Here’s a Skype conversation I just had with my beloved co-worker, who is a bird enthusiast:
So here’s a red house finch from Google images:
And here’s “my” red house finch:
Ain’t life (and death…) amazing?!
I know, I know – it’s just a random bird who happened to hang around incessantly outside my office window and initiate a few stare-downs with me on the day Toby died.
I know.
No, I don’t think the finch’s presence is the “voice of God” or anything like that, because, well, I don’t happen to believe in a personal god with a voice directly to me. I just don’t.
But I do believe that Nature is an amazing and powerful force and I do believe (prompted by observing the process of my mother’s death) that there are dimensions that we can’t even begin to understand and that death is probably the biggest mystery we face.
I guess perhaps dogwood flowers and bright red finches are as close as I get to believing in God. And I’m perfectly OK with that.
If feeling a connection to God (personal or not) brings peace to your heart, go with it. That connected feeling is the source of all faith and the foundation for the peace that can be found in the heart of every religion. At least, that's what I have found in my own spiritual studies.
ReplyDeleteBeloved? Aw shucks. My feeling is that everything is "god" - which I suppose is animistic? Pagan? I don't know. Buddhist? I do feel that the demarcation between our insides and the outside is not as clear cut as we might think. Jung's synchronicity theory rings true to me. "Certain elements and conditions need to be present: first that the episode transcends a concrete event in a spiritual way and that outside events did not cause the synchronicity (i.e. purposely trying to create it). Second, the synchronistic occurrence must reflect back personal meaning to the individual experiencing it. Third, the event is tied to deep emotion within that person. Fourth, the synchronicity occurs at times of important transition in an individual's life." Jung ties all this in with archetypes and the collective unconscious in an amazing way that seems almost like a quantum physics, holographic view of the universe.
ReplyDeleteI always thought of my dad as an eagle - he had these fierce blue eyes, he was unflinchingly patriotic, etc... - the day he died I saw the biggest bald eagle I've ever seen watching us from the road. Just sat there and watched over us. Now I think of my dad soaring and circling in the sky.
ReplyDeleteit's a beautiful red finch
ReplyDelete你好勁呀! 感謝!!!..................................................................
ReplyDelete