Food for the Soul | March 17th, 2022

3/16/2022

Dear Friends,

Last week we discussed, prayed and meditated on Light, that wonderful gift through which everything is created. Through its relationship with Love, Life is created. And thus, we have a Trinitarian vision of our existence. Typically, we would say the Holy Trinity consists of the relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But think about it, doesn’t Light, Love, and Life represent the same relationship? I love to be playful in my way of explaining things to myself and often come up with different metaphors for the same mysteries.

This week I would like to write about awe. In order for us to love something or somebody it is essential that we first develop a sense of awe for that object or person. Remember a time when you were admiring a gorgeous sunset, or a beautiful rose, a newborn baby, or maybe your first love? The feelings this evokes are timeless, sacred, and vivid; in those moments we are intensely awake and intensely sensory. We fall totally in love with what is in front of us. One could say, this is what it means to fall in love with God, i.e., with everything created and life itself too. This kind of awe is so wonderfully expressed by Etty Hillesum in her diaries (An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork). She was a young Jewish woman living in Holland during the time of the Holocaust, who eventually got deported and died in the gas chambers. At one point, as she is working with people in the Westerbork camp, she writes: “It still all comes down to the same thing: life is beautiful. And I believe in God. And I want to be there right in the thick of what people call ‘horror’ and still be able to say: life is beautiful.” She has truly developed her sense of awe for life. It allows her to be hopeful to the end.

In our current times there is plenty of horror going on in various parts of the world and in our own lives. Life in itself is not horrific. The horror is caused by wrongful decisions that affect life. I think that if we are able to develop a deep reverence for life, it may perhaps lead us to making better decision. This sense of reverence is in each one of us, but it needs to be awakened. Remember, we are made of God’s DNA, we are divine, but we are often unaware of it. Lent is a good time for this transformation of our selves. This is a good time to reverence the divinity of everything.

PRAYER

Blessed are you, O God,
Creator of the universe,
who have made all things good
and given the earth for us to cultivate.
Grant that we may always use created things gratefully
and share your gift with those in need.

PRACTICE

I invite you to open yourself up to consciously activating your awe response. Find a peaceful place, preferably outside on a nice day. Sit for a while and focus on your breathing, in and out. Nothing rushed, always calm. Let go of any tension you might feel. After a while direct your gaze on something that caught your attention: it doesn’t have to be anything spectacular; maybe an ant crawling up the side of the house; or a squirrel climbing the tree; a small plant just peeking out of the ground; a branch of a tree showing the first signs of buds; or perhaps children playing together. Focus on this scene for as long as you can. Notice its movements, twists and turns. Put yourself in the place of whatever you are observing. Gradually, bring to mind that all of these creations are divine. Feel a sense of reverence and awe growing in you. Eventually include yourself in this sacred observation and accept yourself as divine. Lastly, think of the ground you are standing or sitting on as sacred. Do this for as long as you feel comfortable. Then gently return to your normal self and rest for a few minutes before returning to your normal activities. Try to retain that sense of sacredness throughout the day.

An alternative practice: with a partner, a friend, a beloved, gently gaze into each other’s eyes and face for a few minutes following the same method as described above.

PS: I gazed upon a Parmilia Lichen patch (see photo) on a tree trunk and really lost myself in this sacred observation. I found it so perfectly beautiful, I had to share it with you all.

POEM

The Opening of Eyes

That day I saw beneath dark clouds,
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before,
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.

It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far-off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing,
speaking out loud in the clear air.

It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last,
fallen in love with solid ground.

-       by David Whyte