Awe and Reverence

Psalm 104 is one of my absolute favorites. It is the celebration of God as the Creator, the God who stretched out the heavens like a tent, who formed the mountains and the sea, and who makes springs gush forth in the valleys, and who gives life and breath to all that lives.

Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, “Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes…”

This is of course a reference to the story of Moses who was a shepherd. When God speaks to him out of a burning bush, God says, “Moses, remove the sandals from your feet, for the ground you are standing on is sacred.” Now Moses has been living on this land for years, but all of a sudden he sees and hears. He has this moment of awe, and he notices God’s presence. 

I think many of us have had moments like that.

I know in my own life, it is often in moments, immersed in creation, sometimes sitting way out on the ocean where I sense God’s presence most profoundly. And then, from that vantage point, to watch the coming of a storm with the clouds rolling in, shades of deep blue, purple, grey – shape-shifting as they approach, the sheets of rain, lightning, rolling thunder… you can’t help but have a sense of awe and reverence. 

Experiences like that do something to us…

The ancient Christian Celts make the claim that the eternal is ever seeping through the physical. If only our eyes and our hearts are tuned…

Today, I invite you to consider taking a walk outside. If you can’t physically get outside, then perhaps sit by a window to the outside world. Tune your eyes and your heart to the mystery that surrounds you. Allow your mind to wonder. And marvel at the wonder and beauty of the gifts God has given.

Let us pray: Maker of Days, Creator of all Life, we don’t have to look far to encounter vast mysteries beyond our understanding, or travel very far along this journey of life before we realize how little we know and how little control we actually have. Open our eyes to the beauty that surrounds us at any given moment. And open our hearts too, to the gift of your love which binds us together with you, and with all that is. In Jesus’ name. Amen.