"As we acquire more knowledge,
things do not become more comprehensible,
but more mysterious."
-- Albert Schweitzer
Oh how I have found this great quote to be true! Things that I used to take for granted, which was pretty much everything that I would see or hear or smell or touch, now so often simply amaze me.
I have learned so much from so many hundreds of books, audio and video programs, and yet, this often demonstrates to me how little I know in that way, and at the same time, how much I know within myself that I only find in bits and pieces.
I find myself looking at the sky a lot. I am amazed at the display even when it is all one big expanse of blue, and enjoy it when the blue is intermixed with every kind of cloud, and even when it is gray and comes with lightning, thunder, rain, and other storming. It is alive and constantly changing.
The new growth on the plants, birds chasing each other, taking baths, pecking the ground, picking off berries from bushes and trees, taking a break from eating to sit together in a bush and chat away loudly while I relish the beautiful noise. It's a few days away from the official announcement of Spring and this year it seems to have started a month ago.
John Burroughs joins me saying it this way: "To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life."
To me, it is even more elaborate. I find so much to feel joy from as I look around me now. I find almost nothing to not be in joy about. I find so much to realize that I am amazed at and in awe of, and almost nothing that is not in that place.
What started some years back as a thankful thought became a grateful heart, and what began then as simple praise became awe and wonder. I am still learning, and yet the more I seem to learn, the more wonder I see around me. The more I praise God or the Universe for all of this, and my own awareness of it, the more I see God everywhere I look--including in the mirror, as I am part of the awe. Albert Schweitzer says, "He who does not reflect his life back to God in gratitude does not know himself."
"As We Understand Life In Ourselves, We Want To Understand Life In The Universe, In Order To Enter Into Harmony With It." -- Albert Schweitzer
Spread Some Joy Today--by recognizing the joy that is already in and around you.
No comments:
Post a Comment