before long, from a place deep within you that some have described as "the secret place of the most high," you are going to sense a "still small voice" replying to your question with something like, "YOU ARE MY BELOVED CHILD IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED."

Now the ball’s in your court. Now you’ve got a choice. Now you’ve got to decide who you are going to believe when it comes to the question of your worthiness, adequacy, lovableness and general all-around okayness? Will this be the season you give yourself the resurrecting gift of embracing the authority of your impeccable Christ nature? Will this be the Easter you cross out doubt and choose faith in the still small voice whispering, "You are my beloved," or, will you continue the crucifying practice of sewing bags of spiritual ignorance over your head by blindly accepting the distorted conclusions of a frightened ego lost in the fool’s game of failing to be what it "should be," "could be," "must be," "gotta be" and "oughta be."

In this season dedicated to crossing out spiritual ignorance I pray that you resurrect the blessing of sacred insight. Remember what God has revealed . . . "I have set before you life and death, curse and blessings, light and darkness." There’s the whole enchilada and the choice is ours. Choose light or sew a bag of spiritual ignorance over your head . . . just never forget whose doing the sewing.

May the Resurrection Be With You...

Enjoy the Grace!
--Chad

© 2004 Rev. Chad O'Shea

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