Inner Work

For the week of March 5, 2007

The Arrow of Presence

In our usual mode of living, nearly all our perceptions and actions occur without us being here in ourselves to receive the perception or to participate in the action. This is like a half arrow, with a head that points toward the perception or action, but no tail, no stabilizing source behind it. The arrow points toward every perception and action, but the arrow is incomplete. By our inner work, by the work of presence, by being here at home in ourselves, by being ourselves, we can add the tail to complete the arrow.

I…see. What I see is at the head of the arrow. The seeing is the shaft. And the I that sees is the tail of the arrow of presence.

But the story does not stop there. The arrow is in truth long and deep, extending back beyond us as perceiver-decider, beyond us as individual, toward the roots of our soul in the Sacred. Ultimately there is only one Perceiver-Decider, in Whom we all share and from Whom we all derive. So when we become present as the tail of the arrow, we earn the opportunity to reconnect with the hidden reaches of will, back along the arrow shaft through our individual perceiver-decider-director of attention, toward the arrow’s fundamental stability in the Source. We can approach this truest form of prayer in deep meditation, in reaching out behind and beyond ourselves to our sacred roots.

For this week, remember to be the arrow of presence. During your day’s activities, work to be the stable tail, the individualized source of this arrow in your perceptions and actions. And in your quieter moments, look back behind you along the arrow’s shaft toward your true identity in our shared and sacred Source.

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