MEDITATION: "The Sun and the Source"

As I was driving up to see my grandson yesterday morning, I began noticing, more than I usually do, the lovely look of the sunlight on the land, and it started me thinking about the nature of the sun – and the nature of life itself. I first thought about how amazing it is that all the light that the earth experiences – from the pale light of the moon to the shadowy light of cloudy days to the vivid light we’re enjoying on this beautiful spring day – comes from one source, the sun. It’s always there, far away but dependably bright and hot – always there in the background, so to speak, providing the landscape with life-giving light. Every day and night, moment by moment, we enjoy the comforts provided by the light of the sun. What struck me, too – thinking about it as I drove across the Connecticut hills – was that I rarely think about where all this wonderful light is coming from. I enjoy the sun’s light in a kind of mindless, robotic way. I guess you could say I take it for granted, this astonishing light that has been pouring itself down on the earth for fifteen billion years. This, in turn, led me to think, as I often do, about the nature of life itself. I believe that all of life, all of reality, is powered by a single force that is far, far stronger than the sun. I believe that whatever comes to us in our lives comes from one universal and infinite starting place that would make the sun look like a pinprick. People call this source “God”, or “Allah”, or any of dozens of other names, but whatever name it is labeled with, it remains the power behind all things. Strangely enough, I am usually as unaware of this power as I am of the power of the sun. I take it for granted. I couldn’t breathe a breath or think a thought without this one Source providing all the necessary energy, and yet I rarely give it a passing thought. I live a good part of my life in a mental daze, sleepwalking in the warm light of the astonishing sun, and in the spiritual light of the one infinite Power. Perhaps I should wake myself up now and then.