Our Own Reaching

Last Thursday, I had the honor of helping Hillel (Jewish Community) with their Passover Seder. On Friday, I helped lead the Buddhist Community’s celebration of Buddha’s birth. Then, on Sunday, I celebrated Easter with my parents. It has been a wonderful few days of honoring the sacred.

I spent some time on Easter thinking of my Grandmother Collins’s beautiful garden, one that has not existed since the late 1980s when she left my mother’s homeplace in the country for a more manageable apartment in the city. The garden was magnificently peppered with yellow, pink, and purple flowers. Together, they created a beautiful piece of artwork, one that my grandmother thought was surely the work of God. I can still close my eyes and see the radiance. Undoubtedly, the beauty of my grandmother’s garden was in the diversity of flowers. They stood side by side, drank the same water, and reached for the light in unison. Together, they shined. 

As an interfaith chaplain, I see the spiritually diverse students I serve as glorious flowers on a sacred planet. My heart shines when I see them discuss their paths at Interfaith Council; it beams when they show each other respect, love, and compassion. They sit together side by side, eat food, laugh, and take in the goodness of community.  

These past few days have made me realize that we are all flowers reaching for God in our own ways. Some pray. Some fast. Some meditate on Buddhanature. Some see their service to humanity as their way of touching the mystery that holds us all together. The diversity of our reaching for Light enriches humanity’s spirituality.  

When asked if I am tired from celebrating so many holidays recently, I respond, “Never.” I will never tire of helping others celebrate their spirituality. What a glorious time it is to witness Passover, Easter, Ramadan, and The Birth of Buddha happening so closely together. I am humbled by the wonderfully diverse expression of celebrating the divine. I give thanks for the vibrant community of spiritual seekers that University of Lynchburg’s Spiritual Life Center has nurtured. I give thanks to the sacred force that has brought all of us together during this pulse of our planet’s existence.