Recognizing gifts for our spirit

Have you ever had it happen to you that someone famous or a person you hardly knew died and you found yourself unexpectedly touched? That occurred for me a couple of weeks ago when composer Marvin Hamlisch died. Of course I knew I loved his music, but when I heard the news that he died, my heart felt heavy. That was something I hadn’t expected.

 I wondered why I had this reaction; after all, I didn’t know the man, and I wasn’t especially drawn to his public appearances. Then I realized that Marvin’s music regularly found openings thru which to come inside and touch my spirit; I didn’t even have to be paying attention. His melodies and rhythms would cause me automatically to toe-tap or drift off into another space.

As I reflected on this often unconscious experience, it dawned on me he had given me a gift. Through his music, and with hardly any effort on my part, he put me in touch with a part of my soul. I don’t know exactly what it was in me that his music touched, but it might have to do with deeper realities – freedom, connection, or maybe just appreciation of beauty.

My thoughts went further, and I realized how often someone enriches my life without my even taking note of it. It could be the person I meet in passing who makes me think “I’d like to get to know her,” or the person I rub shoulders with frequently whom I can’t wait to move elsewhere. Both of these hold within them some gift for me. Sometimes, as with Marvin Hamlisch, the fact there is a gift is obvious; I just need to become more conscious of its significance. In other cases, however, the gift may even be uncomfortable, but it is there. In these cases I’m being called to discern where the meaning or the “teachable moment” lies.

So, the next time I hear Marvin’s music, I’ll recognize the gift, but I’ll also be reminded to put up my antenna to try receiving the gifts that come from the other people and situations around me.

a kentucky monk