Seeing My True Self in the Mirror of John Muir

"I will fuse in spirit skies. I will touch naked God . . ."

"Nature is a flood, and we are all in it."

John Muir

Since we as human beings have our identity rooted naturally in relationship, each of us needs some kind of Other to serve as a steady mirror in which to see our own true self.

In the midst of my current work-related challenges, I am reminded - as I was in an especially vivid manner last night - that the exuberant personality and Nature writings of John Muir have been a major mirror for me ever since elementary school, when I first encountered "Stickeen" in a third-grade reader.

In fact, I have a daily practice whereby I repeat as a sort of mantra the two passages quoted above throughout the day. I alternate back and forth between seeing all people, events and things in their transcendent spaciousness and also in their immanent flow - in Father Sky and Mother Earth, in the sacred masculine and feminine presences that indwell every last one of us in completely unique and one-of-a-kind combinations. In so doing, I find liberation from the claustrophobic tightness that I as a crazy human being am so good at manufacturing.

Yesterday, I received an added boost when Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco ordered ten more copies of my book, "The Contemplative John Muir." I will send them off in a few days with relish!

Photos: The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the San Luis Valley, Great Sand Dunes National Park, and Medano Creek, CO, April 2-3, 2016
​
For Spiritual Direction or Workshops, please visit: http://www.resourcesforspiritualgrowth.com/