Our Precious Things

"Here is a strange and wonderful fact, which shows why people have always believed that the evolution of the cosmos is a partnership between God and humankind: The sacred is always there, closer to us than any physical person could be, but it takes on the power to fill our lives with meaning and quality only when we open our eyes and bow down in awe. This is one of the great mysteries: It is our consciousness, our act of recognition, that has the power to make things into what they are, and to make the sacred, sacred." Robert Johnson

This is a pileated woodpecker. After the ivorybill, it is the largest woodpecker in the United States. Its red chevron crest, sword like bill and arching neck are reminiscent of its ancestor, the pterodactyl. Even its call, a loud honking noise, conjures up images of the jungle instead of suburban woods. Of all the birds, it has a special place in my heart, because it has always appeared, sometimes in remarkable ways, at the times in my life when I needed encouragement and the assurance that there was more going on than I could see. This lovely, eccentric bird, has become sacred to me.
One of the greatest gifts available to us is our connection to the natural world. Most of us acknowledge it provides sustenance for our lives, but modern culture has insulated many of us from the awareness that it does the same thing for our souls. The loss of this understanding is profound. It has impaired our ability to see ourselves as part of the earth and therefore use it resources wisely. But equally as life threatening is the loss of understanding we can rely upon our experiences within it to guide and deepen our relationship with ourselves, with others and most importantly, God---however we may believe that numinous entity to exist.
At the Holocaust Museum in Washington, the last room visitors enter is a simple round prayer room filled with candles. A brief film is shown in which survivors try to explain what helped them transcend the horror. I have always remembered one woman who looked directly into the camera and quietly but fervently said: "When you come here and see what is left: the prayer shawls, the photographs of our loved ones and places, the holy books, do not see them as mere keepsakes. These are our precious, precious things. These are what kept us alive in the darkness when nothing else could." The world outside our door, is the precious, precious thing waiting for all of us.
This is my last post for awhile. I am traveling to India, to see more of this precious world. I look forward to sharing my experiences there with all of you after I return the first of February. Until then, I leave you with one of my favorite lines from Mary Oliver: "Look and see."