Dreaming of Silver Roses

There should be a warning label inserted here because this is going to be cerebral and deep. Just FYI!

Ken Gire has written so much that I have felt I think subtly at the edges of my thoughts for a long time, but I couldn’t word well. In his book, The Reflective Life: Becoming More Spiritually Sensitive to the Everyday Moments of Life, at the on set he raises the premise that there is sacredness to life. Most Christians would agree to this and this not the place where I wish to address some modern moral issues of today. I mean that there is a touch of divine in all of life.

There is the finger print on the created – human and none human – that leads us to a deeper understanding of the Creator just as a work of art can lead us to a greater understanding of an artist. He has some pretty powerful illustrations in his book, and they are his and I won’t spoil it for those who wish to read his work, each pointing to areas of sacredness in our everyday walks.

There is sacredness in our neighbors. He quotes Abraham Heschel : “The awe that we sense or ought to sense when standing in the presence of a human being is a moment of intuition for the likeness of God which is concealed in his essence.” I love that. Mankind at large and as an individual is awe inspiring because of the finger print of God on our lives. I remember the first time I read Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wind in the Door. I so wanted to understand Meg’s gift of “naming”. Carole Chase whom I totally respect as an interpreter of L’Engle’s works and perspective talks in her book, Suncatcher: A Study of Madeleine L’Engle and Her Writings, about “naming” as a calling to “be” what we are intended to be. It is recognizing the sacredness of the named and the special unique gifts that are inherent in the named that exist just the way they are in the named alone. I believe – probably because I am a cheerleader and encourager – that the gift of teaching and encouraging is a search to call out that uniqueness and ’specialness” we see that God has gifted in those we are serving by encouragement.

For example, my daughter is a prayer warrior- it is a passion for her and not just something Diallo and I encourage her to do. She would do it with or without my encouragement. It is inherent in who she is as much as her brown eyes- and an artist. My son is a wordsmith- he shares and understands a vocabulary far beyond his years- and a techno geek. I call out these gifts with praise and finding a way for them to use the gifts to bless others and honor Christ. I name the gift and because I give it recognition as something they alone can do their way, I am naming my children and recognizing their sacredness. I try to do that with others I am in relationship with as well. Not everyone is called to be a “namer” or an encourager like I am – that names me – but all can encourage and name in their own way. Recognize the uniqueness, the finger print of God and what it reveals about the Creator- in His art, our neighbors.

At the same time I believe that recognizing the sacredness in our neighbor is more than encouragement or “naming”. I believe it is actively seeking how God is working in my relationship with another to reveal Himself to me and to them. It takes work. It is an effort. It is looking beyond. It is reading between the lines (not the same as assuming) but a practiced listening and grabbing the moment. Our pastor has often used the word “intentional” in many of his sermons. I like that word. It means that I am willing to live as if nothing is chance. Nothing is “Eh, just because”. There is no luck. It means walking into a relationship with the idea in mind that there will be a holy meeting in my connection with each person. I will reveal a view of God to them. They will reveal a view of God to me. Or preferably both. That changes how I approach every single encounter with every person I touch. It changes my fits of temper, my sense of injustice, my self-righteousness, my love, my humility, my dignity and theirs. If I view them at grace value rather than face value there is no such thing as a worthless person. There may be those who are not “named” and who don’t know themselves and Whose they are yet, but all have infinite value. Walking into an encounter with that on the forefront of my mind changes the sense of excitement, sense of urgency, sense of love in the possibility of the encounter entirely! Mercy and grace and forgiveness can be extended much more easily to a treasure of God.

An example of the opposite is in Gire’s book. He writes that during the time of the Nazi régime that there was a common saying to justify their behavior. “The human body contains a sufficient amount of fat to make seven cakes of soap, enough iron to make a medium sized nail, a sufficient amount of phosphorous to equip two thousand match-heads, enough sulfur to rid one’s self of one’s fleas.” In other words, there are two views of your neighbor, as objects to use… or art that is sacred and worthy of appreciation. It takes work and the Holy Spirit to remember that each person is a divine work of art that Christ lived for and died for.

Gire records that Heschel says : “Not only man; even inanimate things stand in relation to the Creator. The secret of every being is the divine care and concern that are invested in it. Something sacred is at stake in every event.”

Every event is more than coincidence. All that is created exists to teach us about the Creator. We have to choose to live as if creation has value to do so. Ernest Thompson Seton is quoted in Gire’s book as writing: “The culture and civilization of the ’Whiteman’ are essentially material; his measure of success is ’How much property have I acquired for myself?’ The culture of the ’Redman’ is fundamentally spiritual; his measure of success is, ’How much service have I rendered to my people?’. I don’t think it’s strictly a racial concept that we have two choices for viewing creation. It was a popular discussion in a class called “Man and the Environment” at the university I attended that we have taken the King James Version of the scripture that records in Genesis (1:28) that we are to “subdue” creation and interpreted the scripture to mean that we are to objectify it or force it to do as we would have it do – to enslave and force – rather than work with it. It isn’t as valuable as a human life and therefore can be treated as a paper plate rather than fine china. So now because we didn’t respect it we have “An inconvenient truth” to deal with and land fills over flowing and more. There are so many environmental and biological concerns that we fear for the next generation. I even recently read on Fox news an article that the Vatican has added environmental abuser to it’s list of deadly sins this year! I say this to make no assumption about Catholicism (I have some very dear Catholic friends in Christ), I just find it shocking that we have to add our abuse of God’s art to the list to begin with because we didn’t respect it as we should have. We lacked the spiritual eyesight to view creation as sacred and able to reveal its Creator. I am reminded of what Francis Thompson wrote:

All things by immortal power,
Near or far, Hiddenly
To each other linked are,
That thou canst not stir a flower
Without troubling of a star.”

-Mistress of Vision, Francis Thompson (1859-1907)

Or how about a fragment from William Blake –

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour…. (from “Auguries of Innocence”)

I think what I am learning is to live life with my physical and spiritual eyes wide open to hear from the King. He can use whatever He wants to reveal who He is and it is no accident that we hear and see and learn from Him in the world around us or in others. I love that.

Currently listening : Add to the Beauty By Sara Groves Release date: 04 October, 2005

Filed under: Uncategorized on March 31st, 2008