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.
Note: for those new to our weekly Blue Ocean nature-themed meditation series, new episodes are published every 2–3 weeks, and only the new ones will appear on the Tuesday, nature-themed feed. Episodes of the Blue Ocean Daily Prayer series publish every day (Mon-Sat), and include repeats.
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
Psalm Portion
Psalm 96: 1, 9, 12 (Robert Alter)
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Bow to the Lord in sacred grandeur
quake before him, all the earth.
Let the field be glad and all that is in it,
Then shall all the trees of the forest gladly sing
Reflection Based on the Writings of Carl Safina
In Becoming Wild, How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace, Carl Safina tells of the extravagantly beautiful Macaws gathering in the rainforest, raising a joyful noise as they prepare to descend to a patch of clay, from which they extract salt which is so hard to find in the Amazon. These birds are in the same family as parrots, parakeets, lovebirds, and cockatoos. Safina describes them setting the forest ablaze with color: “Their hues and tints set the trees aglow,” he writes, “the spontaneous combustion of their reds, yellows, and blues making them the rainforest’s supreme firebirds.”
As I picture the scene that Safina conjures, the crescendoing chorus in the trees, the descent to the ground, hundreds of them now, arrayed in nature’s brightest colors, a pulsating assembly gathered in the outdoor cathedral for sacred feasting, bending beak to clay to pick out a salt-laced crumble, I think of words from Psalm 96: “Bow to the Lord in sacred grandeur, quake before him all the earth … then shall the forest gladly sing.”
Meditation: Sounds of the Rainforest
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.