I woke early one morning last week, and being wide awake, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to doze off again, I got up and performed my usual morning tasks before getting dressed and going out for my morning walk.  It was quieter than usual, and I saw nobody.

I decided on a whim, that while I’d do my usual walk, I’d do it in reverse order. I was surprised and slightly amused at how different everything seemed. It wasn’t different of course it was exactly the same as it always was, but it looked and felt different because I was coming at it from a different direction. I came up a slope when usually I’d be going down it, and the view was very different. It felt like a new walk, seeing something familiar but as if for the first time, with the anticipation of, perhaps a fresh start is too strong, but certainly of a refreshed vision.

All this reminded me of something I often say to myself when I find myself trapped by a seemingly intractable problem with either no obvious solution or one I don’t care for. “There’s always another way of looking at it” I say. There always is, possibly several other ways. They may be no better than the one I’m feeling trapped with, but to discover that there are alternatives and that I have choices, takes away the feeling of being trapped & leaves me feeling empowered rather than disempowered. 

The trick is learning to become good at looking at things, & life in general, in ways other than with our habitual assumptions. The New Testament word ‘repent’ mean change direction, look at things differently, and Jesus’ announcement of the presence of God’s Kingdom is an invitation to view the world differently. Wise religious teachers, many comedians including clowns, novelists, poets, artists and creative women and men, anybody somehow other than us, can provoke us into doing so for that may be their gift to us. 

First posted in http://contemporaryspirituality.blog