“The Healing Earth” based on Psalm 8 (& James Weldon…
A few years ago I was informed that Sky Lake was a prime example of “Celtic Christianity/Spirituality.” I had no idea what that meant. So I looked it up, and discovered that it was true, AND that there is a name for my spirituality. Isn’t it wonderful when we find names for things we’ve known without having words? Looking up Celtic Spirituality reveals a description that starts with “Love of the Natural World.” It is explained this way:
“The prayers of the Celtic Saints are filled with experiences of God’s presence in creation, simplicity of living in harmony with creation, and awareness of the sacredness of all things. The Psalms are full of praise for God’s handiwork in nature, and Celtic Christianity followed in that tradition, reflected in prayers and poems which spoke of the Sacred soul in everything. As it says in the first chapter of Genesis, all things originate in the Divine Source, and so all things are sacred. The Presence permeates all of nature, and speaks to us of the ‘Original/Essential Goodness’ of everything. To enter into this Presence is a sacramental experience so that when we walk in nature everything is a visible reminder of the Invisible presence.”1
One of their saints, “Columbanus said – ‘If you want to know the Creator, first get to know the creation.’ If there is any one word that would sum up the essence of Celtic Spirituality, it’s the word ‘PRESENCE.’ Awareness of the Sacred Presence at every moment of life, in all places.”2The other defining factors of Celtic Spirituality are community, hospitality, soul-friends, art and music, pilgrimage.
I suspect that for some of you, Celtic Spirituality is a part of your connection to God. For some, maybe it isn’t. In any case, it is helpful to remember that within Christianity itself there are many developed roads and paths to God, and the ones that fit you best may have road signs and maps, if you want to find them. There are multiple spiritual paths, even within Christianity, because humans connect differently. For today, I’m going to continue to explore within a Celtic vein, but please remember this is one among many.
At this time of year I’m mesmerized by how many shades of green there are, and how many I can see in one glance at the world around us. Each tree and plant offer several shades, with the grass itself adding more. For me, this is a feast. I love seeing the verdant, vibrant, living world, and my soul is satisfied watching the wind blow through the various leaves. The Presence of God seems especially visible.
This is a colorful time of year, even beyond the green. Flowers are plentiful and many trees are still covered in flowers or leaves of other colors! It is a time of visual abundance, as richly and vibrantly beautiful as a snow covered winter day is beautiful in its unbroken stillness and grace.
This time of year I am most receptive to the creation narratives of the Bible, perhaps because spring seems to speak them all by itself, and the words of the narratives add to the story the world is telling! James Weldon Johnson’s poem is one of the most famous re-tellings of Genesis, and Psalm 8 is one of the most glorious reflections on creation in the text. They remind us that God’s fingerprints are found all over the world, and when we look for them, we can find them.
The natural world is the source of all the things we need for life, as well as being a source of deep wisdom. It is a reflection of God, as are all of God’s creatures. One of my seminary professors offered us a way of praying that opens us to the wisdom of creation, by simply paying attention to one little aspect of the whole. He instructed us this way:
1. Go to a place where God’s creation meets you: ask for God’s presence with you.
2. Attend to the works of creation around you. Does one thing seem to invite you, strike you, impress you, or somehow attract you?
3. Come to a sense of quiet rest in the presence of God and in this piece of God’s handiwork.
4. Simply gaze upon this part of creation for an extended time – a time of wonder, amazement, openness, receiving.
5. Eventually, engage God in conversation about this thing you have noticed. You may want to ask God questions such as: Where has it been? Who has touched, held, seen it? What does God value it? How is it related to what is around it? How is it related to me? – to the rest of creation? What does it tell me of myself?
And finally… How is God present to me through this piece of creation? What does it tell me of God? What is God saying to me, offering me?
6. Remain for a time in the experience of whatever follows these questions.
7. Offer God thanks for this time and for the wonders of creation.3
This prayer form seems to derive particularly from Celtic Christianity, and the wisdom of the natural world and our capacity to hear it! The prayer, trusts creation and those listening to it.
This sounds a bit like the Psalmist, who spoke of star-gazing as source of wisdom. I’d like you to hear the Psalm anew, this version written by Barbara J. Monda. Her version focuses on the nurturing aspects of creation and our response to it. She refers to God as “Shekkinah” which according to Google means, “the glory of the divine presence, conventionally represented as light or interpreted symbolically (in Kabbalism as a divine feminine aspect).” Here is her version:
Shekkinah,4 how glorious is this world that everywhere bears the mark of your touch!
I sit among the mountains and am in awe of your beauty.
Babies in their mother’s arms remind me of how you care for and know our every need.
We are safe in the cover of your clothes.
You hold at bay those who want to harm and take vengeance.
Your steadfastness is all around us and your love makes our hearts jump.
When I look up to the moon I see you there.
When I see the stars I know they are jewels worn by you, signaling your presence.
You have made us just less than yourself.
You have given us the caretaking of all the earth
and the creatures on it as our companions.
Birds sent by you to sing cheer my day.
Fish swim at my feet and the fox and deer bring joy to my life.
The work of your fingers is everywhere my eyes turn.
The sun warms us from above and the rocks hold us from below.
The rhythms of the oceans and the passing of the moon are all ours too,
woven in us so we will be fruitful as you are.
Shekkinah, I feel greatness of you in my bones.
How can I properly thank you for all you have done for me?
My soul reflects your love and my heart holds what you have made.
I will be the cup from which others may drink of you and we will all sing of your wonders.5
Another seminary professor, Marvin Sweeney, told us that the ancient Hebrew Temple was themed on creation. He said that indicated that creation was the primary miracle of ancient Judaism, and everything else was derived from it. Similarly, creation is a theme throughout scripture, likely because the natural world has been a source of wisdom about God for all of humanity’s history. Some are more in tune with it than others. The poets, the Psalmist, and Monda, and Weldon Johnson are particularly in tune. They each speak of humanity as connected to God, thus given special responsibility for caring for creation. Christian theology sometimes speaks of us as “stewards of God’s earth.” That means that the earth and all that is in it is God’s, but God trusts us to take care of it on God’s own behalf. That is good, and meaningful work. However, given the impact of humanity on Global Climate Change and extinctions, we certainly have plenty of ways we could do that work better!
While the self-descibed defining factors of Celtic Spirituality were love of the natural world, community, hospitality, soul-friends, art and music, pilgrimage; I think the biggest difference I see is a focus on goodness: Goodness of God, Goodness of Creation, Goodness of Humanity. So much of Christianity has chosen to focus everything BUT the goodness. There is plenty in life that draws our attention that is not good. But, there is also much goodness, and when our souls are hungry, they hunger for goodness.
In Weldon Johnson’s poem, creation begins as a response to God’s SMILE.
Then God smiled,
And the light broke,6
And that image, which is itself a blessing, feels like the essence of Celtic Spirituality itself. God Smiled, light broke, creation began, and it was good….
And it is good still. Thanks be to God. Amen
1 http://celtic-spirituality.net/what-is-christian-celtic-spirituality/ accessed 5/27/17
2http://celtic-spirituality.net/what-is-christian-celtic-spirituality/ accessed 5/27/17
3Andrew Dreitcer, March 1996, All Rights Reserved.
4Google dictionary.
5Barbara J. Monda, Rejoice, Beloved Women! The Psalms Revisioned (Notre Dame: Indiana, Sorin Books), 22.
6James Weldon Johnson, The Creation: A Negro Sermon
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Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she/her/hers