Jesus turning water into wine has always intrigued me! To the best of my knowledge, Christians of all denominations affirm this as one of the “divine manifestations” and view it a “sign” to Jesus’ glory.
How do I understand the “manifestations” of God, the Ultimate, the More, the Unseen? Where do humans encounter God? In what manner does God meet me in my daily life? What should I be doing to meet God face-to-face? Jesus turning “water” into “wine,” I believe, provides an answer to some of these very pertinent questions.
Water is the symbol of the “very ordinary.” Water is very “earthly” and very “natural.” Water is nothing “special.” But this very ordinary “water” changes to extraordinary “wine” when my inner perspective changes!
I see spirituality as common sense. Doing simple things is all that is expected of me. A glass of water, a plate of food, a simple visit, an encouraging smile, a gentle hello to someone in need, or taking a little time to light a candle in darkness – is all that is required to be spiritual, or to be religious in the Christian sense. But most of all spirituality is a cultivation of a new sensitivity – a sense of respect and reverence to the “ordinary water.” It pleads within me “an attentive mindfulness” to the simple, the small, the humble, and the natural. What is really “extraordinary,” in the end, is the very “ordinary!”
Humans encounter the divine in small things of life. Moses encountered God in just an ordinary bush with an attentive mind to look at the ordinary with an extraordinary sense of awe and wonder. Naaman, the Syrian Commander was cured when he had the humility to do the simple dipping himself for seven times in very ordinary water.
Beauty, they say, is in the eyes of the beholder. When I feel, or think, that water is not as tasty as wine, then water will not be as tasty as wine. But when I change my perspective, water becomes as good and as tasty as wine. Water here changes to wine! Water and wine, then, are primarily a conditioning of my mind and a craving of my heart.
Sages and saints, I now realise, are those who have overcome the conditioning of mind and craving of heart. The spirituality of Jesus is cultivating a sense of equanimity in my perspective. Religion here is not a pleading for change in the chemistry of the water, but rather, a rigorous effort to transform my psychological stance.
The sage or a saint, they say, is one who can view, in the same way, “a gold bar” and “an ordinary brick.” I may not reach such a height, but I can cultivate within me a serenity to view “a glass of water” in the same way I view “a glass of wine.”
How do I understand the “manifestations” of God, the Ultimate, the More, the Unseen? Where do humans encounter God? In what manner does God meet me in my daily life? What should I be doing to meet God face-to-face? Jesus turning “water” into “wine,” I believe, provides an answer to some of these very pertinent questions.
Water is the symbol of the “very ordinary.” Water is very “earthly” and very “natural.” Water is nothing “special.” But this very ordinary “water” changes to extraordinary “wine” when my inner perspective changes!
I see spirituality as common sense. Doing simple things is all that is expected of me. A glass of water, a plate of food, a simple visit, an encouraging smile, a gentle hello to someone in need, or taking a little time to light a candle in darkness – is all that is required to be spiritual, or to be religious in the Christian sense. But most of all spirituality is a cultivation of a new sensitivity – a sense of respect and reverence to the “ordinary water.” It pleads within me “an attentive mindfulness” to the simple, the small, the humble, and the natural. What is really “extraordinary,” in the end, is the very “ordinary!”
Humans encounter the divine in small things of life. Moses encountered God in just an ordinary bush with an attentive mind to look at the ordinary with an extraordinary sense of awe and wonder. Naaman, the Syrian Commander was cured when he had the humility to do the simple dipping himself for seven times in very ordinary water.
Beauty, they say, is in the eyes of the beholder. When I feel, or think, that water is not as tasty as wine, then water will not be as tasty as wine. But when I change my perspective, water becomes as good and as tasty as wine. Water here changes to wine! Water and wine, then, are primarily a conditioning of my mind and a craving of my heart.
Sages and saints, I now realise, are those who have overcome the conditioning of mind and craving of heart. The spirituality of Jesus is cultivating a sense of equanimity in my perspective. Religion here is not a pleading for change in the chemistry of the water, but rather, a rigorous effort to transform my psychological stance.
The sage or a saint, they say, is one who can view, in the same way, “a gold bar” and “an ordinary brick.” I may not reach such a height, but I can cultivate within me a serenity to view “a glass of water” in the same way I view “a glass of wine.”
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