The Zahir

I picked up my first Paolo Coehlo book at the airport in Paris on my way home from Israel last month. My daughter had bought two of his books to take on our trip to Israel and loved them.

The Zahir, Paolo explains, means "'visible' present; incapable of going unnotice.' it can refer to an object or a person, and that object or person gradually takes over our every thought until we are unable to think of anything else. this could be considered a state of holiness or a state of madness."

This also means that the focus on 'something that gradually takes over our every thought' can cause us a lot of grief and suffering. For some people it may be income, others it may be the elusive romantic relationship of their dreams, fear for the safety of loved ones, looking for inner peace or may be avoiding all the people in their lives that are difficult.

For me my zahir can be my weight loss goal. You may want to notice where you are so focussed on an outcome or a wish that it is negatively impacting your quality of life.

Perspective

When I was in Israel, I was surprised that when they referred to the year something happened in history, they used 'Before the Counting' to refer to 'Before Christ' and 'After the Counting' to refer to 'After Death'.

Up until this moment, I assumed that the entire world was using B.C and A.D.. When I spent a moment and thought about it, I realized that it all has to do with perspective. In Judaism, Christ is neither the son of God, nor is the 'immaculate conception' a concept that they accept. He is considered a man and is therefore not a pivotal figure in their history. Therefore to use a term that revolves around Christ's life (A.D) would be incongurent with their beliefs.

The Israelis have a different perspective than most of the rest of the world that uses AD and B.C. I assumed that everyone has the same perspective that I do.
Which one is right? 'Before the Counting' or 'Before Christ'? Actually, they're both right. Each perspective is right for the person using the expression.

This is a great example and reminder for us all that when we meet someone with a different and often opposing perspective, that we are both right. We are right for ourselves and there is no one right answer.