We are always just a part of a larger Whole . . .

In Yellowstone's geyser and hot springs basins, there's always a lot of mist and steam. An elk or a tree or a particular thermal pool will come briefly into focus and then disappear into the mist and steam once again. This gives the sense that it is not so much any of the parts of the landscape that matter in an ultimate sense, but the whole of which they are a part. Similarly, our own spiritual path or perspective is meant simply to serve a much larger Whole. It is not meant to BE that Whole. Each of us is just a particular perspective or way of knowing that greater Whole. While having my morning retreat at the campground, I was therefore fascinated to read these words:

"Jesus invites us to become a new community of human beings; he calls us a little flock. I don't believe he ever wanted us to be the whole - only the part. He said we should be the yeast, the leaven, not the whole loaf. He called us to be the salt, but we want to be the whole meal. he urged us to be the light that illumines the mountaintop, but we want to be the whole mountain. The images Jesus uses are very modest and yet very strong. It's very difficult now for us to be merely leaven and salt and light. We hardly know how to do that. We want to lead; we want the way of power. We thought we had to be the whole loaf, whereas he tells us to be just the leaven. That is a much more humble, fragile, and even invisible position. it feels powerless and will appeal only to people who don't need power."

Richard Rohr
"What the Mystics Know"

Photos: West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, WY, September 5 and 7, 2015