Dissolving the Membrane Between the Spiritual and Actual World
‘If you compare the mind to a balloon, meditation as a religious technique is the process of inflating it with a single thought, to the point where the balloon finally bursts, and there is no longer even the thinnest skin between what is inside it and what is outside it.”—Frederick Buechner— in Wishful Thinking.
Buechner’s thoughts on spirituality take us out of the box. Indeed, in meditation, we hope to enter that thin place where the spiritual and actual world is only a thin layer away. Buechner tells us that meditation can dissolve and break that membrane wide open, so no barrier exists. That especially happens when we see Christ in our neighbor, and our neighbor sees Christ in us.
This explosion occurs when we see the sacredness in the secular world, honor every human being, and care for “this earth, our island home.” That barrier is often broken in the sacraments, especially Eucharist and Baptism. We recently saw it at our church at the baptism of three adults, but this mystery also happens with infant baptism. Earthly holiness breaks through, all wet, sometimes with screaming.
I like the bursting of the balloon because we never know when it will happen. Balloons, like meditation practices, come in all sizes and colors. Some balloons seem not burstable. Some break with little effort. Again, it is a mystery.
Breaking a balloon can also produce chaos. Yet, that is where God most often meets us—and creation begins.
