WE ALL LIVE IN THE VALLEY

We all live in the valley but there are moments in our lives when God takes up the mountain. There are those moments when we seem to witness life from a higher plane. Most of the time, they take place on the singular days of our lives, on less momentous occasions, like even on a gorgeous summer morning, or on a cold December breeze.

In those moments, something happens to us. In those moments, we feel inspired and moved by the beauty in our lives and the beauty of the world around us.

It gives us a profoundly joyful feeling.

And yet, interwoven with such moments there is the epiphany that we cannot reside in the ethereal space all the time. Sooner or later, we have to come down from the mountain and return back to the valley ⁠— no one lives up there. But what we can do is build our lives according to the blueprint of what we saw there atop the mountain. To illuminate our lives based on the insights we garnered in the moments of inspiration. To look at the world through the lens of love rather than through the cloud of hate. To carry a heart filled with compassion rather than being dragged down by everyday bitterness.

At some point of our lives, we have transcendent  moments because we need to see life from the pinnacle of existence rather than from the valley of deprivation. Despite their evanescence, such struggles are not only useful but also essential. They help us to show how we will be rewarded by our continuing struggles and renew our hope.

We may not be able to have those big miraculous moments every day, we must still consider every single day a miracle. We may not have momentous moments every day, but we must choose to still go about our lives. Because such moments looks surprisingly like the world we already inhabit: the city that we live in, the home we already share, the family we already love. I don’t think we have to cross any river to obtain it or defeat enemies to conquer it. All we need is to turn this garden we are given and cultivate it with all the love in our hearts.

And as we stand here with our shovels, filling the Earth and removing the weeds, we discover that not only we are already inhabiting paradise, but that paradise is built by everyday, by ordinary people, by you and me.

Photo from google.com