God is in ALL

Either we acknowledge that God is in all things,

or we have lost the basis for seeing God in anything

                               Richard Rohr

 

God is “within all things but not enclosed, outside all things, but not excluded, above all things, but not aloof, below all things but not debased

                               Saint Bonaventure

 

Therefore, open your eyes, alter the ears of your spirit, open your lips and apply your heart so that in all creatures you may see, hear praise, love and worship, glorify and honor your God, lest the whole world rise against you

                               Saint Bonaventure

_________________________

 

it makes a difference,

how we see creation, the world we live in

this planet with its mountains and streams

its flora and fauna

 

it makes a difference how we see especially

those unique animals who walk the earth

 

those human creatures who are close around us

those who are only images, flickering across a TV screen

or images plastered on Facebook

 

do we see

do we understand that God is woven into everything

that everything is sacred

that every person is a precious soul?

 

is it not a problem

is it not perhaps the problem

 

that we pick and choose what is Sacred

and in whom the Sacred dwells?

 

that we do not see God in everything

in everyone?

 

what happens when we fail to see

this planet as the original incarnation of God?

 

how do we treat a planet that is merely

a collection of creatures and elements

that we can use for our benefit?

 

we abuse it

 

how do we treat people

whose skin is a different color

who believe a different creed

who adhere to a different ideology…

 

how do we treat people who are struggling

with poverty

or mental illness

or addiction…

 

if we do not see them as those in whom the Sacred One dwells?

 

we devalue them

and then exclude them, oppress them, and yes

kill them

 

what do the eyes of a right wing militant see

as they pull the trigger of their “big gun”?

 

what does the policeman see, as he

crushes the life out of a person of color?

 

what do I see, when I see a person with a MAGA hat?

 

do I see God?

 

The fact is that if I start to choose in whom God dwells

then I deny God

 

did I just say that?

 

Yes

 

When we start to pick and choose in whom God dwells

If we do not open our eyes,

alter the ears of your spirit,

open our lips and speak words of grace

 

if we do not apply our hearts so that in all creatures we see,

hear praise, love and worship, glorify and honor God,

 

then eventually

the whole world will rise against us

 

our hate

our anger

our disrespect

with rebound against us

 

yes, yes, yes

I know

the Sacred is so terribly blurred at times

as to be invisible

 

yes, yes, yes

I know there is much out there that is profane

and yes, yes, yes

evil abounds, and must be addressed and challenged

 

yes, today I will probably see a person act and not see God

hear a speak and not see God

 

but still God is there

in that one I would discount and devalue

 

if we can grab hold of that truth

however inconvenient it is

if we can grab hold of that truth

however imperfectly we do it

 

it can alter the eyes and ears of our Spirit

and change our words

from “God destroy them” to “God forgive them”

 

it can restore the humanity to those we have chosen to dehumanize

 

it is a starting place

if only that

 

_________________

 

And now may the God who suffers us to endure

And gives us such loving care

Give us a mind united toward one another

Because of our common loyalty to Jesus Christ

 

Then as one person we will sing from the heart the praises of God

The father of our Lord Jesus Christ

 

So open your hearts to one another, as Christ as opened his heart to you

And God will be glorified

                               (Romans 15:7, JB Phillips, adapted slightly)