Sacraments, Miracles, and Mindfulness

John P. Schuster is the author of the 23rd essay in Insights on Leadership titled “Servants, Egos, and Shoeshines: A World of Sacramental Possibility.”

One insight for me came from his reference to Abraham Maslow. In the essay he wrote, “Abraham Maslow, the great psychologist of motivation for this century, said an interesting thing about sacraments and miracles. He said that the people who look for great external miracles-outward signs and wonders-are looking at life all wrong. What they seem to fail to understand is that when you look at something closely enough and with the right eyes (sacramental eyes, I would say), then everything is miraculous” (p. 277).

For me this is a good reminder to pay attention to the small things, the things that more often then not seem meaningless. It is in the trivial that triumph just might be found. This is what practicing mindfulness is all about. For more on mindfulness visit the attached link to a talk from Thich Nhat Hanh here.