The following was written based upon Psalm 104:24-34, 35b. I was given the opportunity to prepare a ‘sermon’ based upon those passages from the Bible. This is my submission.
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—
who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord!
All the Differences Are Equality
Whenever I read a spiritual writing, regardless of the source, I try to suspend the man in me and open to the spirit. The man in me would try to define, to explain the meaning, to delve as deep as I could into trying to figure it all out. But the spirit is not to be found in our oh so clever brain. It is resident in our heart.
I have tried to read this from my heart and in so doing I ask myself how do I feel when reading this. Suspending my need to explain I sit with the wonder or even the confusion. Reading this I feel awed, I also feel humble, I feel embraced, and I feel safe and valuable.
These passages remind me of a parable found in Buddhism called ‘Simile of Herbs’. In this parable the various plants are described as they live on the earth; there are big ones there are short ones, and there are bushy ones. The plants come in various sizes, shapes, and functions.
We, and the things that live on this earth are like this. Life manifests in countless ways, even in ways and places our brains might suggest as being completely impossible. It is perhaps impossible to fully understand the infinite potential for life on our planet, of which humans are a very small part.
As the parable continues it talks about a great cloud that appears in the sky. This great cloud is immense in size and caries nurturing rain. This rain is not partial; it does not seek out some plants over others, giving more to some and less to others. The rain falls equally around; it is the plants, which take what it is they need for their own functions.
Even though some plants require great quantities of water and others only require a small amount they all equally benefit from the rain that is falling without impartiality.
I suspect God’s spirit is like this, wouldn’t you say? Each of us has certain things we are good at doing. You can look at your neighbor and perhaps you can see things they can do that you cannot. Even if we look at the plants and animals that are abundant around us, how many of us could do what they do. I am poorly suited to be a beast of burden, yet I cannot exist without the burdens it carries. I am incapable of being the constant giver of unconditional love like my dog, yet I am nourished by its affection.
I find it hard to believe that I, who am so limited in what I can do, would be more loved by the person who makes all things. Life is manifest in each of the creatures of the universe, and life is nourished and fulfilled by each of those creatures. I am not the corn or wheat I use to make my bread and feed my animals with. I can make the bread the wheat cannot.
Wheat has it’s unique capacities as do I. We each receive equally the gift of life. We each receive equally the nourishment from our divine, our capacities and talents are different but we are all equally loved.
The Psalmist says that the Lord’s creations, his efforts are varied and it was through his wisdom, it was his plan that all were made as they were. How can we doubt this? The universe, our earth is so full of life, could any one of us have done such a wonderful job? I can’t even keep my desk clean; you would not want to live in a world I created. God made the goofy, he made the quirky, he made the short, he made the small. It’s all there of his effort and not of mine or yours. Heck we can’t even come into life without someone or something taking care of us.
He made my silly dog, who refuses to stop jumping on people when she greets them, he also made her so devoted that she loves me even when I am busy and tired. He made the grains of the earth in such a way that it is possible for any life form to sustain themselves. Unfortunately he also made weeds. Oh my gosh, did he ever make a bunch of weeds.
Oh, and he also made slugs, ugh.
End of Part I – Part II can be read by this link.
