The Rule of Three ... inspiration from the small things ...

I operate with the rule of three ... that is, if in my reading and my journeying I encounter three distinct and different references to an author or a book, I will go and look it up and see what the Spirit is guiding me to ...

A couple of weeks ago, after hearing about the death of my friend and mentor Indigo, I went to a bookstore in Owen Sound and said the prayer - "okay Lord, give me something to help bring healing to my soul ..." I then entered the store and trusted in the "rule of three", afterall, three is a good Biblical and Theological number, and to be honest - thus far the 'rule of three' hasn't steered me wrong.

I left that day with a copy of Robert Pirsig's 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".

I've read bits and pieces of Pirsig's book along the way ... a few quotations here and there, and a couple of chapters while in Religious Studies at McMaster ... but I've never read the book in its entirety. So, it was a leap of faith to see what the Spirit is guiding me towards with this latest revealing of the 'rule of three'.

This morning visiting over coffee I began to appreciate what the lesson from Pirsig is ...

It's being open to experiencing and celebrating the Holy as found in the small things. It's not a new lesson for me, and it is admittedly one that I have frequently woven into my writings and preaching, but it is nonetheless a lesson worth re-visiting once in awhile.

Often in life we get caught up in the rat race, and the grappling for position and so on, that we forget to enjoy the moment we're standing in. The lesson for me in this, is to realize that the moments that might alter our world view, our life trajectory, or our way of approaching life and faith, are not moments that we can easily identify as they are happening. Sometimes the most earth-shattering moments in our lives are identifiable ONLY in hind-sight.

Today I realize that what I miss most about my mom and my brother are the little things ... gestures, facial expressions, and even habits that might pass un-noticed, until the life that embraced them is gone ... then the little things become significant.

Likewise, as we move through life, we meet and cross paths with dozens of people every week, and once in a while as we look back in life, we realize that a seemingly incidental moment of interaction may radically alter the direction of our forward momentum ... when we look back and consider that moment, perhaps months and months later, we can see then how important it was. But as the interaction unfolded, we might be in a very different place, and may fail to see how significant this moment really is.

Pirsig took a simple motorcycle trip and turned it into a profound literary work that has touched hundreds of thousands of other lives ... but I doubt, as he kick started his bike that first day, that he envisioned the impact he was about to bring into being ... and that may be the point ... we just don't know what is happening around us that will be important and earth shattering, and what might be insignificant and forgettable, and too often in the moment we confuse the two. Perhaps we would be better off, living and savouring and enjoying the moment and letting the value be determined later ...