What Lens Are You Looking Through?
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ― Albert Einstein
The last few months I’ve been writing about the power of “seeing differently;” and the ability of perspective to shape our lives. We all have a collection of lenses through which we see, understand and experience the world around us. They are created by our fundamental beliefs about “how things are;” e.g. whether we see them as black or white or in shades of gray; as personal or not personal.
The contrasting lenses I’ve been thinking about lately are those of the sacred and the secular – the miracle and the rational; the holy and the mundane.
How is it that some people see the Divine in the most tragic of circumstances, and others see only the rain despite the rainbow?
I have pondered this question for more than 30 years as I have journeyed with individuals and families through a wide variety of challenges, transitions, joys and tragedies. And time and again I have seen the stark contrast between those who view life through a sacred lens and those who do not. A contrast that shows up in the quality of their immediate experience, their level of resiliency, the nature of their relationships and their depth of spiritual awareness.
Like other perspectives, whether we see life through a sacred or a secular lens is a choice.
I think this is what Einstein was trying to say; that there are only two lenses. Through one, nothing is holy. Through the other, everything is holy.
I’m not sure I totally agree with Einstein (I like middle ground), but I can say that over the years there has been less and less distinction between the two for me. So much so, there are times that everything is holy now.
And because it is a matter of choice, I am more concerned with the quality of life I want to have than debating the line between the sacred and the secular. I get to place the line wherever I want to (and so do you); which allows me to revel in the mysteries, magic and miracles that surround me every day – at home and at work.
A friend recently shared a song by Peter Mayer entitled Holy Now that captures this experience better than my words (thank you Lynn Scheurell!) Perhaps it will speak to you too.
To the miracles all around us,