With an Open Heart and a Watchful Reverence

Yesterday I spoke about the mystery and awe we can experience in the natural world around us. 

I once heard the poet John O’ Donohue talk about being born into the amazing landscape in the west of Ireland. He said, “…I often think that the forms of the limestone are so abstract and aesthetic, it is as if they were all laid down by some wild, surrealistic kind of deity. (And) being a child and coming out into that, it was waiting, like a huge, wild invitation to extend your imagination.”

He went on to say, for all of us, “I think it makes a huge difference, when you wake in the morning and come out of your house whether you believe you’re walking into dead geographical location, which is used to get to a destination, or whether you’re emerging out into a landscape that is just as much if not more alive as you, and if you go towards it with an open heart and a real, watchful reverence, that you will be absolutely amazed at what it will reveal to you.”

As I mentioned yesterday, 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 pray that you would go out into the world with an open heart, and a real, watchful reverence. And may you be absolutely amazed at what your own local landscape reveals to you.

Let us pray: Maker of days, Creator of all life, this day we join our voices to the chorus of creation giving praise to you! We praise you for your power and strength, and for your gentleness and compassion. And we praise you for this beautiful world in which we live – the work of your hands. Open our eyes and tune our hearts to your presence out there. In Christ’s name. Amen.