("Blowin’ in
the Wind" is a regular
feature on my blog consisting of an assortment of nature writings – hymns,
songs, excerpts, prayers, Bible readings, poems or other things – pieces I may
not have written but that inspire me or have given me joy. I trust they will do
the same for you.)
Back in
January they sent out a devotional called Aweism;
it is based on Romans 1:20, a keystone text for those who find nature an
important spiritual pathway. Adapted from several of Rohr’s writings, I thought
the meditation a dandy, so saved it for use some day in my Blowin’ in the Wind blog feature. Some may think it smacks of
animism, yet I do not believe that is so. Besides, humankind can do far worse
than making a god out of God’s creation, and usually exceeds itself in doing so.
The Bible text:
For what can be known about God is perfectly
plain, for God has made it plain. Ever since God crated the world, God’s
everlasting power and deity is there for the mind to see in all the things God
has created. (Romans 1:20)
The meditation:
This amazing, yet all too often ignored, passage
says the essential message is written everywhere for all to see, if they indeed
want to see.
Both Anthony of the Desert (c. 251-356) and
Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) said there are two books of scripture. The first
book of scripture is the natural world… The second is the written Bible, which
has only existed for about 2,000 years. We basically threw out the first book
for much of those years, although it got worse after the invention of the
printing press. We gave most of our attention to the written book, which has
kept us in our limited left-brain, outside of direct experience, and with the
dualistic mind that the ego always prefers. Mere words, even and most
especially “holy words” and authoritative words, when used apart from any
experience of an Eternal Word, tend to create argumentative people… [their
being] two to three steps removed from true experience.
We did not honor and learn from the first and
primary Bible of creation, so how would we know how to honor and properly use
the second Bible? We largely mangled and manipulated the written word of God
for our own ego purposes, instead of receiving it inside of the mystery, awe,
silence, and surrender – which the natural world demands of us and teaches us.
Many have said that a fundamental attitude of awe is the primal religious experience
and the beginning of the search for God. If we start with mere argument we
never leave the battlefield. Imagine a religion called “Aweism!” Instead of
wasting time trying to prove or disprove miracles, this religion would be
inhabited by people who see that everything is a miracle. Only people who can
fully surrender to things beyond themselves can experience awe,
wonder, or enchantment.
Surrender is not giving up… Surrender
is entering the present moment, and what is right in front of you, fully and
without resistance or attempts at control. In that sense, surrender is almost
the opposite of giving up…, it is being given to!
We must know that creation is our first and final
cathedral. Nature is the one song of praise that never stops singing, as many
of the Psalms say. If you are drawn to “kneel” in this cathedral, you can
always talk to a Mystery that is so much larger than yourself. It takes no
theology classes whatsoever, no proofs, no arguments. Aweism is the one true
religion…
Once again, I find this
excerpt in the ‘wish I’d said that’ category.
~~ RGM, September 18 2015
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