What, I wonder, will my view of things be today? Will I see scenes of smallness and limitation, as I so often do, where everything is separate and frail and struggling? Will my life look like something small and defenseless in a universe of restrictions and constraint? Or … hopefully, will I see the truth – that today will unfold, moment after moment, spectacular views of immeasurable possibilities? Will I be able to see each hour revealing a panorama of opportunities – this simple day in July showing me spectacles never before seen in the history of the universe? Will I see the landscape of love that will always encircle me? Will I notice the scenery of cosmic wisdom that’s always present … if I simply open my eyes and heart?
a view of the Mystic River on our early morning walk yesterday
One dictionary defines ‘panorama’ as an unbroken view of the whole region surrounding an observer, and my daily wish is to constantly enjoy a wonderful panorama of life. I am so often lost in the stagnant cave of my own thoughts, seeing only the mist and fogginess of fears and self-centeredness, and what I need is to get up to the high mountains of awareness and see the scenic view it affords. When seen from the peaks of true wakefulness, life is boundless and breathtaking, far too multifaceted and mysterious to be captured by my little and helpless ego-mind. Each moment and every moment, I can be witness to a view of life – the true view – that is picturesque and limitless and simply astounding, if I step up to the high peaks of awareness. They’re right here, right now, always – these beautiful bird’s eye views of reality. All I have to do is stop, stay still, and look – and be astonished.
LUCK
Sometimes my good luck seems unbelievable. I’m neither wealthy nor well-known nor uncommonly gifted, but good fortune seems to follow me everywhere. I often, for instance, can’t believe the simple fact that I’m alive on an astonishing planet in an implausibly beautiful universe – that somehow this person called “Ham’ has been given hundreds of millions of minutes of this thing called life. The whole mystery of my life seems totally improbable, as if a magician somewhere in the everlasting cosmos made some swirls with her wand and, presto, here’s Hamilton Salsich. And my incredible good fortune continues to follow me in a round-the-clock way – my heart somehow holding its rhythm 100,000 times each day, my blood reliably rolling through my body hour after hour, my lungs lifting and falling in a steadfast way. All this, to me, seems so far-fetched – so deserving of awe – that it almost requires a down-on-my-knees, lost-for-words reverence.
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Below, scenes from our walk this morning on the Beebe Pond trail …
EVERYDAY MIRACLES: An Occasional Journal of a Life Lived in Wonder 