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Here is a story of missing the Light's appearance by not looking beyond the appearance, the details. Those present could not welcome the man, so could not receive the Grace offering Itself to them through the man.
The man Jesus, his father, his mother, his brothers and sisters... all surface, details, relative. Christ, the Word, the Presence of Life... the Depth, the Absolute. The whole spiritual life is an increasing receptivity to the Depth manifesting through the surfaces surrounding us. To one person, a surface is a surface, to another person, that surface is the veil and means of the Sun.
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When we adore the Buddha, or Christ, or Krishna, or anyone we look back on with devotion, these are pointers to here and now. We use different words and rituals, and we revere different beings, but they all point us to Grace, to the one Presence.
We can have a life-altering meeting with anyone who manifests Life, anywhere, and anytime. Why should I assume that the Buddha I meet through the historical Buddha is superior to that I meet through a stranger in my own time and place? Is Christ met through a friend different from the Christ persons met through Jesus? Can Buddha be divided? No. Can Christ? No. As Augustine says to us:
[Y]ou are the mystery that is placed upon the Lord’s table.
You receive the mystery that is
yourself.
To that which you are,
you will respond,
‘Amen.’
*Roger Housden. For Lovers of God Everywhere.
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It is not enough, for example, if I worship Christ in Jesus. To do only that is to keep Christ back then and in Jesus. Yet, Christ is not a back then Christ or an only in Jesus Christ. If I do not realize this, I miss Christ standing before me, even in someone who has no faith in that Jesus of history. Christ may appear to me through a Hindu I had never before known and not a Christian I have known for years.
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Today, can be a day for you to reflect on your life and be grateful for those who have been a means of Grace to you, a Sacrament of Presence. Through whose presence have you seen your True Face? These, you can say, one by one, "Thank you" for, in silence.
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(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2020
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