When I was a child, we frequently visited the palatial Museum of Natural History in L.A.’s Exposition Park. And in my estimation, it was the Hall of Minerals that contained the most captivating display of all: A collection of drab and ordinary rocks that when intermittently illuminated by ultraviolet light were revealed to possess shimmering iridescences as colorful as rainbows.
Years later, with that curious image ever-fresh in my memory, I conceived of this capacity that I have endeavored ever after to cultivate:
To see with Ultra-Violet Eyes
the Spirit’s iridescences appearances disguise.
So many of us feel unseen in our true colors. We are judged as worthwhile or not –– by ourselves and other people –– based on any number of superficial features including our appearance, accomplishments, level of education, profession, and/or bank account. How dispiriting that is.
When I am in a low and reactive mood, it is easy for me to paint another human being in the colors of my contempt for the ideas that animate them. Then, I am momentarily blind to their multi-layered humanity and invisible spiritual depths. In my mind’s eye they become as drab and unattractive as the ordinary stones I might kick to the side when I am walking.
So, I seek to see with my hEARt’s eYES the deeper core and luminous colors of the universal being within us all –– beyond our short-sightedness and small-mindedness. For even if such beauty is beyond our normal human re-cognition, to be truly seen and affirmed is like receiving an awakening kiss upon our very essence. Then, like a ray of light upon a long dormant seed, we feel welcomed and inspired to blossom –– in our own time and place.
Similarly, I find that when I focus primarily on my challenges, I am as if blind to the luminous light of my ever-present blessings. Thus, I forget my direct access to a palpable sense of the sacred, which changes how I think and feel about everything.
It is in that Divine Light that I am able to see the Grace and Beauty in all that I have labeled either good or bad, wanted or unwanted. And I receive the inspiration for taking conscious action where it’s needed –– in the manner that I am best able to serve.
Finally, here’s a delightful surprise I received when looking up synonyms for iridescence just now:
Iridescent clouds, known as “fire rainbows” or “rainbow clouds,” occur when sunlight diffracts off water droplets in the atmosphere. And the recipe for these heavenly sights is actually pretty simple. Like common cloud-to-ground rainbows, iridescent clouds usually accompany thunderstorms.
I’d never before heard of ‘fire rainbows’ –– the mere mention of which delights my imagination. May there be all sorts of fire rainbows revealed as the Light of our Illumined Consciousness pierces the darkness of our times and ultimately illuminates ––
. . . the Spirit’s iridescences appearances disguise.
