Welcome to Tuesday and our feature on nature as a window into the divine with a reflection based on the writing of Carl Safina, this time from his latest, Becoming Wild.
The Sarum Prayer
God be in my head—and in my understanding
God be in my eyes—and in my looking
God be in my mouth—and in my speaking
God be in my heart—and in my thinking
God be at my end—and at my departing
Wisdom of Jesus Portion
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark 1: 35).
But Jesus himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray (Luke 5: 16).
Reflection Based on the Writings of Carl Safina
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Carl Safina got up, left the house and went to a solitary place—in this case, a remote island in Peruvian Amazon, populated by birds. There, Safina describes an experience that some would call prayer. His own words now: “As the night’s shades rise and the eyelids of morning begin to open, the world retells its creation story. I was expecting something like the explosive dawn chorus of springtime in the Northeast. But here the sun comes up slower. And so does the chorus. It starts with chanting. Dawn’s main meditation soundtrack begins with razor-billed curassows…As the curassows coo their oms into the ravine, their meditative tolls get overlaid by three soft, insistently plaintive whistles, the timorous affirmations of an undulated tinamou. These two calls somehow reach each other inside my mind, meshing into one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. The slow rhythm is like the whole forest breathing… While the sky is still blue-gray, degrees of illumination cue others to appear on the soundstage. Oropendolas begin calling, their notes sounding like big drops of thick liquid. Motmots begin adding their rhythmic tom-tom beats. Their notes so meditative and soothing that they set my mind adrift, like a boat in long swells. Rise. Subside. I am afloat on an emerald sea amid shoals of birds. The volume comes up, comes up, until we are wrapped in a shimmering surround of songs and calls, some melodic, some emphatic. It literally dawns on me that countless generations of singers who’ve continually come and gone have performed this soundtrack of renewed existence daily here for countless thousands of years. And if all had been as it was supposed to be, there’d be no end in sight (Becoming Wild, pp. 153–154).
Later he writes, addressing us: “How long and rich a morning can be if you bring yourself fully to it. Come to a decent place. Bring nothing to tempt your attention away. Immerse in the timelessness of reality. Attention paid is repaid with interest (pp. 179).
And so I wonder: What if spirituality isn’t straining to believe something? What if spirituality is relaxing into the timelessness of reality and paying attention? As Moses told the Hebrews newly liberated from their bondage, “Hear, O Israel.” Or these words by another teacher: “Those who have ears, let them hear.”
Meditation: Sounds of the Rainforest
For our meditation: picture yourself in a forest filled with life. Imagine that it is early in the morning, while it is still dark. You’ve found a comfortable spot to rest and wait. Imagine that you’ve drifted off to sleep in the quiet that sometimes marks even the forest before the inhabitants of the forest, the monks and nuns and priests of creation, have arisen to greet the dawn. They begin their celebration of the new day and at first you incorporate their sounds into a pleasant dream. But then you awake to discover a strange beauty beyond your wildest dreams. Over the next minute, go ahead.
Prayer to the Spirit
Fire of the Spirit, life of the lives of creatures,
spiral of sanctity, bond of all natures,
glow of charity, lights of clarity, taste
of sweetness to sinners, be with us and hear us.
—Hildegard of Bingen, 12th century nun, writer, composer, mystic, visionary, polymath, regarded by many as a founder of scientific natural history in Europe.
Prayer for Loved Ones
Over the next minute simply name your loved ones, calling each to mind in love, lifting each in the embrace of remembered love, to the God who is the source of all being.
Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
Benediction
So have a blessed day, go in peace, wash your hands, love your neighbor: you are not alone.