The function of all good spirituality is to provide the heart and mind with a healthy dose of awe and wonder.

I don't know what life would be like without a sense of mystery! Whether it manifests itself in the form of a rock spire fading in and out of the mist, a landscape in which golden foliage and snow-sprinkled cliffs resemble a surreal painting, or a sunburst appearing like an iridescent pearl through snow clouds just before sunset, mystery never fails to awaken the imagination.

I'm convinced, in fact, that the function of all good spirituality is to provide the heart and mind with a healthy dose of awe and wonder. Specifically, meditation practice excels in showing us that all phenomena, thoughts and feelings exist as echoes arising within the spaciousness of awareness as though out of nowhere! Speaking mythically, we might say that the Creator was just about to speak a word of love to the world, but LOST himself in self-emptying bliss just before he could even utter the word! Yet - surprise! - echoes of that unspoken love-word - appearing at the root of all creatures and all things - are somehow able to appear, anyway!

Photos: (Top) A rock spire fades in and out of the mist, with a Limber Pine growing in the foreground, Emerald Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, November 14, 2014; (Middle) Golden Willow foliage and snowy cliffs resemble a surreal painting, west of Loveland, CO, November 14, 2014; (Bottom) A late-lying sun shining through snow-clouds resembles an iridescent pearl, Lory State Park, CO, November 15, 2014