'The great Chain of being' !

The above collection of photos of flowers from our garden, during a morning walk, reminded me of the quiet presence of a life cycle that goes on in nature. The bees, butterflies, sunbirds, squirrels and insects would visit them and feed on nectar. They are flowers not so suitable for flower vases. They do not get picked to make indoor decoration. These and all the flowers offer colour, aroma and nectar.

There are fruits of various types, papaya, custard apple, pine apple, lime and nutmeg in different parts of the garden. The birds and squirrels have access to them. We get to pluck them and relish them.

There are saplings, new shoots, sprouting seeds and new shoots in trees recently pruned. During the cooler months as it is now, the morning dew on the leaves and on the lawn grass add a rich look to the garden. 

There are birds and squirrels during most part of the day in the garden, engaged in their routines and rituals. There are birds that nest in the garden. 

The cats in the neighbourhood are regular visitors to the garden. 

There are trees in the garden which look stressed. The wood peckers come to the hollow in the aracnut tree searching for insects. The tree looks stressed with the leaves showing signs of withering. The coconut palms also show signs of stress probably due to nutritional stress or pests.

The sky above showed the cloud formation and a cloudy day or rainy day ahead!

 

It was while arranging  the phots in the folders of the computer, I got a sense of the silent events and normal cycle in the garden. Most of what we in the photos above are not conditioned by any active human effort.  They follow a rhythm and pattern aligned with their nature and growth. 

The author Richard Rohr, in his book, The Universal Christ-how a forgotten reality can change everything we see, hope for and believe offered a subtitle in the chapter Original Goodness (p54), The great Chain of Being. In this section, he wrote: 'The natural world is its own good and sufficient story, if we can learn to see it with humility and love. That takes contemplative practice, stopping our  busy and superficial minds long enough to see the beauty, allow the truth, and protect the inherent goodness of what it is- whether it profits me, pleases me or not. Every gift of food and water, every act of simple kindness, every ray of sunshine, every mammal caring for her young, all of it emerged from this original and intrinsically good creation...As described in Genesis, the creation unfolds over six days, implying developmental understanding of growth....The divine pattern is set: Doing must be balanced by not doing...All contemplation reflects a seven-day choice and experience, relying on grace instead of effort' (p58-59).

It was while reading the above section and the rest of the chapter, I felt that God is at work in His creation. To feel that God is present and is at work in our garden, where Anna and I live brought an added sense of reverence and respect to act we are surrounded with in our garden. 

The wood cutter who came to fell a coconut tree struck by lightning, sat quietly near the trunk of the tree for a short period in stillness before he started sawing the trunk.  After the work was done, I asked the meaning of that silent gesture before cutting the tree. He mentioned, 'I am bout cut a tree that gave coconuts to feed us for about sixty years. I am about to cut what was the fruit of other's labour. All creation belong to God...'! I was moved to hear such a respectful acknowledgement of  the great chain of being, which gives a sense of  regard, we ought to have towards all that is around us. We are keepers of God's creation. 

Moses seeing the burning bush, which was not consumed in the fire took off his sandals (Exodus 3:1-9).

'Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees takes off his shoes...'

( Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh )

Yesterday while watering the plants, our domestic worker noticed that the rose bush above, was looking too droopy and wondered whether it is on account of any disease! 

She watered it well and lo, and behold, this morning the bush is back to its full life with all the buds looking healthy!

This is the story of events we come across all around us. It is unto us to allow them to refresh us and bless us with hope that all the events around us carry a divine dimension beyond all that is material and temporal!

It is this sense of wonder and reverence, which shall bless us for soulful living!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)