The Perfect View

Last updated on: September 2, 2021 at 1:24 pm by Spiritual Naturalist Society

The Perfect View 2021-08-12T13:25:19-04:00 Spiritual Naturalist Society

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

by Thomas Schenk

I live in a small house in the middle of St. Paul. The house has what is called “a three season porch.” In Minnesota, this means if you are lucky you might use if for a month of spring and a month of fall along with the summer. But with the help of a heating pad and lots of goose down, I am able to use it from April through November. I use the porch for my morning meditation, which, now that I am retired, often extends for hours.

The porch looks out on an old elm tree, one of the few Dutch Elm disease survivors in the area. Other than that, the view from my porch is pretty ordinary. Across the street are the simple houses of my neighbors with cars parked in front. In the morning, I watch the kids as they run off to school and the parents as they trudge to work. The elm is always full of squirrels and a variety of birds come and go. In the spring, large flocks of warblers occasionally descend on the elm during migration, and for a few days each year a pilgrimage of brown creepers moves through, each flying in low and ascending up the bark as if in homage to the tree.

Sometimes I think how nice it would be to look out over the ocean, or at least a lake or pond. Or perhaps look out on mountains, or even a great stretch of prairie. I do understand why people go to great lengths and expense to purchase a property where every day they can look out on such scenery. Yet, I love the simple view from my porch, which is why I try to extend its period of use as long as possible.

Decades ago I developed the habit of getting up in the early morning to spend at least an hour in meditation. Before meditating, I put water on for coffee and I complete a brief routine of yoga poses to help me become more alert and focused. Then I take the coffee, go to the porch, and sit.

Sometimes I meditate in the Zen manner, just observing the workings of my mind. Other times, I contemplate an idea. Either way, the time spent in meditation is always quality time. I find it interesting that in our society we speak of spending quality time with our children or our spouse, but not of spending quality time with our self.

Most days, I do not obtain any great depths of meditation, but every once in awhile I get to what might be called the Ultima Thule of meditation: meditation done to perfection. If an explorer seeks the North Pole, once there, all further movement is movement away from what was sought. This is what the experience of meditation done to perfection is like, there is nothing else to be done.

On these mornings, from that place of meditation, the view from my porch is simply perfect. Each thing, each activity, is perfectly what it is, what it should be. With all the money in the world I couldn’t purchase a more perfect, more beautiful view.

We live in a society that strives to find happiness by making our external environment as interesting and comfortable as possible. Modifying our external circumstances is the main strategy of our society. It fills our days and drives the economy.

I have chosen the opposite strategy. I work at bringing my inner being into harmony with the environment in which I find myself. I still wouldn’t mind having the ocean or the mountains to gaze upon each morning, but I also know that the absolute quality of that view would depend more upon my state of mind than the external factors comprising it. Whichever view I had, it would only be perfect when viewed through the perfect mind of meditation.

Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society

Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society

__________

Previous Post

September 2, 2021

Spirituality: A Personal View, Part III

Next Post

September 10, 2021 Writing Wild by Tina Welling – A Book Review

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Spiritual Naturalism Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 August 2017 July 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 January 2015 December 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz