child within

A while ago (much longer ago than I care to think), I went to court to support a woman who had killed her abusive partner.  While I waited for her hearing, I watched a line of prisoners appear before the judge to find out if they would await their trials free or in jail.  Suddenly I saw, superimposed on anyone I looked at, the child he or she had been.  Just like that, just as normal as if I was looking at a room of ghost children in the room with the adults.  The judge was a serious little boy, earnest and determined to always do the right thing.  The prisoner standing before him was a waif, sad and cut off.  The prosecuting attorney was a righteous, outspoken, somewhat annoying little girl who loved a good fight.  Everywhere I looked, I saw what were essentially the underpinnings of the people on this particular stage.

It wasn’t scary or upsetting; instead it was just disconcerting, but kind of cool.  And then my attention was caught by something else, and the visions vanished.  It’s happened to me several times since then, but it was not something I thought to cultivate – until now.

I took a walk in the rain today, pretty good rain, too, coming down hard, and I noticed across the street one of our town’s lost ones, sitting on the sidewalk as he often does, barely protected from the rain.  Rainy days will sometimes make me weepy, so my first response was to feel so sad for him, and then so helpless.

And then I saw a much loved infant overlay on him, just radiating wonder and joy, so glad to be here with so much to see and do.  Absolutely and completely a being of Light, before whatever happened to him to bring him where he is today had happened.

I started to feel even more sad, because this is not a man who seems to know any peace or happiness.  And then I thought ‘Wait a minute.  That child is not separate from the man, he is the man I see sitting there.  Maybe I should cultivate seeing that in everyone.  Not even the “much loved” part, because that implies a relationship, and that’s not what I want to see.  I want to see the wonder, the Light that is this person.’

I’m a wee bit confused with this new thought.  There’s a part of me that echoes what is surely the response of some who read this.  ‘People do real evil in the world, are you going to look for the Light in them?  There isn’t any Light.  What if they attack you – or someone you love?’  ‘You’re sitting here in your safe home, warm and dry and fed, surrounded by as much safety as possible.  If you were in Afghanistan, would you try to do this?’

And yet, and yet, every religion everywhere talks about seeing that of God in everyone.  If I practice this, if I cultivate this, what would happen?  What would the world look like?  Wouldn’t it be a wonder?