Coming alive means that we are showing up. We are awake to our own bodies and desires,
to other people, to beauty, to grief, to joy, and to the ordinary altar of
encountering God now. We are not numb and amused and only able to talk about
shows or TikToks and settling for (ChatGPT’s) answers to our deepest questions. Sarah Bessey
One of the many reasons we step outside the air-conditioned homes is to
let all our senses come awake and alive.
Outside the walls of our homes, there are sights, sounds, smells, feels,
textures, and tastes that our controlled environments mute or entirely block
out. Creation enlivens us because
it awakens us. We don’t need to
climb Mount Everest to feel awake and alive.
We do need to be intentional.
When you stroll to your mailbox today, what is in the air you inhale?? What
do you hear, see, sense? A simple trip
outside to collect what usually goes right in the recycle bin can be a
spiritual practice. A simple walk around
the block can be a pilgrimage to another world if we notice the
new color on our neighbors' plants or how the cloud above our heads looks like
a sailboat. We notice not only what is
outside of us, but also what is inside.
How our body responds to the warmth of the sun, how a cool/cold cup of
water after being outdoors is essential, how we feel more at home in ourselves
when we soak in the symphony of the world around us ~ a symphony in which we
are at once an audience member and active participant at the same time. We both listen to and sing with
creation, God’s music of the spheres. We
absorb and respond. How might we
encounter the altar of God’s world, the church/cathedral of creation, as one
way to worship the Creator? May you and
I discover new ways to connect with birds, grass, soil, trees, and life that is
evolving around and within today. Amen.
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