“Is it Rizzo?” ~ Carson Latimer (age 3)

If you were to ask my nephew what he wants to be when he grows up he will tell you without hesitation that he wants to to a player on the Chicago Cubs so that he can sit in the dugout with (Anthony) Rizzo; his favorite player.

One night, Caron’s grandpa was reading to him before bed. Unbeknownst to Carson, his uncle, home from college for the weekend, had come upstairs and was standing in the doorway of the bedroom to surprise him. Carson’s back was to the door listening intently to the bedtime story. His grandpa, seeing his uncle, said, “Carson, guess who’s here?” Carson’s eyes got wide and he asked, “is it Rizzo?”.

I remembered this story one day while I was meditating. I had forced myself to sit because the alternative was to continue to spin out about some injustice that the prosecutor, defendant, judge and jury of my mind was never going to come to agreement on. I was stuck, holding tightly to my convictions, unable to see any possibility that existed beyond my current situation. In meditation I heard the question; “when did we lose the wonder, the magic?” At age three, there is no limiting logic, there is no rationale that says the most exciting thing that you can imagine can’t be. If someone’s at your door in the middle of the night, it’s not necessarily another person that lives there, it’s the first baseman for the Cubs.

When did we lose that optimistic potential in what can be? When did we stop trusting that we will be provided for? When did we trade in our faith for fear? Start to grip so tightly around the limited self defeating thoughts that say: you’re not enough to have that. When did we lose the magic?

The stillness of our meditation practice serves as reminder that the magic is still there. When we still the body and quiet the mind we see who it is we are beyond all that is temporary. We learn that we are not just these limited bodies and chaotic minds but we are also the Intelligence that lies in wait in the still place behind the chattering, the rationale and processing. We sense that we are indeed the Presence that holds us upright that is beyond muscle, tissue, skin and bone. The magic exists, it’s the pulse of our heartbeat, the rhythm of our breath, the sun, moon, planets and stars. And just because we’ve forgotten that it exists doesn’t mean it hasn’t been there all along.

“There’s a part of us that we can connect to that is an ever-present source of inspiration, strength, light and guidance….ALWAYS. This is why we meditate.” ~Rod Stryker