By Sister Doreen, SSJD
St. Francis of Assisi told a story: “I once spoke to my friend, an old squirrel, about the Sacraments – he got so excited and ran back into a hollow in his tree and came back holding some acorns, an owl feather, and a ribbon he had found. And I just smiled and said, ‘Yes, dear, you understand: everything imparts God’s grace.’ (quoted in Daniel Ladinsky’s book Love Poems from God).
I thought of the definition of sacraments that was part of the material we memorized during confirmation classes, that part of the catechism – “A sacrament is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” It was meant to help us understand the different rituals that were considered sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation / Confession, Matrimony/Marriage, Holy Orders/Ordination, Anointing of the Sick/Dying).
As I pondered St. Francis’s story, I know that my journey through the spiritual life has indeed expanded the idea of sacramentality beyond the formal definition’s and out into the world. Everything can be a sacrament – an opportunity to encounter something of God in all things if I am mindful and aware.
Psalm 19:2-7 came to my mind. “The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims its builder’s craft. One day to the next conveys that message; one night to the next imparts that knowledge. There is no word or sound; no voice is heard. Yet your report goes forth through all the earth, their message, to the end of the world. God has pitched a tent for the sun; it comes forth like a bridegroom from his chambers and like an athlete joyfully runs its course. From one end of the heavens, it comes forth; its course runs through to the other; nothing escapes its heat.” All of this becomes outward and visible signs of that inward the spiritual grace of God for each of us and the cosmos! God speaking to us in all that we see. It calls us to love beyond boundaries. During this season of creation, it offers us an opportunity to focus … to fall more and more in love with the world, the cosmos, with all around us, with others and with ourselves. There are teaches of grace everywhere in the cosmos, we are introduced to a reverence as we walk in the world! I find that it is the psalms that speak most clearly to me, especially when my own words fail me. The great ups and downs of life … for everything there is a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11) … sing of a truth that we know but sometimes can’t express. Everything – the lashing rain, the bitter cold, the forest fires and floods, … when despair for the world grows within … all of this is held within the hands of God, an outward sign of some inward spiritual grace waiting to be discovered. All of this is an opportunity to grow in our love for God and our kinship with all of creation. This season of creation is gift given to us to encourage us to grow in our sacramental vision! And out of it all, to hold the holy in our hands and heart as we lean into God and God’s goodness to be part with God of bringing new life and new goodness into being.
Joyce Rupp commented in her book The Cosmic Dance on this interplay of the seasons of life: “Whenever I spend time with a tree there’s always a teaching to help me with whatever is calling me to grow, I’ve learned how to not be broken from life’s unwanted things by watching a willow in the wild wind tossing and bending rather than pushing back against the storm. It’s taught me that I can’t always have everything go my way.”
I find that when walking amongst very old tall trees or walking along the beach of our huge oceans and lakes that my own problems become small and seem less significant. There is a freedom and sense of relief – a new perspective to my life. It brings to mind a simple but strong and comforting wisdom: You are God – not me, not us, help me to remember this simple fact each day. You are the Centre of Creation – not me, not us, help me to recognize my place within the circle of your grace. You are the source of life – not me, not us, let me find in you my kinship with all creation. In the midst of a cosmos and world that seems to be cracked and broken in so many places as we listen to the news of floods, tornadoes, fires, earthquakes, wars and discord and look around us in our own local areas and communities, we do well to remember this strong and comforting wisdom. At the heart of all is God, goodness and grace, always and everywhere encouraging darkness into light, new growth from what is dying or has died.
I have pondered some quotes that have widened my own boundaries and kinship with the cosmos and all of creation.
- Ron Ferguson: “To become aware of the sacramental nature of the cosmos, to be open to the sacramental possibilities of each moment, to see the face of God in every person: these things are not novel, but their discovery is the beginning of our health.”
- Hildegard of Bingen: “When I open my eyes, my God, on all that you have created I have heaven already in my hands. Serenely I gather into my lap roses and lilies and all green things while I praise your works. My own works I ascribe entirely to you. Gladness springs forth from sorrow and joy brings happiness.”
- Thomas a Kempis: “If your heart be right, then every created things will become for you’re a mirror of life and a book of holy learning. For there is nothing created so small and mean that does not reflect the goodness of God.”
There is a prayer that has come to be a strong support over the years, taken from a book given to me by a friend in 2010 when I returned to the Convent from our Branch House, St. John’s House, in Victoria BC called “Earth Gospel” by Sam Hamilton Poore:
“May my eyes be blessed that I may see God’s beauty in the star-swept sky;
May my ears be blessed that I may hear God calling me in the wind;
May my hearts be blessed that I may feel the love of God in the warmth of the sun
May God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, bless me with each life renewing breath I take!
May I experience today both the wideness and the wildness of God’s grace in the sun and sky,
wind and water, animal and plant, and in the drumming of my own heart.
Untamed Spirit, rough up my ‘conventional values’ with the wildness of your love and creativity.
Help me to let go of my need to predict and control and let me enter the unmapped regions
of your grace.”
As sacraments, nature and the cosmos remind us of the messiness and beauty of things. When can allow ourselves to also welcome our own messiness and learn to play in the ‘humus’, the earth, the dirt … I believe that we will find amazing, profound things can happen. In her book Earth our Original Monastery Christine Valters Paintner wrote: “Our work as spiritual seekers and contemplatives is to see all of creation as woven together in holiness and to live this truth. In this loving act we begin to knit together that which has been torn; we gather all that has been scattered. Contemplative practice is a way to bring healing presence to the world.”
In the hymn book “Common Praise” Anglican Church of Canada #415
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: the Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings:
God made their glowing colours, God made their tiny wings.
The purple headed mountains, the river running by,
The sunset and the morning that brightens up the sky,
The cold wind in the winter, the pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden: God made them every one.
God gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty who has made all things well.
Yes! Yes! “Arise shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1.