The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, 10 October 2021
Austwick (Harvest), Keasden
Each of us is made of stardust –
atoms built millions of years ago in hot stars,
thrown randomly into space,
collected by all-pervading gravity
and taken in as food, drink, air,
and recycled again by nature;
spread out for reuse,
during our lifetimes and after.
Start with a hydrogen atom
and an oxygen atom or two,
and carbon atoms for fire and fuel;
add nitrogen atoms and the stage is set
for the finger of God to bring the chemistry to life –
DNA molecules which can reproduce,
but only when living in community with others.
When you think of the simplicity of the basic building blocks of the universe,
such as the hydrogen atom –
and the fact that its potential for change is limited
to the rise and fall of its energy levels,
and reflect that with this are made:
the hummingbird and the whale
the mind of an Einstein
the hands of a surgeon
the hills of North Yorkshire
the laughter of children
the courage of people in suffering,
then no miracle
no sign
can ever arouse more wonder
than the facts of the natural universe
and the mystery of the human soul.
Dust to dust
Atoms to atoms
We all share the atoms again and again.
When you eat and drink you become one with those atoms –
you receive what you already are,
you become more of what you already are.
Some of the atoms in your body may once have been part of a dinosaur.
When you breathe in, you breathe life-giving oxygen atoms –
do you breathe in some of the atoms that Jesus breathed? [1]
This week in the church’s calendar is the feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals and birds, whose life and character seem to suit so well our Harvest-time celebrations and these reflections on the wonder of creation and the intricate connections woven within it, atom-deep.
Francis went out into the Venetian marshes to hear the birds singing among the reeds, and said to his companion, 'Our sisters the birds are praising their Creator. Let us go in among them and sing God's praise, chanting the divine office.' And when Francis found the birds were making so much noise that the friars couldn’t hear themselves saying the office, he turned to them and said, 'My sisters, stop singing until we have given God the praise to which he has a right.' The birds went silent immediately and stayed that way until the friars had finished their prayers, and Francis invited them to sing again. Then the birds returned to their joyful songs. [2]
One remarkable thing about Francis is his intimacy in nature. He talked to the birds, and the birds took notice of him. They stayed calm near this human being: an unusual thing for wild birds to do. They allowed Francis to come close, so close that his clothes touched them. They trusted this human being more than any other.
Jesus said we should look at and learn from the birds of the air, for they can teach us how to trust our heavenly Father to provide for us just as he feeds them.
And Jesus said that we should take time among the the lilies of the field, to consider their beauty, how they are dressed even more gloriously than a great king, for they can teach us how to trust our heavenly Father to clothe us as he clothes them.
Harvest-time offers us a humbler way of being in this world, breaking apart from the way of domination, exploitation and control.
Harvest-time permits us to be wowed by the atoms, to seek oneness with the birds, to take time to look attentively at the least of the flowers in the fields.
The way of Harvest can be the way of every day.
Living in this way we may find our truer place in nature,
- learning to accept that everything we have we are given;
- learning to walk with an attitude of thanksgiving and praise to the creator;
- watching and listening and learning how we can play our part, alongside all the non-human creatures, in God’s wonderful work of creation and re-creation in this world.
Notes
[1] David Hawkey, The Wow of Creation in Kathy Galloway and Katharine M Preston, Living Faithfully in the Time of Creation. p.112-113. Slightly altered.
[2] St Bonaventure quoted in Maximilian Mizzi, ed, The Message of St. Francis and quoted in my earlier sermon I talk to the trees (A Franciscan conversation), Croxteth, October 2004.
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