Reverence

Some thoughts for your reflection. The topic is “reverence,” a word that might save us from ourselves. Consider this from Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred In Everyday Life. “The challenge of the saints in the twenty-first century is to begin to comprehend the sacred in the ten thousand things of our world, to reverence what we have come to view as ordinary and devoid of spirit.” (Edward Hayes)

Look around. There is so much that is deserving of our respect and honor. The sacred is in, with, and under the ten thousand things of the world. Or, from The Book of Rites, Confucius says: “Always and in everything, let there be reverence.” Philosopher Thomas Berry: “Every being has its own interior; its self, its mystery.” Add to that the thought of German dramatist von Goethe: “the soul of the Christian religion is reverence.” Then the voice of Jesus: look at the birds of the air, the flowers in the field, the hairs on your head, the bread we break, the one who is outcast and helpless, mountains and molecules that make up the human body…all living things possess the spirit of God, which means that all things should be held in compassionate reverence.

Albert Schweitzer and his concept of “reverence for life” as the foundation of his ethics: “Profound love demands a deep conception and out of this develops reverence for the mystery of life. It brings us close to all beings.” It brings us to the place where God resides: deep within all living things.

To walk through this day and all it demands with a deliberate reverence, an intentional awareness of the sacred in life around us is to bless, to be blessed, and to follow the footsteps of Jesus. An attitude of reverence and actions of reverent compassion might get us out of the world mess we have created. It will certainly make your day brighter and your heart tender. Walk today in reverence. Keep your eye on the One who leads creation towards Light. Press on.