I am wonderful!

Today’s thought has brought tears to my eyes.
I wish to simply take some quotes and leave them with you today to ponder as you journey on

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light around me become night’,
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end[a]—I am still with you.
Psalm 139

‘God creates us. God with loving hands knits us together and moulds our being. God does not make mistakes. God does not make faulty goods. ….. God’s loving formation of our being creates the perfect human being – you – in the divine image.’ (page 106, Cole, D ‘Celtic Lent.

Dave Cole ends with this prayer today:
Almighty Creator, Intimate friend, loving Father, restorer of all that I am, I pledge to work with you to restore the beautiful being which you created, beginning with the declaration that I am wonderful! I say this not because of ego, but because the scripture says that you made me, I am one of your works, and that your works are wonderful. Thank you. May my restoration begin with my belief in myself. Amen

creation

Today’s Celtic Lent thought has us focussing on creation.
Yesterday we were reminded that the Celtic Christians took a non-duality approach to life. Today we remember that they believed that all of creation is being reconciled back to God through the work of Jesus and not just humanity.

When I discovered this a few years ago it became clear top me that my rhythm of life had to have a creation/environment element to it if it was going to journey with a God who was in love with the whole of creation, and not just people. For me, my rhythm of life has an aspiration to recycle as much as possible and to deliberately avoid products consisting of non recyclable materials. It’s not alleys easy and sometimes you have to search a little longer than you might like. But I personally feel it is important to make the effort.

Just before committing to this element of my rhythm I met a couple who ha been in church ministry for years who on the whole avoided buying anything new and recycled as much as possible. They got their clothes from charity shops and any appliances or vehicles were always purchased second hand. I really admired their commitment to their homegrown rule. It challenged me massively as well but (shallow I know), I like to buy new clothes and hats so that wasn’t a step I could take. I do, however, feel I should be able to!

So … how do we view the earth?
Is the earth special and sacred to you?
Would you change how you ‘walked’ if you remembered you were always standing on sacred ground?