The woods are chock-full of honest spirits.

"I believed that the woods [of Mount Kineo] were not tenantless, but chock-full of honest spirits as good as myself any day - not an empty chamber in which chemistry was left to work alone, but an inhabited house - and for a few moments I enjoyed fellowship with them."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Mount Toll and Engelmann Spruce, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO, January 26, 2015

Always the line of beauty is a curve.

"Always the line of beauty is a curve."

Henry David Thoreau

Photo: Ice patterns on Brainard Lake with Mt. Audubon in the background, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO, January 26, 2015

Crippling guilt is just as egoic and "unspiritual" as our original offense.

When we cause suffering to someone - whether intentionally or unintentionally - we do it because we are acting from an enclosed, constricted, and narrow worldview. In other words, we've failed to extend our identity beyond our own ego to include the perspective of the other person, culture, landscape or species whom we've wronged. However, once we become aware of the suffering we've caused, our tendency then is to obsessively beat ourselves up internally for the offense, thinking this will then make things right again.

However, castigating ourselves is actually simply another form of the constricted mindset that caused us to inflict the suffering in the first place! All acts of self-castigation - together with the associated feelings of guilt that afflict us so intensely - are, in truth, just as constricted and narrow as the mindset that caused the original offense! For ALL forms of constriction are, it turns out, innately egoic and imprisoning. As such, they are actually the antithesis of true spirituality, which is inherently open, free and spacious. Psychologically-speaking, the crippling guilt we inflict upon ourselves is even more egoic than the original mindset that caused the wrong in the first place because it has such a tight, heavy, claustraphobic, leaden, oppressive feel to it. It is, in fact, this oppressive tightness that is the very definition of "ego."

My spiritual mentor, Thomas Keating, used to remind me that when we do something wrong, only the original "prick" of conscience can be considered spiritual. Any obsessive feelings of guilt and self-castigation that follow should be regarded as they really are - as "temptations" to be released. For me, the liberating thing is to realize that both the original wrong AND the crippling guilt we feel afterwards arise from the SAME tight, constricted, egoic state of consciousness. The solution is to do what we can to right the wrong, move beyond the constricted worldview that caused it in the first place, AND release the leaden sense of guilt as well, allowing both the offense and the resulting guilt to become a transparent window through to the Light and Spaciousness of the Divine Self in which BOTH constrictions can open and then dissolve! And THAT, I know for a fact, is TRUE liberation :)

Photo: Sunlight shining through a twin-topped Subalpine Fir at treeline, with Niwot Ridge in the background, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO, January 26, 2015 #NaturePhotoQuotes  #StephenHatch

Mistakes are the ground out of which fresh seeds of good can unexpectedly sprout!

For some reason, I used to think that as I got older, I would make less mistakes. As it turns out, it seems I actually make MORE mistakes than ever! Part of the reason, I realize, is because I currently put myself "out there" into the world more than I used to. I have a greater number of social connections, which results in a higher chance of making a verbal blunder, "sticking my foot in my mouth," doing or saying something that gets misinterpreted, hurting someone's feelings, or misjudging what is needed in a situation, and then doing the exact opposite instead.

Although it is tempting to try escaping ownership of the blunder by placing the blame elsewhere, when it comes right down to it, I know that I am the one who is at least partially in the wrong. However, today I received fresh light on the fact that admitting my fault is not necessarily as depressing as it seems at first to be. Lying on the ground while taking pictures, I recalled that many thinkers have noted the link between the word "humus" and "humility." When we admit that we did indeed make a mistake, we become "grounded" in the truth of the situation. And when that occurs, then our Source - the Beloved - is able to seed that ground with fresh opportunities for growth and goodness. When we finally admit our error, then a negative situation is transformed into one that can become fruitful in the good. This is, of course, something that can never occur when we decide instead to cycle endlessly around in the groundless "air" of self-justification and rationalization.

Thomas Merton puts it this way: "The victory of contemplative humility is the full acceptance of God's hidden action in the weakness and ordinariness and unsatisfactoriness of our own everyday lives. It is the acceptance of our own incompleteness, in order that He may make us complete in His own way. It is joy in our emptiness, which can only be filled by Him. It is peace in our own unfruitfulness which He Himself makes immensely fruitful without our being able to understand how it is done."

Merton reminds us that we "live then as a seed planted in the ground. As Christ said, the seed in the ground must die. To be as a seed in the ground of one's very life is to dissolve in that ground in order to become fruitful. But this fruitfulness is beyond any planning and any human understanding. To be 'fruitful' in this sense, one must forget every idea of fruitfulness or productivity, and merely BE. One's fruitfulness is at once an act of faith and an act of doubt: doubt of all that one has hitherto seen in oneself, and faith in what one cannot possibly imagine for oneself. The 'doubt' dissolves our ego-identity."

In fact, it sometimes seems that God even NEEDS our mistakes as a necessary condition for the revelation of SURPRISE at the fact that such blunders can turn - yet again - into something good. Meister Eckhart says that "God likes forgiving BIG sins more than small ones," perhaps because the big blunders contain the highest potential for a sense of awe, wonder and surprise to occur when we - together with God - watch spellbound as some new opportunity arises unexpectedly out of the very ground into which our own mistakes and shortcomings also dissolve!

Photo: Cottonwood leaf, red grass and ruddy cliffs at sunset, Lory State Park, CO, January 22, 2015

There would be no enlightenment if the shadow parts of our lives were not also present.

As every photographer knows, some of the best pictures occur when the shadows are longest. During these times of day - especially just after sunrise and right before sunset - there is the greatest contrast between light and dark. As it turns out, this principle can be instructive in our own inner lives. Often we want to stamp out the shadow side of our personality - our imbalances, our obsessions, our neurotic tendencies, our ego-constrictions. However, if we remember that it is precisely the unlit parts of a scene that really "make" a photo, we can be empowered to realize that every spiritual transformation in our lives comes from working through the personality imbalances that are so much a part of life. "Enlightenment" would not even appear on our interior radar unless it were highlighted against a backdrop of the unenlightened aspects of our lives. An awareness of this truth helps us "lighten up" when the shadow side of our personality inevitably reveals itself. Besides, a person with no shadow side (if such a creature were even possible) would be quite boring and uninteresting!

Photo: Brainard Lake and Mt. Audubon at sunset, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO, January 26, 2015

The secret to remaining youthful.

"Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."

Franz Kafka

Photo: Ice and rock on Brainard Lake with Mt. Audubon in the background, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO, January 26, 2015

Just a thin layer of openness and sensitivity is enough to enable us to serve as mirrors for the beauty of the Cosmos!

While hiking on Monday at 10,500 feet with 56 degrees as the temperature, I discovered that some of the mountain lakes, while frozen solid, had a half-inch of water floating on the top. In this shallow, mirror-like layer, the peaks above were magnificently reflected, even though there was still ice all around. This phenomenon reminded me that each of us is called to be a mirror of the beauty of the Divine, who appreciates himself and herself within our own awe and wonder at the beauty of the world. It also occurred to me that we are meant as well to reflect the beauty of other human beings through the love and kindness we offer one another. Often we feel that we are frozen inside, rendered insensitive to the beauty of life because of the modern societal stresses that would harden our hearts and minds. However, it is consoling to know that just a thin layer of openness, appreciation and sensitivity is enough to enable us STILL to serve as mirrors for the beauty both of the Divine and of those around us. May each of us awaken to how much we are needed - even though we might be tempted to feel unworthy - for the self-celebration of the Cosmos!

Photo: (From left to right) Niwot Ridge, Navajo Peak, Apache Peak, Shoshoni Peak, and Pawnee Peak, reflected in Red Rock Lake, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO, January 26, 2015

Our love lights the understanding.

"Our love lights the understanding."

Francisco de Osuna,
15th century Spanish Franciscan mystic 

 

Photos:(Top) Sunset on Westridge, Lory State Park, CO, January 27, 2015; (Middle) Ponderosa Pines and a peak in the Mummy Range, Lory State park, CO, January 27, 2015; (Bottom) Long Lake, Indian Peaks Wilderness, January 26, 2015

Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart.

"Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart."

"Frozen"

Walking out onto a frozen Red Rock Lake yesterday, I was stunned at how vivid the namesake rocks were that jutted up out of the ice. They made me think of the power that love has to melt an icy heart!

Photo: Red rock on Red Rock Lake, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO, January 26, 2015

Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy.

"Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy."

John Denver 

Today was quite amazing! I hiked up to several subalpine lakes at elevation 10,500 feet, and the temperature was a very comfortable 56 degrees. Not only that, but there were no clouds and absolutely NO wind, which is quite unusual for this time of year. Because of the mild weather, I was able to lie down on the frozen lakes for quite a long time, photographing the magic of ice patterns. As always, I felt the sunshine melting the boundaries of my individual self, allowing my identity to melt out into the spaciousness of the landscape, where both The Great Mystery and Mother Earth are forever lost in love.

Photos: (Top) Ice patterns on Brainard Lake, with Mt. Audubon in the background; (Middle) Red Rock Lake; (Bottom)  Sunset, with a Subalpine Fir jutting up into the sky. All three photos were taken in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, near Boulder, CO, January 26, 2015

It is as if God were wearing the mountains upon him as common bones and flesh.

"It is as if God were wearing the mountains upon him as common bones and flesh."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photos: (Top) Windblown snow chunks in the air, Zimmerman Lake, near Cameron Pass, CO, January 24, 2015; (Middle) Red rocks at Lory State Park, CO, January 22, 2015; (Bottom) Mist and snow in the air, with a peak in the background, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015

Our task as spiritual practitioners is to ferret out and highlight the good in others.

Landscape photography involves looking for beauty where it may not at first be evident. In the first picture, I walked halfway around the lake until I found an ice pattern that was especially photogenic. Much of the rest of the lake was without such patterning.

In the second photo, I needed to zoom my lens to focus on the topmost rocks of a cliff at sunset, where a small strip of stone was catching the last light. And in the third photo, a snowstorm made it difficult to find much contrast, a necessary element in any good picture. I therefore found a dead snag with one side that was especially colorful, and then focused on that.

Similarly, it is our task as spiritual practitioners to focus on the good qualities of each person we meet, even if we have to dig beneath the surface to ferret them out. Jewish mysticism calls this a process of "raising the sparks" of divinity that lie hidden within all things. After all, we hope others will do the same for us. It is of course easy to find and focus on another person's flaws. Obviously, we ALL have them. But it is much more honorable and noble to highlight and elicit each person's gifts and assets. Why else are we here on this Earth?

Photos: (Top) Sunset on Bellvue Dome and Watson Lake, Bellvue, CO, January 22, 2015; (Middle) A ridgetop glows at sunset in Lory State Park, CO, January 22, 2015; (Bottom) Dead Lodgepole Pine snag on the shore of Zimmerman Lake, Never Summer Range, Cameron Pass, CO, January 24, 2015

The snowstorm moves from tree to tree, as if bestowing separate and independent blessings upon each.

"I wish that you could have seen the edge of the snow-cloud, which hovered, oh, so soothingly, discharging its heaven-begotten snows with such unmistakable gentleness and moving perhaps from pine to pine as if bestowing separate and independent blessings upon each."

The Contemplative John Muir

Photos: Snowstorm and evergreens on Zimmerman Lake, near Cameron Pass, CO, January 24, 2015

It is God who is present within the cry of our hearts.

"My Lord, You have heard the cry of my heart because it was You Who cried out within my heart."

Thomas Merton

Photo: Lodgepole Pine cones on Zimmerman Lake, near Cameron Pass, CO, January 24, 2015

Others come alive when we see them for who they truly are.

One of the 2nd century Christian mystics we studied in class yesterday - St. Irenaeus of Lyons - says that "The life of humanity is the vision of God." For a contemplative, life would be nothing without this seeing of the Divine in all things through a mind suffused by love. However, we might more accurately say that we come alive because WE are seen by our Source. As Franciscan teacher Richard Rohr says, "The 'beatific vision' is perhaps God looking at us instead of our seeing God." We have this experience during the silence of contemplative prayer, when a nameless magnetic Love wells up from the center of our being and holds us in its embrace. This is the Gaze of God grasping us with love and affirming our own inner beauty and goodness. As a Renaissance mystic named Nicholas of Cusa so aptly says of God: "I AM because You look at me . . . With You, to behold is to give life . . . Feed me with Your gaze, O Lord . . . For with You to see is to cause. Your vision, Lord, is Your essence."

On the other hand, we experience the gaze of the sacred feminine - Sophia, Gaia, Mother Earth, the Goddess - holding us in its loving embrace whenever something beautiful grasps and holds our attention. I especially notice this with photography, when a beautiful tree, rock, mountain, sunset sky, flower or animal grasps ahold of my attention. In both of these cases - with God and Goddess - we come more alive when we are seen for who we really are.

Each of us is meant to mediate this gaze of God and Goddess to one another. When we come alive inside, it is because we are truly SEEN by one another. This seeing awakens us to our own beauty and goodness on a whole new level. In "The Soul's Code," James Hillman puts it this way: "To be is to be perceived . . . Phenomena need not be saved by grace or faith or all-embracing theory. They are saved by our simple gasping at their imaginal loveliness. The AHH of wonder, of recognition. The aesthetic response saves the phenomenon, the phenomenon which is the face of the world."

May each of us this day feed one another - and bring one another to fresh spiritual birth - through the gaze of appreciation and love.

Photos: The same scene viewed on January 13 and 20, 2015, Lory State Park, CO.

A wonderful inter-religious dialogue with a student.

Today one of my students and I had a wonderful dialogue during the break midway through our class. Daji is a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and the class covers the history of Contemplative Christianity. During our discussion, he told me that when he reads the story of the Fall in which Adam and Eve eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he sees this as a fall into the realm of DUALITY where contrasting qualities emerge and enter into conflict with one another. By contrast, he said, the Tree of Life, whose fruit the cosmic couple never ate, represents unity or NON-DUALITY. It is this enlightenment into non-duality that is the goal of Buddhist study and practice.

I then noted that for Christian Contemplatives - as well as for mystical Muslims or Sufis - the world of duality in which the the various opposites seem opposed to one another is actually NEEDED for any one of us to realize enlightenment. We believe there would be no awareness of Divine Union without first experiencing what seems to be non-union or duality. Daji then mentioned Tibetan master Chogyam Trungpa's idea that although ego and enlightenment seem to be opposites, the suffering caused by ego is actually the PERFECT FUEL for enlightenment. For without the burning of ego, there would be NO flash of enlightenment.

Later in our conversation, Daji talked about the experience in Contemplative Christianity where Christ acts as a mirror in which we are finally able to see our true and sacred self. He mentioned how this actually corresponds to the Tibetan practice of "creation-and-completion." Here, during the creation phase, the practitioner visualizes one of the Tibetan deities or bodhisattvas (embodiments of compassion). Then, one brings that visualization within oneself (the completion phase) and identifies completely with the deity as a mirror of one's own true self. He said that the difference between the two traditions seems to be that while the Christian CONTINUES the Christ-visualization phase throughout his or her entire life - alternating it with the practice of completion or union - the Tibetan ENDS the process with the completion phase, when one's inner self once and for all BECOMES the visualized deity.

I really appreciated the honesty and openness on both sides in this dialogue, and very much valued Daji's interest in discussing both the commonalities and differences between the two traditions. As I walked back to my car after class, I marveled at the fact that Naropa University is such an amazing place for this kind of dialogue to occur. It made me wonder - in how many other places can one find this kind of meaningful interaction? I feel grateful to be able to teach in such an atmosphere of kindness and mutual respect.

Photo: Two Subalpine Firs at treeline, above Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015

Salvation comes through being mirrored.

Today in my Contemplative Christianity course, we are studying several of the third century mystics - St. Irenaeus of Lyons and Origen of Alexandria. What most people in our culture don't realize is this: in the early days of Christian Spirituality, "salvation" (the process of being made whole) had nothing to do with the modern theory of substitutionary atonement. Christ's death was NOT viewed as a payment to God for human wrongdoing. Rather, the LIFE of Christ was emphasized (even for Origen, who lived in the age of martyrdom), and Jesus was viewed as a mirror in which each of us is finally able to see our own true self. One of the favorite scriptures of these mystics emphasizes the liberation that occurs when we truly SEE ourselves in the mirror of Christ. It says: "But we, who with unveiled faces all contemplate as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Accordingly, Origen could write:

"Let us always fix our gaze on the image of God - Christ - so that we might be able to be reformed in its likeness. By contemplating the divine image in whose image God made us, we will receive through the Word and his power that form which had been given us by nature. The purified spirit, which has risen above earthly things in order to enjoy with clarity the contemplation of God (the Word), is DIVINIZED by what it contemplates. This is what the Apostle meant in saying: 'and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness.' "

This principle of salvation by mirroring was re-emphasized over and over again by the later medieval monks. It is also, as J. Philip Newell points out in his book, "Christ of the Celts," a major principle of Celtic Christian spirituality. Newell summarizes this tradition when he says, "Christ comes to reawaken us to our true nature
 . . . HE is our memory."

The question for each of us, Christian or not, is this: what in particular serves as OUR salvific mirror? For me, the beauty of Nature - and of the Divine, including Christ, who is present within the natural world - serves as a mirror in which I am able to find my own qualities of expansiveness, openness, beauty and light. Since early childhood, wilderness explorer John Muir has functioned as another of those mirrors. In him, I am able to see my own passion, playfulness, joy and interior wildness. For each of us, the primary mirror will be unique to our own personality. May each of us discover this day the primary mirrors that reveal to us who WE really are!

Photo: Mount Rainier mirrored in Reflection Lakes, Mt. Rainier National Park, WA, July 26, 2015

Sitting and looking off into the distance . . .

"All religions will pass, but this will remain: . . .

"simply sitting and looking into the distance."

Vasily Rozanov

Photos: Various scenes within several miles of my home, Larimer County, CO, January 22, 2015

Every moment of our lives is like a Quaker Silent Meeting.

Several days ago while hiking in the mountains, I was thinking about the way a Quaker Silent Meeting works. It's something I'd like my students at Naropa University - where I teach - to experience. Many family members on my mother's side - the Brintons - were prominent Pennsylvania Quakers, and their egalitarian, democratic and contemplative spirituality has been heavily influential on who I am today.

In a Quaker Meeting, the worship is completely silent. Then, whenever a person feels led by the Spirit, they stand, speak from their heart, and then sit down again. A few minutes later, another person stands, speaks their truth for that moment, and then sits down. There is no discussion, no commentary on what others have said, no one-upmanship when the attitudes of the participants are in the right place. Rather, each person's heartfelt statement appears out of the silence - as though out of nowhere - speaks, and then dissolves back into the silence once again. I envision it being like a Word of God's love speaking itself, and then resting back into the silence of Divine contentment. Or rather, like an echo appearing out of Nowhere, with God lost in bliss before he can ever speak the original word.

Suddenly, as I was reflecting on all of this, it appeared to me that the mountain landscape where I was traveling was also a sort of Quaker Silent Meeting. As I hiked toward treeline, each Subalpine Fir tree would speak its truth, through its unique form and appearance - like an echo in the vast, silent, snowy landscape. Then it would settle back into the silence until the next tree I encountered would speak ITS truth. The same happened with the peaks, which would momentarily appear out of the mist in order to speak their rocky truth, and then disappear once again into the foggy silence. It was as though I was part of a worship meeting, with trees and mountains rather than people as participants.

When I returned home, I realized that every moment in town is also a kind of Quaker Silent Meeting. Each person we meet, each passing car, each tree planted in each yard speaks its truth as we encounter it, and then dissolves back into the silence of Divine Love. Suddenly, I wanted little to do with the usual distractions with which we are so often tempted to fill the silence - verbal commentary about whether we like something or not, a seemingly endless barrage of internet information, or even the music we sometimes play in order to fill what seems to be emptiness. How could we ever succumb to such distractions, when everything around us is continually speaking its truth? Suddenly, when viewed in this way, ALL of reality becomes holy!

Photo: Rocky peaks and an avalanche chute with a slanted tree above Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015

Human loneliness is, in fact, the loneliness of God.

"Human loneliness is, in fact, the loneliness of God.  That is why it is such a great thing for a person to discover his solitude and learn to live in it.  For there he finds that he and God are one."

Thomas Merton

Photos: (Top and Bottom) Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015; (Middle) Kingfisher in a Cottonwood, Watson Lake, Bellvue, CO, January 12, 2015

Spiritual evolution involves becoming ever more expansive in our vision.

Expansive landscapes teach us that one of the most important features of our spiritual evolution as a species is the ability to become ever more expansive in our vision. This is especially true in the arena of religion. Here, we learn to embrace the best traits of all faiths, not just to "coexist" - as the rather bland and uninspired bumper sticker puts it - but to actively learn from the various faiths. This is not at all the same as claiming "they are all really saying the SAME thing." Actually, from a contemplative perspective, each faith specializes in a different angle or aspect of Divine truth, and each is meant to function as a sort of puzzle piece that fits together with all of the other pieces to create a Larger Whole. Spiritual evolution involves integrating these various angles into a single picture, preserving the uniqueness of each while seeking to discover how they all work together. Are we ready for this advance as a species? I'm convinced we are!

Photo: Peaks above Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015

Meditation allows us to identify with the Ground of Being or Sky or Awareness.

I love visiting and revisiting my favorite places in a variety of different weather conditions and lightings. It is amazing how a single place can have so many different moods.

Often we bemoan the fact that our own moods or attitudes can seem so changeable from day to day or week to week. However, if we engage in a regular meditation practice, we gradually learn to identify ourselves with the Ground of Being or Sky of Awareness rather than with our momentary mood changes. This then allows us to sit back and watch the show of our shifting and colorful emotions rather than become upset by them.

Photos: Watson Lake, near Bellvue, CO, on January 14, January 8,  January 12, and November 19 of the 2014-2015 winter season.

Variety's the very spice of life.

"Variety's the very spice of life that gives it all its flavor."

William Cowper

I love living in a place where there is so much elevation change, and - with it - a variety of different landscapes and microclimates. Yesterday, I hiked up to tree line at 10,200 feet where snowy winter reigned.

Today, I trekked to a south-facing rock ledge at 7,000 feet that serves as my wintertime mediation place. It had flies buzzing, green plants - mullein - and a temperature, in the sun, in the upper 60s.

 

Photos: (Top) Rock Spires above Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015; (Middle and Bottom) Mullein leaves, Lory State Park, CO, January 20, 2015

In God's wildness lies the hope of the world.

"In God's wildness lies the hope of the world - the great, fresh, unblighted, unredeemed wilderness. The galling harness of civilization drops off, and the wounds heal before we are aware!"

The Contemplative John Muir

Yesterday's hike was quite an adventure! When I arrived at the trailhead, it was snowing like crazy. I hiked two miles up to the steep slope above the far end of Emerald Lake, where the visibility was next to nothing. However, a few minutes after I arrived, the snow stopped, the wind died completely down, and the fog cleared. Several hundred feet above the lake, the steep slope became quite slippery, composed of an icy sheet covered with three or four inches of snow. However, I was determined to hike up to treeline.

When I got there, I snapped my photos, and then turned around. The slope was so slick, I had to sit and slide. Fortunately, there were a few stubby trees I was able to grab to arrest my slide. I proceeded to the bottom by sliding a hundred feet, grabbing a tree, and then sliding again. Finally, I made it to the lake!

Photos: Limber Pines and Subalpine Fir above Dream and Emerald Lakes, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015

The personal and non-personal aspects of divinity continually shapeshift INTO one another!

Many "Spiritual, Not Religious" seekers have trouble accepting the possibility of a personal God because the only image they've been given is that of an old man sitting in the sky. Rejecting this image, they end up moving to its polar opposite: God as completely identified with impersonal energy. However, both of these images are based on a dualistic Western logic where Divinity can only be viewed either as a literal person or as literal energy. By contrast, mystical logic - sometimes called "Crazy Wisdom" - understands that personal and non-personal qualities are readily able to transform themselves INTO one another.

Speaking from my own experience, I realize that whenever I begin, for example, with an image of the person of Jesus, I am led by the Spirit to move THROUGH his eyes and form into a non-personal light, warmth and spaciousness, albeit one that is suffused with love. Similarly, when I hike to the most non-personal places I can find; namely, the wilderness spaces of mountains, deserts, badlands and wide-open skies, a sense of personal presence suddenly appears within those non-personal spaces - one that is, paradoxically, emptied out in bliss into those very spaces.

It is time, I'm convinced, for all of us to move beyond a black-or-white, either-or, dualistic kind of logic and travel instead into the wonder of a mystical logic where opposites are continually shapeshifting into one another. Here, the personal aspect of divinity shapeshifts - surprise! - into the realm of the non-personal, just as the non-personal aspect shapeshifts - surprise! - into the realm of the personal. What else could we possibly expect, when even a scientific field like particle physics teaches us that the 99% empty space composing an atom manifests itself on a regular basis as solid matter?

Photo: An Engelmann Spruce tree with its top sheered off in an avalanche, with rocky spires in the background, above Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 19, 2015

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.

"It is something to be able to paint a particular picture or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look! To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts."

Henry David Thoreau

Photos: Ice decorations, Lory State Park, CO, January 13, 2015