One of the sisters I use to work with here at the motherhouse always talked about synchronicity--a word that was until then unknown to me. However, over the intervening years I've really come to be amazed and awed at the numerous instances of synchronicity. Some would simply brush it off as coincidence but it's something much broader, much deeper than mere coincidence. It's a coming together of idea, occurrences, ideas in such a way that, to me, it almost staggers the soul.
When I first came into work this morning, I check my email and took time to read the daily reflection I received from Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM. The reflections are always based on Franciscan spirituality and for the last few days have been focused on the fact that St. Francis called everything in creation his brother and sister. In talking about this "oneness" of all creation and about prayer, Fr. Rohr said, "I must know that I am, at least in part, the very thing I am seeking. In fact, that is what makes me seek it. But most do not know this good news yet. God cannot be found 'out there' until God is first found 'in here,' within ourselves."
This, in turn, reminded me of one of my favorite poems, Francis Thompson's "The Kingdom of God." I've always loved the way he explains that nature knows how to find what is important to it, what it is to do. We, on the other hand, are not always aware that the God we seek is already with us! So...I went hunting for Thompson's poem to share with you.
The Kingdom of God
O WORLD invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?
Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!
And the final piece of this morning of synchronicity? I usually like to share a movie video from YouTube when I do a reflection. I had never heard this hymn before but when I found it, it pretty much took my breath away! The lyrics are not printed on the video and I wasn't able to find one that had them. However, they are very simple and I think fairly understandable. Enjoy it and be at peace!
When I first came into work this morning, I check my email and took time to read the daily reflection I received from Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM. The reflections are always based on Franciscan spirituality and for the last few days have been focused on the fact that St. Francis called everything in creation his brother and sister. In talking about this "oneness" of all creation and about prayer, Fr. Rohr said, "I must know that I am, at least in part, the very thing I am seeking. In fact, that is what makes me seek it. But most do not know this good news yet. God cannot be found 'out there' until God is first found 'in here,' within ourselves."
This, in turn, reminded me of one of my favorite poems, Francis Thompson's "The Kingdom of God." I've always loved the way he explains that nature knows how to find what is important to it, what it is to do. We, on the other hand, are not always aware that the God we seek is already with us! So...I went hunting for Thompson's poem to share with you.
The Kingdom of God
O WORLD invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!
Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air--
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumor of thee there?
Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!--
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.
The angels keep their ancient places--
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
'Tis ye, 'tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendored thing.
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry--and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry--clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!
And the final piece of this morning of synchronicity? I usually like to share a movie video from YouTube when I do a reflection. I had never heard this hymn before but when I found it, it pretty much took my breath away! The lyrics are not printed on the video and I wasn't able to find one that had them. However, they are very simple and I think fairly understandable. Enjoy it and be at peace!
