Todo, Nada.

A straight, perpendicular path. That is the way John of the Cross says we can ascend the mountain.  Controversial route?  Not for the mountain he tells about.  Part of the secret of that ascent is to "be still and know."  

Wary of the  overload encountered every day,  I am cognizant of the craziness.  But experiencing an almost imperceptible  flame  burning through it all really amazes me.  In my particular life circumstance, this indescribable filtering of "stuff" astonishes me:  the thrilling  possibility of being fully alive is there, and so is the ever impending possibility of being very dead.  

Light vs. darkness!  Too foggy? I'll attempt to clarity.   

Focus: tv commercials  (like politicians) are usually so annoying  that they make me hit the "mute" button.  But sometimes they really hit a mark that is wonderfully creative (in my estimation).  There's that one with the guy looking to buy a truck. He says he hunts a lot. When asked what he hunts, he says "deer," and barely missing a beat as he turns to see the santa-looking salesman questioning him, he revises answer "...fish." Kudos to whoever wrote  and produced that!   

There are other  commercials and ads that make me laugh every time, or that have wild and wonderful and fun graphics, ones I thoroughly enjoy and wish I could take credit for!  How about those once innovative ipod images showing a black silhouetted dancer sharply contrasted with the white ipod earbud cords? Or Target's tv ads? Or those lush lashes commercials that Drew Barrymore does for L'Oreal? ( the look of their most recent tv ad which I saw a day or so ago is fabulous!  And though I won't be buying the product, I am actually eager to see that ad again! ) 

Focus on these somewhat trivial examples just underlines the fact that everyone's everyday life is filled with many little experiences that do matter.  They pay off by  further humanizing us, by just being delightfully creative and by affirming who we are.  We ARE, after all, the discovery channel, the history channel, the news of the world and the politics channel, no?

The glory of God is man/woman fully alive... and that straight, perpendicular path is a way worth finding.  It is, paradoxically, invigorating and energizing and a way to being still ---knowing todo, knowing nada.