Essential Aspects and the Wisdom of the Ancient Enneagram Part 2
February 23, 2026
Essential Aspects and the Wisdom of the Ancient Enneagram Part 2
In 1966, Stevie Wonder released his famous song “A Place in the Sun.” This morning that song immediately came to mind when I saw the brilliant sunlight gleaming on a bench in our garden. Having our own place in the sun affords us warmth, joy, and hope.
When I experience sun rays beaming down on the bench, I am reminded of the soul’s essential aspect of joy. Joy is associated with the color yellow, the color of the sun itself. Experiencing joy is like being so flooded with yellow sunlight that worries drop away and warm happiness embraces us. My soul child loves being in the sun’s radiant, energizing, and healing light. So many wonderful things happen in the sun ... cookouts, swimming, beach walks, sports, gardening, and many other things that fill us with bliss. The light makes everything pop and glisten. But more than that, it highlights the vital aliveness of our being.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) knew something about light that other painters of the time did not fully realize. He developed a technique called chiaroscuro (an Italian word meaning light-dark) which contrasted light with dark to illuminate the light to a higher degree. The stark contrast increased the tonal vividness, clarity, and vibrancy of color. There is an amazing luminosity to da Vinci’s faces and subjects who, like “The Mona Lisa,” are known for their almost lifelike presence, all because he captured the transparent and emanating presence of light.
When I see joy in people’s faces, I also see an emanating light. It’s a surrounding glow that originates in the face. There is no doubt that the sun and all light connect us to the One True Source of All Light, the Divine. This luminosity of glowing faces is what da Vinci emulated in his works. Though he was the world’s most accomplished painter, nothing can fully capture a glowing face in real life.
We all have a place in the sun, because we all have the spiritual quality of joy. The more inner joy we have, the more we occupy our place in the sun and the more hope we have. As the words of Stevie Wonder’s song say, “There is a place in the sun where there is hope for everyone, I’ve just got to find me a place in the sun.”
Spiritual practice: Do you have a place that is “yellow?”
Inquiry: Why would I not “find me a place in the sun?”
Prayer:
Dear God, I love to sit on the bench in the yard. There in the stillness I take in your world and feel joy. It’s my place in the sun where there is hope. I pray for everyone to find their place in the sun. Amen.
