Body
of God
“Nature
is one song of praise that never stops singing.”
Richard
Rohr
Let's not tell that to the people
whose homes are still under water from Hurricane Florence! Yet, as I
sit here on my morning porch, with the sun trying to make it's way
above the tree line, I can almost hear the music. Psalm 1 tells us
the people who trust God are “like trees planted by streams of
water which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not
wither.” Fr. Richard Rohr describes the earth as “the very
body of God.” I agree. The older I get, the more holy our habitat
seems.
The seasons are changing
on planet Earth. It's finally slightly cool in the morning here in
the hot and humid south. Recently, I spoke with a friend from
Minnesota, who lives here now, and who feels like this is the true
embodiment of hell. He may be right. Is there a correlation, I
wonder, between places where people talk about Jesus as though he's
in their back pocket, and the rampant degradation of the environment?
Can we wish each other a “blessed day” while tossing trash out
the car window and never connect the dots?
Our pastor, on Sunday,
recalled an interview that Barbara Walters conducted with Katharine
Hepburn in 1991, in which Hepburn said that she'd like to be like a
tree. Walters asked her “what kind of tree would you be?” It was
apparently a regrettable question, but as I think about it, I wonder
what sort of tree I would be. I think I'd like to be a banyan tree,
whose limbs come all the way to the ground and spread in many
directions. They are long-lived and all their parts, from roots to
leaves, are useful. So, how about you? What sort of tree would you
be? Would birds sing hymns of praise in your branches? Do you honor
the earth as you would the body of God?
In the Spirit,
Jane
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