Light, Water, and the Oneness of All Things
For days, the light reflecting on the water seemed to have a message to share with me. Tonight as we watched the sunset over Lake Winneconne, I began to understand what it wants to tell me about the oneness of all things.
As my husband Dave and I sat on the dock watching the sun set over Lake Winneconne tonight, I was mesmerized by the smooth hills and valleys ebbing and flowing in the blue water. Oval orbs of light danced on the crests of the waves closest to us. The orange ovals were a narrowed reflection of the orange-red sun setting on the other side of the lake.
For quite some time I sat there watching the light flicker and dance on the distant waters and the orange orbs on the water closest to me. Slowly the sun sank deeper, and the blue waters turned to a darker gray. Periodically, the sun would pulse brighter and the light streaming like a golden road across the lake from the sun to the dock would widen. I could feel my heart swell and my eyes begin to mist with the increase in light. The light seemed to speak directly to my heart. Wordless wonder instantly filled my heart.
A Message from the Water
For the last few days as we’ve been canoeing, I have been sensing something significant from the water – as if it holds an important truth to share with me. It hasn’t been windy enough to create peaked waves. The water has either been smooth and glassy or produced smooth hills and valleys, as if the water is some kind of cohesive gel. As the light reflected on the water, I kept thinking of the divine light web that connects all things and is in all things, through all things, and from which everything is made.
Every time I see a duck or a goose on the water, submerged, rising, and taking flight, it seems that it is rising out of the oneness of all things – as if it is comprised of the same substance as the water, but choosing to form a duck or a goose instead of water or a fish or cattails. I’ve felt as if the lake were some kind of primordial soup from which everything is created. I’ve felt a kinship with the water, the birds, the cattails, and the beaver as if I too have risen out of the same universal substance and that the light that flickers on the water, lights all of us.
Tonight, as I watched the water shift – reflecting orange ovals of light one second and turning inky gray the next, I thought how each of us is a composite of lights and shadows. Reflecting the light and love of our Creator – the Son (sun) — one moment and then responding with less light in another.
Whether reflecting light or off in the shadows, we are all one. Just as the murky waters near the muddy lake floor are one with the shimmering waters on the surface, all of creation is one.
Am I reflecting the light more consistently like the golden pathway from the sun to the dock? Or am I reflecting significantly less light like the inky gray water further away from the golden road?
I hope I’m reflecting God’s love and light for others to see their way. I hope I’m pointing the way to the Son. I hope I’m on the golden road. One thing I do know… my heart loves the light. It swells and thrills with it and is drawn to it as if it were my home. Probably because it is!
If you’re interested in learning more about the oneness of all things and the peace that is available in nature, you’ll enjoy my book, “Finding Peace in a Turbulent World: Living in Sacred Nature” available in Kindle, Audible, as well as full color paperback and collector’s hardback editions.
