Awakening

I've had this experience several times in my life. I'm just going along through a day, exchanging brief greetings and general observations with others, on my way to this or that meeting or errand. And suddenly something happens - not a crisis or a trauma, just a flashing, momentary shift of perspective - and my way of seeing the world is changed. Long ago the image of an impoverished indigenous African child appeared in my mind for a moment, and I never again was able to imagine my life apart from hers. One day while I was a seminary student, I felt the momentary presence of overwhelming comfort and love, and I knew there was a transcendent reality. I tried to shake it for years, embarrassed to be associated with the kinds of ignorance, cruelty and oppression demonstrated for eons by groups who profess to believe in God. But it stays with me, the conviction that there are higher, deeper, broader dimensions of consciousness that intersect my neural pathways and can transform my entire way of thinking. The Greeks had a word for it: "metanoia". Could be translated "expanded consciousness" or "broad-mindedness". There's so much wonder in life to make mental space for, and sometimes, I change.