Observing Creation: A New Spiritual Practice to Help Us Live in the Present Moment
Mary Anne Seibert
"Here's a suggestion for you today. At some point, stop. Gaze at something God has created. Take in its shape and form, color, movement, and intricacies. It could be a single bud on an autumnal flower, an animal or bird, a shapely fruit, or flowing water. Gaze at it long enough to see through it to its source: God—so majestic, infinitely creative, and miraculously generous in sharing these traces of God's glory with us."—Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of Saint John the Evangelist.
Brother Almquist offers us a new spiritual practice. He invites us to gaze at something in creation: a tree, a flower, a bird, a river, the rain, the snow, until we see the Creator in it. We might call it Observo divina. This will be a new practice for today. It all started yesterday when we saw two fawns of similar ages with a single doe in our backyard. We were mesmerized by the fawns' awkward gait, curiosity, and their seemingly delighted exploration of a new world at every turn.
This practice is another way to learn to live in the present moment. This is where God meets us, in the present moment.
Today, as I write, a lone male deer with huge antlers passes by my window. He takes my breath away. Once, multiple deer passed by my window, but now visits are infrequent. The buck is probably headed across the street to join many other deer living in the woods behind our son and his wife's house. There, I know he will be just as welcome as he was here. In fact, all the images were taken by our daughter-in-law, Mary Anne Seibert. As he walks by majestically, I think of a scene from the movie The Queen, when Elizabeth II encounters a beautiful deer. They simply look at each other and admire one another. They seem to see the beauty of creation in the other.
mary anne seibert
This is also what we do for each person we meet today. We look into their hearts to see Christ, God, and the Spirit within them. Our task is to see the Creator in all creation and to praise and give thanks for it.
We start with lovable things until we can finally see creation in those with whom we have difficulty. Take heart. Sometimes it may take more than a lifetime. But God never gives up on us, living beside us in the present moment and placing so much beauty before us that we cannot help but stop, notice, and give thanks.
Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/