I think we have officially said good-bye to winter. No doubt we will still have some smattering of snow and the temperature will go up and down but the worst of the deep freeze is over.
Signs of Regeneration
Already, one can see the signs of new life that appear with the coming of Spring. The birds are singing more frequently and fluttering about; patches of grass are beginning to green and in places you can observe new shoots rising from the soil.
People are also showing signs of regeneration. On our street, which is a dead end, the children have emerged after the long winter to throw the basketball or set up for street hockey. My neighbour across the street was out yesterday digging in the soil and getting things ready for his flower garden. As I drove by the Agricultural College the grounds folk were busy raking and tilling the soil also in preparation for the gardens that will soon be in bloom. Spring is the time when we reconnect with the earth and many of us feel the call to be close to nature – walking the trails; digging in the garden; tilling the soil; gathering seeds….
Creator and creation part of the same ecosystem
With all of this happening around me I began to read a book by Diana Butler Bass called “Grounded”. In it she reflects on the ways that we find God in the world. She speaks of what she sees as a spiritual revolution. People are moving away from the traditional understandings of God and church and rediscovering the presence of Divine in the world around them. A connection to the earth is prominent in this, which, in fact, is not new but perhaps has been forgotten in recent times. She posits that with the Industrial Revolution religion also began to change . Before this time, if we move back to our beginnings Divinity and soil were easy companions. She writes
“in a pre-industrial world Creator and creation were part of the same ecosystem; the ground was created and sustained by a gracious God who walked about a garden and whose son, Jesus, spun agricultural tales for his hearers’ spiritual benefit. For the better part of the last two centuries, however, most of us have forgotten the deep earthy perspective of sacred texts.”
With this move we lost sight of what it means to be connect with creation and as a result have done great damage to the earth and to our spiritual selves.
Connected to Creation – a Sense of Completeness
In the book, Diana Butler Bass goes on to explore many other things and some I have not yet read but in the first pages of the book I hear her speaking the words of my heart and of my faith. Connected to creation there is a sense of completeness and of relationship with something that cannot be contained in words or creeds or rituals but touches the core of my being. As I have said many times, sitting on the banks of my river or walking through the forests of my home land, connected with creation, I have felt the presence of the ancestors, been guided and directed in my journey and known the power of something that this beyond me and yet within me. The psalmist speaks a lot about this and time and again reminds us that creation is a gift, it is blessed and we are blessed as part of it.
Creation (based on Psalm 84)
by Valerie Peyton Kingsbury
How lovely is this dwelling place.
My spirit is fed.
My thirst is quenched.
My heart sings!
Even the sparrow finds a home
and the swallow, a place to lay her young.
On the mountains
I behold wonder.
In the valleys,
a place of peace.
Rivers nourish soul.
The sun brings for life
Night, a time of rest.
Blessed are all who call this place home.
My prayer for all of you is that you will take off your shoes, feel the earth beneath your feet, reconnect with the source of your being and feel the power Divine love.
Blessings
Valerie
© 2019 Rev. Valerie Peyton Kingsbury. All rights reserved.