Living in Harmony with God’s Creative Order: Part 1

Celebrating the Reverence of Creation

When we tune ourselves into God’s awesome creation—when we pause to notice life bursting forth all around us, our automatic response is reverent gratitude.  It is impossible to stand in the Light of creation & not recognize the reverent majesty & wonder of God’s presence in, around, & within us.  The awesome beauty & reverence of: a vine adorned with morning glories, the joyous song of birds singing, a deeply rooted stable tree, the gentle waves of a serene clear lake, the power of majestic mountain ranges, the first cry of a new born baby, the healing sound of laughter shared, the warmth of souls embracing, the soothing feeling & sound of the wind, all fill our souls with deep reverent gratitude for our Creator & fill our spirits with new life, joy & hope.  When we fail to recognize the spiritual context in which we live, we lose sight of our Creator & our whole being; mind, body & spirit become broken & separated from our life-giving force.  Though the reverence of creation transcends our full understanding, by the very fact that God is in all creation & all of creation is in God, we who are created in the image of God, are pulled into sacred harmony with God’s creative order & made whole.  Creation is the healing balm that makes us whole & brings us into balance; in our mind, body & spirit, regardless of what season we may find ourselves in.

Navigating Stormy Days 
       
As glorious & beautiful as the month of June is, the fact is we are not spared the challenges & suffering of severe storms, natural disasters & personal situations.  It takes both sun & rain to make a rainbow & we know that the rainbow is a symbol of our connection with God our Creator.  Beauty & suffering are part of human living.  Storms often come unexpectedly through nature in the form of winds, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunder & lightning, causing destruction, turbulence & suffering.  Storms can also come unexpectedly & break into our lives in the form of personal situations such as: illness, hospitalization, losses, & conflicts.  Just as sunny days affect our view & our living, so to do storms, shifting our mind, body & spirit out of balance & into suffering.

Transcending the Beauty & Suffering of Life

The challenge for our soul is to find ways to live in harmony with God’s creative order, that by its very nature includes beauty & suffering that affects our mind, body & spirit, without losing sight of our Creator.  We know that life is gloriously complicated.  It is difficult to understand why any suffering at all exists, but we know it does. However, even in the worst suffering, ultimately beauty will always outweigh our suffering for our Creator God resides in all life & God created all life to be beautiful & good.

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig MDiv. MS; Spiritual Consultant with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy