The Exaltation ofThe Mundane

I was recently on a train going home towards the end of rush hour. The train wasn't so crowded that I had elbows in my back but it was too crowded to expect to get a seat before the train got to my destination.

I stood against a door looking around aimlessly while waiting for my stop.

Suddenly, I noticed a well dressed man with a backpack on, holding onto a pole as he stood.

He also had crutches and stood about 4 feet tall.

Without knowing anything about his background, circumstances or history I had the thought that he may have been born that way. I also imagined he may have been a lawyer or financial person based on his appearance and way of being. He looked well-to-do.

He also looked like he was used to being stared at.

After someone graciously gave him a seat, he was no longer in my line of sight.

So, I went back to aimlessly looking around. I still had a few stops to go before getting off.

Shortly after he sat down, I noticed a man leaning against another train door opposite me. He looked like an Adonis: about 6'2", flat stomach, great hair, casual but well dressed, handsome - the kind of guy women would chase. I guessed he was Spanish but of course, it was pure speculation.

He looked completely bored as he read his magazine.

I think that's why I noticed him. I could feel his boredom from across the train car.

As the train approached the next station, the little man prepared to get off. I found myself looking at both men, first one, then the other, not quite present to the fact that I was doing that or why.

All of a sudden I had a thought: The man with the crutches was the luckiest guy on the train.

He was the luckiest guy on the train because he had the capacity to enjoy everything. He gained that capacity because in his predicament, he could never take anything for granted.

He could look at a great looking, healthy male and appreciate that man's health and looks.

He could appreciate his own financial well being because it made his life so much easier.

He could appreciate his friends because he knows they're true friends - they're not his "friend" because of how he looks or what he can do. They get to know the real person he is.

He had the gift of appreciation.

Of course, I know I made up this entire story in my head. I don't know if any of it is true or not. What I do know is that I'll never know.

And, it doesn't matter.

What matters is that I got something from it: that I have access to blessings in my life just by appreciating the blessings I already have: my health, my intelligence, my relationships and the world around me.

Being in their presence expanded my capacity to be appreciative.

One of my biggest sources of appreciation is Nature. Nature fascinates me.

My latest fascination with Nature these days are Trees. I can't stop asking myself, "How does God make trees? How did God even come up with the idea? Trees are so stationary, yet fully alive. They're so fundamentally different than Humans, Bats, Caterpillars, Whales and Mountains."

Thank God for Trees!

My fascination with Trees has temporarily overshadowed my fascination with Squirrels and Birds.

Squirrels and Birds remind me that God is alive and well and appears to be having a great time. They entertain and amaze me.

Squirrels fascinate me because they move so fast, can eat hanging upside down from a tree and copulate from start to finish before I can walk across a street!

Birds fascinate me because they can fly. They eat all day. They can sit still on a wire for hours. They live in Trees.

Fascinating.

It's been said, "Seek and Ye shall find, Ask and it is given, Knock and the door shall be opened unto you." I understand that to mean whatever we're looking for, we will find. If we're looking for what's wrong we'll find it. If we're looking for what's right we'll find that. If we look for Love and what's Loving, we'll find that too.

So, what are you looking for?

And, what do you keep finding?