Rector's Reflection:
We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.
Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. Now, think. What delight God gives to humankind with all these things. All nature is at the disposal of humankind. We are to work with it. For without it we cannot survive.
All living creatures are sparks from the radiation of God’s brilliance, emerging from God like the rays of the sun.
- Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Hildegard was a medieval polymath (meaning she was incredibly talented in a number of different fields). She was a writer, composer, theologian, mystic, visionary, herbalist, physician, philosopher and abbess. She is remembered on September 17th.
From this little piece of her writing, it is clear to me that she did not keep all of these parts of herself separated but allowed them to become deeply interwoven and integrated. I hear in this excerpt the curiosity and appreciation of the natural world of the herbalist, the poetry of the composer, the wisdom of the theologian, the creativity of the mystic, and the pastoral concern of the abbess.
May we work for the sort of integration that Hildegard exemplified between the different passions and parts of our own lives, the sort of integration that is part of human flourishing – God’s dream for us. May we experience the sort of interwoven connectedness that sparks curiosity and creativity, generativity and joy.
And particularly in this Season of Creation, may we be inspired by the words of this powerful, articulate woman – our sister in Christ, and ‘fall in love with creation deeper and deeper,’ and ‘rise vigorously toward justice.’
Thanks be to God!
CG+