There are some moments in life that can only be described as “God moments.” We may think that these can only be feel-good moments of pleasure and joy, but this is not always so. God moments may be experienced both when witnessing the miraculous or when feeling great terror or pain. God moments are those moments in our life where the naked truth is fully unveiled and we bear witness to the awe found in profound presence.
God Moments
One of the times in the day I enjoy most is the morning walk from my car into my office at work. It is about a half mile walk from the parking lot to where I work and simply a delightful part of my day. One might think that the thought of going into work for the day might conjure up feelings of disappointment or anxiety or thoughts like, “Geez! How many more days till Friday?”, though this is not the case for me right now.
This time of year, my walk into the prison where I work is accompanied by an amazing, thick fog and mist, two regular rabbits playing in the dusty, unlandscaped field, and a rising dim sun just above the horizon lighting my way through the fog as I begin each morning.
It are these moments – these God moments – that encourage and inspire me. They are not as much “me” walking through the fog and mist with the rabbits and sunrise as it is me being together with the sun, the fog and mist, the bunnies, and also the nearly 6,000 men incarcerated at the prison in buildings and pods with a single narrow window to the outside world. I wonder if they look out too?!
God moments come in both daylight and dark, delight and despair. They come in any and all moments where “I” is not there too strongly, in moments of openness to the truth and realization that we too are an actualization of awe and wonder.
Embracing the Blind
Yes, it is normal to push away what we don’t like, who we don’t like, and where we simply don’t want to be, yet all moments – those that feel “good” and those that feel “bad” – are God moments. Our life is filled with, defined by, and enlivened by them.
Just as Adam and Eve and all creation were created in the image of God, each moment – every single one! – is created in the image of God. Our practice is to welcome them all and be hospitable to all of our life and experience. And maybe then – in our better moments – we allow and provide others with their God moments.
As it is written in the book of Leviticus (Vayikra), “Do not place a stumbling block before the blind, and be in awe of the Divine” (Leviticus 19:14). In embracing our life as it is and ourselves as we are, we cultivate the compassion imbued in our creation and realize the compassion and grace that is our very nature.
This does not mean that we must ourselves be blind to our suffering or accept any kind of maltreatment. Acceptance does not mean acquiescence. True acceptance requires a response.
How do you Respond?
There is a koan – or Zen teaching story – in the Blue Cliff Record that speaks to how to respond appropriately and to not put a stumbling block before the blind. “A monk asked Yun Men, “What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?” Yun Men said, “An appropriate response” (Case 14).
In meditation – as in life and each moment – God moments arise with each breath, with each inhalation and exhalation, each moment of inspiration and expiration. How do you respond? Neither long for God moments, nor push them away.
When you see the sun rise, how do you respond? When you are in the dark, how do you respond? When you walk along the fog, how do you respond? When you drive on the highway and run into traffic, how do you respond? When you hear unfortunate news, how do you respond? When your heart breaks, how do you respond?
When you experience your God moments, how do you respond?
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Adam Fogel
www.mindfuljudaism.com