An Arm and a Leg

I’d give an arm and a leg. In the offbeat film, Don Juan DeMarco, Johnny Depp’s character, Don Juan, asked four questions.

“What is sacred?
Of what is the spirit made?
What is worth living for,
and what is worth dying for?”

He replied. “The answer to each is the same, only love.”

With Don Juan’s outlandish claims, any psychiatrist would have listed several disorders next to his name. Dr. Michler (Marlon Brando) was no exception; however, he allowed the young man to shake up the mundaneness of his work and stimulate his stagnating marriage.

In the end, Dr. Michler said, “Sadly, I must report that the last patient I ever treated, the great lover Don Juan DeMarco, suffered from a romanticism, which was completely incurable, and even worse, highly contagious.”

We can judge people’s behavior, or allow our encounters with them to move us deeper into Sacred within. Sometimes Life meets us in the most unlikely places.

How are you distracting yourself from genuine fulfillment? And what are you substituting for intimacy with Infinite Love?

In moments of kind-heartedness, we see beyond people’s preposterous acts and into their gaping wounds. As misguided as any of us may be when fulfilling our needs, Life meets us in our acting out and offers to companion us on a journey home.

Have you plummeted the depths of why you do things? In spiritual direction, we examine our intentions. We turn away from self-judgment to notice fears that keep us stuck in haughty egos or pompous spirituality, and then bravely integrate healthier forms of each, to find True Self?

The clay piece, pictured above was my second of three attempts. One morning, I removed the plastic covering to find that her leg had fallen off.

My loving other immediately quipped, “I’d give an arm and a leg,” and requested that I put her in our garden. She has become a reminder that there is so much more to people than obvious faults.

Over time, the sculpture has evoked a question in me. “For what would you give an arm and a leg?”

Click here and scroll down to Am I a candidate for Spiritual Direction.

Sacred Ruminations*

Knowing what we value gives clarity. Understanding that other people may not hold the same ideals gives us pause and again, offers clarity as to how and where to move forward.

Consider the choices:

1) Living wholeheartedly, without an arm or a leg

       What have you sacrificed, for love?

2) Slowly deteriorating into a mediocre state of being, with all of your appendages

       How have you denied True Self, thinking you made a sacrifice for Love?