Have you ever had the privilege of watching something transform before your eyes. Perhaps you did not see this transformation immediately, but slowly and over time. This morning, I was reading a selection from Mark Neepo’s book The Book of Awakening. In his reflection for today, he wrote:
I recently learned that the first form of pencil was a ball of lead. Having discovered that lead, if scratched, would leave markings, people then wrestled with large chunks of the stuff in an attempt to write. Through the work of many, the chunks were eventually shaped into a useable form that could fit the hand. The discovery became a tool.
I am humbled to confess after a lifetime of relationship that love is no different. Be it a lover or a friend or a family member, the discovery of closeness appears in our life like a ball of lead – something that is wrestled with, will leave markings by which we can understand each other.
But this is only the beginning. The work of love is to shape the stuff of relationships into a tool that fits our hands. With each hardship faced, with each illusion confirmed, with each trespass looked at and owned, another piece of the chunk is whittled and love begins to become a sacred tool.
When truth is held in compassionate hands, the sharpness of love becomes clear and not hurtful.
This process that Neepo reflected on is not just true of relationships but also about our spiritual journeys. The discovery of our relationship with something greater then us may appear as if it is incomprehensible and more then we can begin to understand in our lifetime. However, the mere discover of our Higher Power, however you define that, like the ball of lead leaves its mark on us. We then spend the rest of our lives learning about, discovering, discerning, and shaping what we understand at any moment into a body of knowledge and understandings with which we work in a constant process of self-evolution and transformation. We become like the ball of lead, allowing the Universe and our Higher Power to whittle us, shape us, and mold us into the tool we were called to be in this world.
Each day of our lives is an opportunity to allow our Higher Power to continue to work with us and transform us from a ball of lead to that useable tool. We then are better able to leave our markings on others, the world, and ourselves. it is just a process of time, discovery, and patience.