I don't believe in the supernatural. I had my most powerful spiritual experience in a parking garage. I do believe mystery surrounds us.
If you don't believe me, I understand. You're wrong, but I understand.
Kids get tested for colorblindness in elementary school because they don't know they're missing anything. It surprises colorblind kids to find out red and green aren't invented concepts, like cool and lame.
If you've never had a spirtual experience, of course all the talk about beauty and connectedness sounds phony. It's like people talking about a movie you haven't seen. I'm going to describe my spiritual experience in the most concrete terms possible. If you're impatient, skip to the last line.
Summer of '94, Portland. I'm waiting for my girlfriend (kids, before cellphones, you had to make plans with someone and then just… wait). Sitting in the car, radio on, window open, smoking a cigarette, nice day. I finish the smoke, still waiting. Concrete siding prevents me from seeing out, but a ray of sun stabs in. I kill the radio to save battery.
After a couple minutes, I hear a woman walking through the garage. I can't see her, but you can tell the tap of heels. And the cadence of the gait. She wasn't not rushing.
I notice the distant concrete walls created a deep reverberation. She was still walking. I realize I've completely tuned out her footsteps. The sound is still there, but I'm not giving it attention, I'm listening to the echo.
I hear how her position changes the reverberation. I know the vibrations of the air reach my ear milliseconds after her heels strike the concrete.
I see dust floating in the sunbeam stabbing in. That beam came from the sun eight minutes ago. Light is leaving the sun now.
Behind the barriers, sea gulls call, wheeling over the buildings. Down where the peninsula ends at the harbor, the sun shines on the ocean. The clouds scudding behind the gulls and the water the gulls drank this morning evaporated from the ocean yesterday.
Everything is in constant motion towards its final purpose.