September 2007
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.
As I write these reflections, I've just returned with Brenda from watching part of the lunar eclipse on the Lake Rayburn Dam. The sun would soon be rising in one direction, so the first light was upon us and the eclipse was in another direction. In between were all the stars and the planets twinkling as the morning sounds surrounded us. I remembered on our way back to the house the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful from the poem written by Cecil Francis Alexander and the melody from The Dancing Master. The experience helped me to pause and say thank you, God, for the beginning of another day with your creation both great and small, and wise and wonderful.
As I began my day, I remembered Tony Campolo's book, Carpe Diem: Seize the Day. Campolo's basic premise was that God has called us to seize the opportunities God presents to us each day including leaving our houses to see eclipses or going outside and intentionally looking for beauty in the natural world as well as in the faces of those around us including the strangers that may be standing with us in checkout lines or at the gas pumps. “Be not afraid” but seize every opportunity we are given to live a joyful life with our awesome God. We can only see the hand of God at work among us when we get out of bed and walk around God's creation and look!
The music to the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful, brought to mind a Russian Icon called “The Dancing Trinity.” The icon depicts the Holy Trinity with arms linked together dancing in a circle with heads thrown back and mouths open in an expression that suggests laughter. That has always been an inspirational icon for me because it reminds me of all those words of Holy Scripture that speak to the goodness of our God and the joy in God's heart for all of the Creation including you and me!
There are many opportunities to literally and figuratively look out at the day and jump back into bed and pull the covers up over our heads and shake with fright until another day and night passes and we timidly look out from beneath the covers and see if the coast is clear. OR we can join in the dance, seize the day, look into the eyes of our creator, see the twinkling of the stars and the planets, and maybe -- just maybe -- see an eclipse or two!
Carpe diem,
Fr. Ken †
