The Inner "Solid Ground"

Today, I was sitting by my back window, and spotted a squirrel squatting in the doorway of our shed, eating something from its little hands.
It instantly lifted my mood.

I had been focused on my to-do list, and the appearance of this little squatting fur ball brought me into the present, where everything that needed to be done was already done. There was nothing in that moment that I had to do but watch the squirrel and enjoy it.

I know from my years of practicing meditation, that when we focus our attention for a period of time like this, we create a foundation of attention that is a kind of mental "solid ground." The circumstances of life are mere leaves blowing in the wind. Inside, we are solid.

My habit (and the habit of our western religious heritage) is to think of meditation and contemplation as connecting to something transcendent and vast--beyond the natural world. I have experienced this transcendence, but I am beginning to appreciate the transcendence of the particular.

A squirrel, simply eating its snack, when attended to with appreciation and love, can bring a sense of belonging in the moment -- a solid ground of being -- that is the goal of many spiritual paths.