While the NRA attempts to redirect
the dialogue about the control of weapons designed for combat as an assault on
the Second Amendment & while the Obama Inaugural Committee attempts to
create a national celebration representative of the country & the
administration & while the performance of a virtuoso playing Beethoven on $3million
violin goes unnoticed in a D.C. subway station, I marvel at the mundane
.
Because the miraculous not only
coexists with the mundane – the miraculous is found within the very fabric of the
mundane. In the fabric of common,
unimaginative actions dictated by the limitations of a temporal existence.
Faced with the surface of what is
common & ordinary, we direct our focus, we contrive celebrations & we
ignore the wonder embedded in our everyday existence.
Until we lose the ability to perform
those common, unimaginative actions.
Although I have always marveled at
the way the human body performs the most mundane of tasks, it was only when I
lost the use of my right hand to a TIA that I realized how dependent I was on
my mind’s ability to command my hand to grasp or hold or touch or caress or control
objects.
And how foolish it is to take the
connection between mind & body as a given.
With the zeal of a physical
therapist specializing in hands & my own stubborn determination, the
connection between my mind & my right hand was restored. Subtle reminders of the miracle of that connection
persist as I age.
And as I spend this time with Jean,
I am reminded to direct my focus. To
recognize & celebrate the unexpected virtuoso performance found in ordinary
& familiar actions & surroundings.
Last Friday evening, I watched with
wonder as Jean held a fork & fed herself dinner for the first time in many,
many months
.
An ordinary, unimaginative, mundane
act. And miraculous.
And I am reminded to remain diligent,
to take the time to redirect, recognize & celebrate wonders that pass for
the mundane.
