INTRODUCTION
A Navajo blessing points at a spiritual awareness that enables us to see beauty of creation all around us, and of which we are a part:
In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
A patient who sought spiritual care once inquired about how one might acquire the eyes to see grace. "Chaplain, I am told that grace is all around - that it's always present. What is grace anyway?" As confided by this patient, it seems like having the eyes to see beauty is not as easy as one would think. Often we are blinded by the expectation of God's presence as loud, dramatic, thunderous and lightning-filled. This is truly a challenge: How can we open our eyes to see the Sacred in the ordinary? How can we have the ears to hear the hear its "sweet sound"? The wisdom story about the fish searching for the ocean gives us a few bread crumbs to follow.
A Navajo blessing points at a spiritual awareness that enables us to see beauty of creation all around us, and of which we are a part:
In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
A patient who sought spiritual care once inquired about how one might acquire the eyes to see grace. "Chaplain, I am told that grace is all around - that it's always present. What is grace anyway?" As confided by this patient, it seems like having the eyes to see beauty is not as easy as one would think. Often we are blinded by the expectation of God's presence as loud, dramatic, thunderous and lightning-filled. This is truly a challenge: How can we open our eyes to see the Sacred in the ordinary? How can we have the ears to hear the hear its "sweet sound"? The wisdom story about the fish searching for the ocean gives us a few bread crumbs to follow.
THE FISH SEARCHING FOR THE OCEAN (a Sufi story)
Out in the deep ocean, there was a young fish that crossed paths with an older fish.
“Excuse me,” said the young fish. “You are older than I, so can you tell me where to find this thing they call the ocean?”
“The ocean,” said the older fish, “is the thing you are in now.”
“Oh, this? But this is water. What I’m seeking is the ocean,” said the
disappointed fish as he swam away to search elsewhere.
_____
Out in the deep ocean, there was a young fish that crossed paths with an older fish.
“Excuse me,” said the young fish. “You are older than I, so can you tell me where to find this thing they call the ocean?”
“The ocean,” said the older fish, “is the thing you are in now.”
“Oh, this? But this is water. What I’m seeking is the ocean,” said the
disappointed fish as he swam away to search elsewhere.
_____
In a very rural area in the Asian continent, there was once a spiritual seeker, who had been in a long journey to seek for the meaning in life – this spiritual seeker was looking for God. This spiritual seeker came to across an old wise sage, a spiritual master sitting under a tree.
The seeker said to the sage: “For years I have been seeking God. I have searched the Sacred, for meaning in life. I have searched everywhere in places where I am supposed to find God: on the mountain peaks, in the vastness of the desert, the silence of the monastery, and the dwellings of the poor.”
“Have you found what you’re looking for?” the master asked.
“No, I have not. Have you?”
The seeker said to the sage: “For years I have been seeking God. I have searched the Sacred, for meaning in life. I have searched everywhere in places where I am supposed to find God: on the mountain peaks, in the vastness of the desert, the silence of the monastery, and the dwellings of the poor.”
“Have you found what you’re looking for?” the master asked.
“No, I have not. Have you?”
The wise master just sat in silence, and with a peaceful and gentle smile, the master gazed at the beauty of the river passing through, and noticed the singing birds on the branches up above; and the winged creatures flying across the moon as the moon rose above the mountain in the early evening; and finally, the echo of the shrieks of children playing in a village nearby.
Moments of silence continued. Since the sage did not saying anything, the spiritual seeker left disappointed to search elsewhere.
Moments of silence continued. Since the sage did not saying anything, the spiritual seeker left disappointed to search elsewhere.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Which part of the story did you find the most important? Which part of the story resonated with you?
- What experiences have you had that is close to this story?
- Where do you find yourself in this story? Which part of the story is about you?
- What keeps you from seeing the beauty and wonder around you?
- What allows you see? Notice if you have had moments when you saw clearly - i.e., moments of awe and wonder?
Guide for Facilitators of Spiritual Care Support Groups
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Practice Spirit Play storytelling:
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