The Hidden Key

“Sometimes questions are more important than answers” ~ Nancy Willard

I recently asked a friend to paint a portrait of Elegba, the Saint of doors and crossroads, to display in my living room. When she brought the painting over I was speechless at the quality of it – the spirit is shown as a gentleman walking gingerly toward a natural crossing in the midst of a bayou, looking over his shoulder with a peaceful smile as he holds a silver-tipped cane in his hand.

The day she delivered her work (shown here), Pam told me she had painted a small skeleton key – about an eight of an inch in length – somewhere on the painting, but wouldn’t tell me where it is. Needless to say, I have stared at the blessed thing for hours, looking for the key with no avail.

Yesterday, while talking on the phone, I jokingly asked if she is ever going to tell me where the key is, and her reply was: “It’s there for sure, but if you can’t see it, it is probably because you are looking for the obvious. Solutions aren’t always obvious.”

She explained that while painting, she felt compelled to add a small key, but as soon as she did, her brush accidentally hit it and it became hard to see. She thought of fixing it, but immediately felt very strongly against it.

Having a key on this particular painting is very symbolic, as the spirit portrayed is known as the keeper of doors, and his seal is usually represented by an equally-armed cross with a skeleton key intersecting one of the arms. The four arms of the cross represent the directions one can walk, and are each associated to elemental forces, with the middle point being the home of Spirit. The key symbolizes that only one of the paths leads to solution.

After hearing what my friend told me, I realized that I really don’t need to know where the key is – I don’t have to see it to know it is there.

I thought of her words as well…’solutions aren’t always obvious’. We run around in circles, looking as hard as we can for a solution we can validate through our senses, but one isn’t always readily seen. Sometimes, stepping back a little and taking our focus off the problem allows us to see a greater portion of the picture, and thus the right path to walk.

So I’m no longer looking for the key, although a part of me struggles not to scan the painting whenever I walk by it. All I need to know is that a key is there; someday it will hopefully sparkle through the moss-dripping branches of the ancient trees.

Was Jesus a Leftist?

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?” ~ Matthew 5:43-47

I am very often labeled a “tree-hugging leftist”. For those who might wonder, I don’t hold a membership with PETA, I don’t belong to any activist group involved with the preservation of our environment, nor do I condone lack of self-responsibility and accountability. My qualification for the job is the mere fact that I don’t easily judge others and I embrace all, regardless of who they are or what they have done.

As I write these words, I can already imagine that some are mumbling the word “naïve”, so I have a question to ask – was Jesus naïve? Two thousand years after His incredible journey on earth, the great majority finds His embracing ways inspiring, and most who follow His teachings aspire to be able to live their life in the amazing footsteps He left. According to records, Jesus’ messages of equality, unity, unconditional love and lack of judgment spread quickly across the land, and were accepted by many - rich and poor, educated and illiterate. But, as a woman living in the 21st century, embracing the same concepts labels me as a “leftist”.

I am fairly conservative, and hold on tightly to what I believe are wholesome, important values, but I still choose to keep my mind open in order to tailor my views on an ever-changing pattern which is at the base of human evolution. I believe in preserving life in all forms, as I believe that each is one of the many faces of creation; I believe that humans are constantly having to choose between the pull of the ego and the guidance of Spirit, thus all humans have the potential of being good or evil; I believe that since half of each person is created by light, the best way to turn them away from the shadows is to feed them more light, regardless of how faint their flame is at the time I meet them; I believe in all people being the same gift just wrapped in different packages; And ultimately, I believe that we are all one – as long as we waste time fighting one another over meaningless issues we will never discover our true potential.

So, inquiring minds want to know - wasn’t Jesus hoping to spread these very same thoughts? He embraced thieves and prostitutes because he knew that deep down they were no different than a holy man – the only difference between them was the direction they had mistakenly taken, which could be reversed by changing paths on their journey.

I hope nobody is offended by these words, as I have no intention of stepping on anyone’s belief, but I have often wondered why we tend to mix politics and spiritual views, and would love to hear others’ opinions about this topic.

Not A Moment Too Soon

“Life is all about timing…the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable becomes available, and the unattainable becomes attainable. Have the patience, wait it out; it’s all about timing.” ~ Stacey Charter

While I was driving, yesterday, I noticed a small fly on my car window. It walked the length and width of the glass several times, occasionally stopping as if to think of a new plan of action. Suddenly, it took off from the glass and flew around the car for a while, just to land back on the same spot.

I knew that if I opened the window while the car was in motion the rush of air would have simply pushed it back, so I waited until I found a red light. I lowered the glass slowly and waited for fly to walk up toward the rim, then, opened it completely and watched the tiny insect fly off to live the rest of its destiny.

I wonder what the fly felt in those few moments, as it looked for a way out when none seemed available. Freedom appeared near, yet no matter how hard it tried to get out, no effort seemed good enough. Until the timing for release was right - although the fly was ready to go the moment it spotted the light outside the glass, all other conditions were not optimal at that time.

In the greater scheme of things, as we go through life we are not too different than the tiny fly in my car. We see the things we would like to achieve but feel something out of our control is stopping us from getting there; we convince ourselves that poor luck or outside occurrences are to blame for our lack of achievement, but rarely realize that what we wish may be eluding us simply because the timing is off.

I remember thinking that once, when as a child I had gone to visit one of my mother’s aunts who had an apricot tree. It appeared to me that every time we went the fruits were never ripe enough to pick, but it wasn’t the tree’s fault – we were simply going too early in the season. The tree had to first awaken in the spring, the leaves had to form on the branches, the flowers had to blossom, and finally they had to turn into fruits. Even after the whole metamorphosis, more time was needed for the fruits to ripen. It wasn’t bad luck, or lack of ability – it was just too early for the apricots to be ready.

When something seems to be resisting our efforts, and we have already done what we could to get things in motion, continuing to bang on a dead door will not bring in any quicker results; if anything, it will add to our frustration, as everything follows an order of things that is not for us to determine. Although shadowed by the things we consider more important, there are plenty of things in or daily routine that can use our direct attention. Focusing on those seemingly less important tasks or goals frees our minds from the anxiety associated with waiting, and allows us to take a brief mental vacation.

There is a time for everything, largely outside of our individual control. What is truly important is that we don’t give up on what is important to us. We must continue to hope and know that good things come to those who wait – just not always in the time they have erroneously chosen.