"Everything in the universe is made by union, by the coming together of elements that seek out one another." Teilhard de Chardin

I have been doing a little late spring cleaning, going through the stacks of papers that seem to reproduce in both my office and at home. Reading through notes I have taken at meetings, workshops, and conferences I was able to make sense of some of them while others eluded me. What had I meant by writing that down at that particular minute? It seemed so important at the time and now its meaning is lost on me.

Sifting through one particular stack I found a folded piece of paper with the statement: 'The more a thing is torn the more it can connect.' I recognized these words from a workshop I took in the winter with Jan Richardson. Jan's work in collage art and poetry helped frame these words but I knew I had written them down sensing they meant more than the way pieces of torn paper come together to form a collage. 

The ways in which our lives are torn by the struggles and stresses that come our way provides oh-so-many-ways to remember the many ways we are connected to one another. I am thinking of the immense oil spill in the Gulf. I am thinking of those people whose lives have been upended by this terrible catastrophe. I am also thinking of the animals, birds, fish and wildlife that have been harmed in ways yet to be determined. I am thinking of the water and the landscape scarred and torn by this unimaginable hole that continues to spew forth oil, gallon after gallon of oil. 

Perhaps the many tears that have happened in this situation will finally bring us all to the recognition of the ways in which we are connected that are seen and unseen. I don't believe Jan Richardson was speaking about destruction. She was, instead, speaking of creativity. And creativity, BIG creativity is what is needed now. What are the ways the engineers and the experts can take the torn pieces of what has happened and make connections that will take us toward a brighter future, one that is more sustainable for our children's children? How can we take the torn pieces of this catastrophe and demand a world less dependent on oil? How can we all take the torn pieces of what has happened and move them around on the page until they form connections that can be glued down and smoothed out to make a more beautiful picture of what is yet to be?

For all those who are experiencing torn places in their lives, let us pray for the deep wisdom that leads to making the connections toward healing…..healing ourselves,healing the world. May the Holy Spirit, whose coming we celebrated this past Sunday, be among us moving, shaping, dancing us into the Great Connection.