"I watch this morning
for the light that the darkness has not overcome.
I watch for the fire that was in the beginning
and that burns still in the brilliance of the rising sun.
I watch for the glow of life that gleams in the growing earth
and glistens in the sea and sky.
I watch for your light, O God,
in the eyes of every living creature
and in the ever-living flame of my own soul.
If the grace of seeing were mine this day
I would glimpse you in all that lives.
Grant me the grace of seeing this day.
Grant me the grace of seeing."
            ~  J. Philip Newell, Celtic Benediction:Morning and Night Prayer

There are words that are simply fun to say….words like ‘glimpse’. I often say it is a word, like so many others, that feels good in your mouth. This past week when I read the word glimpse in my morning devotions, I smiled, because it is ‘one of those words’. To glimpse is to become aware of something that you often don’t fully see. To glimpse is to be given a peek into the wholeness of something. To glimpse is to be reminded that being more fully awake and aware can bring deeper gifts.

"If the grace of seeing were mine this day, I would glimpse you in all that lives." Ah,if were it only so! If only we had the the grace of seeing the presence of the Holy in all that lives. If we walked in this grace, we would walk more gently on our planet. If we had the vision of this grace, we would treat those we meet with greater kindness and compassion. If we listened in this grace, we would be more fully present to our children, our partners, our co-workers, the stranger who bags our groceries. If we had this grace of seeing to know that all the atoms and particles of all that lives were infused with the Sacred, how might we live differently?

It is something to consider as we walk out into this day. The 13th century mystic Meister Eckhart wrote: "Apprehend God in all things, for God is in all things. Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God." Perhaps today is a good day to remind ourselves to open the book….to apprehend…to glimpse.