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Lost and Found

I had to smile as I typed the title for this inspirational journey reflection.  In my building the Lost and Found boxes are right outside my door.  Routinely, I have to push them back under the table where we store them because students are always coming in to look for lost books, hats, etc.  Of course, at the end of the year there are at least two big boxes full of stuff that is forever lost.  We have books for a baby library, umbrellas, gloves (often only one!), etc.  So I know exactly what Lost and Found is and where it is located.

But you might guess what I want to ponder is not the two boxes under the table outside my door.  Indeed, I had a new idea pop into my head as I was reading my favorite Buddhist author, Thich Nhat Hanh.  I am using one of his books for a class.  I like the book; I love the perspective Hanh brings, the challenges he poses to me and the students, as well as the potential spiritual growth he provokes.

I was working my way through a chapter entitled, “Let the Child Be Born to Us.”  It is a reflection on Christmas and Buddhism.  But it is not just a normal Christian reflection piece on Christmas.  Hanh brings a fresh set of “Buddhist eyes” to the traditional story of the birth of Jesus.  Somehow it becomes more and different in his narrative.

Hanh understands Christmas not just as a one-time event---the birth of the historical Jesus some twenty centuries ago.  Of course, it was that---a historical event.  But it also is a faith event.  It is a repeating event for the person of faith.  In Hanh’s understanding, Christmas should somehow be a daily, if not hourly, event for the person of faith.  I find this challenging and provocative.

Hanh thinks we all have “seeds of the Holy Spirit” within us.  If I may make the comparative move I think he has in mind, these seeds of the Holy Spirit are nothing more than the spiritual potential we all have for a rich, deep, meaningful life.  By definition this will be a spiritual life.  It is really easy to live so superficially that we never “touch” that potential.  Or we live life so worried, so angry, so fearful, so-anything, that we choke the potential birth and growth of these seeds into that rich, deep, meaningful life.

This “touching” the seeds of the Holy Spirit is what Christmas in March, 2011, is all about.  It is not an annual affair.  It is not just a daily affair.  It can be hourly or by the minute.  It is what Buddhism is all about, too.  Instead of touching the Holy Spirit, the Buddhist touches mindfulness.

Hanh says, “every time you touch the seed of mindfulness and mindfulness manifests in you, life is possible.”  As I understand it, mindfulness is something like awareness or alertness.  That is the key to this rich, deep, meaningful life.  And then came the sentence in Hanh that I found arresting.
“If you are lost in the future or in the past, you are not alive.”  Such a simple sentence---a simple thought---but a powerful punch in the spiritual nose!  If I am lost in the future…  If I am lost in the past…  If either is true, how can I be aware, alert, and mindful of anything in the present?  If this is true, I am lost.

It is easy to be lost and not know it---not experience it.  I know what it is to be lost in the future.  It can be daydreams or nightmares that populate the future.  But they are not real because they are not present.  And I know what it is like to be lost in the past.  I do know how to be lost.

Then it hit me.  I can be just like those boxes under the table…boxes full of stuff: lost and normally never found.  So what’s the answer?

Simple.  Wake up.  Be present.  Touch the seed within yourself which is the Presence and Power of the Divine.  Be mindful of that Presence and Power.  And live this day from that place and space.   

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