"All has been consecrated.
The creatures in the forest know this,
the earth does, the seas do, the clouds know
as does the heart full of love.
Strange a priest would rob us of this
knowledge
and then empower himself
with the ability
to make holy what
already was."
~Catherine of Siena(1347-1380)translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Every now and then you come across a poem, a phrase, a paragraph that you have been searching for perhaps your whole life. When I purchased the book Love Poems from God a few weeks ago, I didn't know that I had purchased such a treasure. In this volume, Daniel Ladinksy has translated the works of Rumi, Hafiz, St. Francis of Asisi, and others, including this particular poem by Catherine of Siena. Catherine is one of the many wisdom figures of the middle ages that bring so much insight into our 21st century life. She was a poet, a nun, a contemplative, and someone people from all walks of life came to for counsel. Her short life of thirty three years left much for us to mine.

When I read this poem, I knew that Catherine and I would have been fast friends. The message, the sentiment of this poem, struck a chord within me that was undeniable. It points out the audacity of we humans. It also points toward all we fail to see, all we miss out on as we live this audacious life, pretending as if we are the center of the universe rather than a beautiful thread within it.

How do we open our eyes to the Holy in our midst? How do we come to see our invisible lines of connection with all Creation? How do we walk the earth with gentle feet in relationship with all that has been created? How do we soften our hearts so we can fall in love with the beauty and wonder that awaits us each and every day?

I don't know the answers to these questions but I think the beginning of this kind of living falls someplace within humility. It is with humility that I recognize I don't have a clue as to how the Sun rises and sets each day. I am simply the benefactor of its grace. It is with humility that I looked upon the eyelashes of a one year old this past Sunday wondering how they could be so long, so lovely with so little effort. It is with humility that I watch the Mississippi River flow near my house as it carries itself across the fullness of this amazing land. How many other people, ones I will never meet, share in honoring this mighty body of water that makes us relatives?

All of these…Sun, eyelashes, river….have always been holy, always been held on the breath of God, birthed out of the Sacred's amazing love. I did not, nor could any other human being, make it more so.