SEEDS
Created on the New Moon, August 16, 2004

The renewal of earth is continuing creation. The recycling of the elements of life and the turning of eggs to creatures and creatures to food for other creatures and the miracle of seeds and new plants to produce further seeds is all a matter of creation as one generation of life evolves to another. And akin to what happens on earth also happens in the galaxies as stars are born and age and absorb into themselves or as planets are born. It is all creation, a performance of creation that is repeated and repeated to countless generations and regenerations.

The child within each of us is that part of the self that is quite directly attached to the entire web of created life.  It is the infant aspect of our personality that understands its kinship with other forms of life...That which we knew best as children is the ultimate kingdom whose rule governs all.  When we respond to that as our most source of self, then we enter the door that leads out from our little worlds of adult concerns into the Kingdom of the Universe.

There is an ancient longing for God that is expressed in ancient songs and prayers...Saint Augustine believed that our instinctive drive toward life’s basic needs flows through us at a profound level, and so he penned these often quoted words: “our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”  The word rendered as soul in that line is the Latin word anima, from which we derive animal and all things animated. It is the essence of life...that which depends on the encompassing breath of God.  Recognizing that all creatures depend upon that and share it...we have the same origin and same destination, we are one in our need for common breath of God.

Praying is one of the most common, yet one of the least understood, aspects of human behavior.  There has probably never been a person who never prayed, yet few can explain what it is and many have confused notions of how to do it...praying, in short, is a kind of turning...praying is an act of submission.  We need to pray for wholeness, for health that can flow through all.  We need to pray for the earth, that she may sustain all life, including our own.

Water was a miraculous mystery in ancient times, water to quench thirst was an especially appreciated form of God’s grace.  There are significant stories in the Bible with water as a theme, such as Hagar who fled to the desert to escape Sarah’s abuse, facing death by thirst in that desert but saved by the messenger of God who pointed out a spring of water. Drinkable water has again become precious.  In many places water fit for drinking must be imported.  This growing shortage of good water has driven the rich to be more greedy and the truly thirsty to be more thankful for what little they have.  And with our modern technology, water seems to hold no mystery.  The sense of mystery is there only for those who find clear, cool water by surprise, as Hagar did in the desert.

There is much in the Bible about the sacredness of blood, especially in the Book of Leviticus where we frequently encounter the phrase, “for in the blood is life.” Whether in human or beast, the blood was the substance of life and all life was regarded as sacred.  Our ancestors had an understanding of life that was broader and more profound than ours.  They knew that blood of other creatues was shed for the sake their own lives as they ate meat. Eating as an act of reverence for life is not the same as merely eating. Can we possibly recapture that sense of respect? Can thoughtfulness permit reverence for life to move to the center of our meals together?

Lovers of seeds are lovers of God, whatever they call themselves religiously.  Lovers of seeds are lovers of salvation, for salvation is a word about life and health, about growing and going on through time. To Jesus, the mystery of life and death was locked into the seed. When we forget the mystery of seeds, we are out of step with the Kingdom of God’s making.  God bless all seeds, and those who are in step with the earth—with their love of what is mysterious and miraculous, with their love of what God so clearly loves.

In his book I and Thou, religious philosopher Martin Buber speaks of two basic relationships that are possible for us humans. One he called “I and it” meaning the kind of relationship we have with things and people we manipulate to our own advantage. The other kind of relationship Buber named “you and I.” It is the relationship of true friends, of honest exchange, of sincere and truthful conversation. It is the relationship that builds the bonds of family and community, that produces health and place. Buber taught that we can have this relationship with the rest of nature as well as with humans. Indeed, he first thought of the idea when he felt spoken to by a lake in Switzerland. When we feel spoken to, by a person or other creatures or a landscape, and find ourselves responding to that, answering what has spoken, then we are enjoying a bond that causes us to know that the speaker is precious, for the speaker causes us to become something new, to emerge as person, to give ourselves and in giving have a sense of worth.

The word for “glory” in Hebrew was often used to describe the grand garments of a king or high priest.  When such a person donned the regalia of his office, the garments were meant to represent the importance and grandeur of the kingdom itself.   "Glory" was something that could be put on and shown off.  The prophet Isaiah used this word to say that the earth itself, with all its green and living grandeur and all its other features, is God’s glorious garment.  That, it seems to me, is an astounding thought or discovery.  If I accept that as true, then I must perceive everything natural around me as a display of God’s creative talents.  If I accept that as true, then every stone and pebble, every large or small body of water, every plant that grows and every creature that lives are the show-off evidences of one Holy Creator.  Whether I ponder grand panoramas of mountains and meadows and seas or study the minutest elements and forms, all are declaring the greatness and importance of our Creator-King.