old story, new perspective

i've been reading a lot of books by paulo coelho recently. if you haven't heard of him, you should check him out; he's a brazilian author whose books deal with a lot of spirituality.

and his work has really helped to change my perspective on things.

most recently regarding the story of nicodemus.

while reading the zahir, the most recent coelho addition to my collection, something about that story finally clicked and i was able to see it in a new light. or rather, have the idea of "rebirth" explained from a different point of view.

an excerpt:

"do you believe that your past loves have taught you to love better?"

"they've taught me to know what i want."

"i didn't ask that. have your past loves taught you to love your husband better?"

"no, on the contrary. in order to surrender myself to him, i had to forget all the scars left by other men. is that what you mean?"

"in order for the true energy of love to penetrate your soul, your soul must be as if you had just been born."

reading through this dialogue between two characters in the novel, the story of nicodemus popped into my head. i don't know if that was the author's intention or not (i would venture to guess no), but that was the immediate mental jump for me the second i read that last sentence.

coelho, through one of his characters, goes on to discuss at length how in order to truly experience love, it is necessary to forget our past--all the scars, failures, disappointments . . . and even the good things--and focus our energies solely on the present.

is this the process Jesus sat up speaking to nicodemus about until the wee hours of the morning? i don't think that's an unreasonable idea. hearing the story as a child i always thought nicodemus had to be pretty dense not to understand what Jesus was talking about as the sunday school teacher explained it to me: to be reborn is simply to ask Jesus into your heart.

that doesn't seem too difficult.

certainly something that a teacher of the Law could wrap his mind around.

but, as with many things Jesus tried to explain, i don't think it was that cut-and-dried.

hmm. there are words in my heart, but i just can't seem to transfer the exact idea in my head to here.

i guess the biggest thing that was impressed upon me as i thought over this today and that i would like to pass on is the idea of living in the present and forgetting the past--both good and bad.

that's the sort of "rebirth" that is a little difficult to fathom.

the wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. so it is with everyone born of the Spirit. -john 3:8

the greek word, pnuema, that was here translated as "wind" could also be translated as spirit or Spirit (. . . or so say the notes at the bottom of the page in my Bible). now, i'm not a theologian and i haven't been to seminary, but try to stick with me here.

this passage about wind seems kind of random thrown in the middle of a passage about rebirth and the kingdom of God . . . so it has to be some sort of metaphor.

to me, in light of the new perspective granted by the zahir, it presents the idea of the importance of the present. you can hear the wind (an act in the present) but you don't know where it came from (past) or where it is going (future). the focus is on the here-and-now, and the here-and-now only.

you must free yourself of all the prejudices and mental souvenirs of the past.

you must free yourself of worry about the future.

you must exist only in the present and give yourself--your soul--over to Love. completely.

and through this--the embrace of Love and appreciation for now--you will experience a kind of "rebirth" for your soul.

yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. that's why it's called the present. -bil keane