When Albert Einstein was a little boy, his father gave him a compass. The moment changed his life. No matter what direction he faced, the needle always pointed north. It was the first time he realized that something invisible influenced the universe.
You and I are so used to invisible things that we rarely give them a second thought. We can’t see air, but we experience its influence every time it fills our lungs or blows through our hair. We can’t see gravity either. But unless we climb our roof or drop something on our toe, we forget that it’s there.
Our encounters with air and gravity are similar to how we encounter our spiritual natures as well. There’s an essence to what makes us human that can’t be directly seen or touched, it’s experienced. We love. We enjoy relationship. We exhibit faith. None of those are “things” like the chair we’re sitting in. Nevertheless, they’re all just as real as the chair we’re sitting in.
The invisible becomes visible when we approach the world the way Einstein did. He believed that if you look at life carefully enough, from time to time you can catch a glimpse of something hidden in the fabric of reality.
He was right. When you and I really pay attention, we discover that we are more than bones and brain chemistry. We are spiritual beings as well, in touch with the transcendent, and capable of love, faith, and worship.
