Reflecting on Sacred Moments

The snow alternated in its fall between a diagonally downward trajectory to downright horizontal. Even with all the clouds and snow, the sky remained bright.  The reflections off the white ground and the frosted mountains gave a brilliance to the whole day.

No self-respecting goose would ever fly in this weather, I thought.  We’re wasting our time.

I turned my thoughts away from catching food to observing the place in which I sat.  There was a brilliance to the light, glistening through the snow.  There was a majesty to the wind, blowing from the north and shaking the dwarf birches in front of me.  There was a joy to the whole day, sitting in white parkas and snow breaches alongside my hunting partner, just watching nature do its thing.  I realized that this was one of those moments of awareness. 

 Why is it,  I wondered, that people seem more likely to experience a special closeness to God—even a sense of spontaneous worship—when they are experiencing the grandeur of nature?  As I contemplated that thought, a verse popped into my head.

for in him [Christ] all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  (Colossians 1:16-17)

The Christ is before all things, and in the Christ all creation is held together.   Somehow, in the warp and woof that is creation, the Christ is present

As I was contemplating this, filled with wonder, a flight of geese emerged from the driving snow, a miracle of coordinated beauty and endurance in the midst of a small storm.

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People everywhere tell of their encounter of the Sacred through encounters with nature.  We Christians always describe this pervasive Sacredness as God, and we speak speak of God as present to us through the Christ.  It is my intention in this writing to explore what it is that I mean when I talk this way.  I know that my thoughts are not the same as those of every Christian, but I don’t think they should be.  There is great mystery in God and describing that mystery requires great humility.  None of us can describe it once and for all, even for ourselves.  But in these moments of awesome awareness we experience something that reorients our whole lives.  I believe we need to give testimony to what we experience, just for the sake of honesty if nothing else, and we should explain for ourselves, and for those who have to live around us, why it is that we seek to live the way that we do.

This is therefore my testimony at this moment in  my life.  It is not meant to be a rigid rule of thought, or a litmus test to decide who is good enough to share this spiritual journey with me.  This is meant to be a place for me to try to clarify for myself something of the awe I know, and to seek allies who will share what they are learning, too

If that resonates with you, I invite you to join me in this somewhat regular writing.  Please contemplate your own thoughts and, if so inspired, share your comments with me.  If this writing does not inspire many comments from others, I won’t sweat it.  Writing this will be good for me, anyway.  In all honesty, though, I do hope to find some fellow pilgrims to share thoughts with as the journey continues to unfold.

Let me end with a  word on how I am beginning this journal.  My work causes me to travel 50% of the time in winter months, and a bit less in summer.  It is a work that requires multifaceted engagement with a wide range of people.  In short—I can’t be super consistent in finding adequate writing time.  Sometimes I will write more and sometimes less. My intention is to try to write at least 2 days per week and then to post that week’s writing at the end of the week.  Each day that I am able to write, I hope to write a page or a little more.  So each week’s writings will consist of a few brief snippets.  However, since I am writing mostly for myself (I don’t know if others will join this site very often) with the purpose of clarifying something of my own description of the life of faith, I am not too worried about needing to produce consistent, publisher quality work.  Indeed, there will be a few weeks each year when I won’t be able to produce anything at all.

On the other hand, since I also hope to find companions on this journey, others might add comments, even in weeks when I am away.

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