Brother David Steindl-Rast, in the foreword to Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: Riverhead Books, 1995, xiii.
In midwinter, St. Francis is calling out to an almond tree, “Speak to me of God!” and the almond tree breaks into bloom. It comes alive. There is no other way of witnessing to God but by aliveness.
2 comments:
I sometimes feel oppressed by religious ideas when I think of them as nothing but a collection of moral rules designed to transcribe my behavior, as if God were a strict parent ready to rap me on the knuckles when I am bad. Why did God make me this way, and make it so hard for me to follow all those rules? But when I penetrate more deeply into spiritual reality, I discover that there is a way to be who I am and to be profoundly and weirdly and wildly alive. God revels in this aliveness.
Loving God, help me to break into bloom. Help me to be who I am in full aliveness, witnessing to you by becoming truly and deeply myself.
Thank you, Lindsay, for all your posts, which help to enliven God to me, like an almond tree bursting into bloom just because it's been asked to speak. Thank you for your comment about deep spiritual reality, and thank you for witnessing God's truth in many ways.
Godess, help me to see You today even in the bare trees outside my door. I want to be alive in You.
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