Between us

 

It’s Christmas Day and though I doubt Christianity, much less Christians, would consider associating me with their holiday, I find it one of those perfect days for reflection.

This particular day comes in one of the most catastrophic years in humanity’s recent history. That much of the world has ably managed the coronavirus pandemic is cause for gratitude.

Some would ask to whom should we be grateful, but that misses the point. Gratitude, like love, is not found in persons. Being grateful does not, should not, connote debt to another, but merely an unselfed sense of joy or at least, well-being as being-for-itself/in-itself. Still, some will feel a desire to be grateful to some sense of a singular being and this I begrudge no one. If you posit a God or gods, or an Absolute or Universal Being, then you should no doubt feel joy in that and a warmth of that feeling that can find expression in sharing with others your wish for their happiness and well-being.

That’s what today’s painting is about. The “Between us” series started as a direct response to the pandemic, but has grown into something a little beyond that as a singular concern. The only thing between us is our shared existence, our common being. We are only divided by the views we cling to.

My reflections today have been on the underlying strata of being that we all share and are privy to, of which we are expressions or manifestations. “I” am provisional; but where “I” come from is the shared experience of being-with-others. There is great joy in this and this is only love. This seems to get  overshadowed by the casual acceptance of adventitious events, of selfish desires, and ignorance; but shadows pass.

I wish for all of you a beautiful, splendid day. If you are with family or friends, love and be well. If you are alone and this is not something you want, take solace in knowing that you are not, truly, alone. We cannot be alone. But we can be all one, whole. From the depths of being, I wish you all the very best of our common humanity and within that, the expression of whatever you would call divine.

May we all be well, be happy,

Live well, love well.