Seeing Everything as Spiritual

Everything is Spiritual

All my thoughts on this came together the second I took a few moments to deeply look at a small branch. I highly recommend it.

It is very poetic and beautiful to talk about seeing a flower as spiritual. It is intriguing to hear someone say they found God in the bark of a tree, but is there any weight to these statements?
Is there a way to see everything as spiritual?

I think there is.

In fact, I can think of two ways.

The world was created when the Divine decided to manifest Himself/Herself out of love. The I am was poured out into all the bigness and littleness of everything that is. Space was formed to make room for more Holy and Unique in what we would call tangible. The tree bark is not just tree bark but a Divine creation made from pure and perfect love- and in a way that nothing else can- shows a bit of the Creator. We can learn about God's presence, love and being from the vastness of the ocean and the littleness of an acorn. Each not able to be replaced in the Kingdom.

This changes the way we see everything. We begin to have reverence with every step.  We find purity in every blade of grass. We see grace with each rain drop.

We suddenly want to take perfect care of the earth that has been blessed, the world of lives that hold the essence of the Christ, and the body we have been given.

Sorry, my dear Love, I didn't see you there.. And there... And there.
Sorry we tear you up, step on you, pollute you, spit on you and take control over you.
We are now your servants. Use us to preserve, care for and love you.

If we can pass a dying flower or raccoon without the smallest of empathy and reverence, how will we react to dying humanity?

Jesus talks about a Kingdom that is here. A Kingdom of "on earth as in Heaven." If there was any call He gave us it was the renewal, rehabilitation and redemption of the Earth and all beings that dwell on it.

But first we have to see it.

"Ah, here you are Kingdom of God. Right in front of me. Present in the seed in my palm"

Holy is there. I beg you to look.

The second way to see the spiritual in everything is to realize the reality of "inter-being," inter-being is a word borrowed from Zen monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who understand the connectedness of all that lives and dwells.

Once you realize the "oneness" of everything that exists you cannot help but feel ultimately  connected and a kinship to all around you.

When we look at a flower we should know that it is not just a flower. The flower is made up of minerals, the earth, the sun, and water. Once it dies it becomes compost that builds more life. The life of the flowers allows us to have the oxygen and release the carbon dioxide that we need to keep on living and giving more life.

The flower is not simply a flower. It is our partner in life.

We also learn that we are composed of atoms that are mostly made of blank space. The atom can attach and detach after death. What once made the flower, Ghandi or the rain now makes us.

It is not just a pebble, it is made of the same stuff that makes us. We are connected.

St Francis knew his kinship to all. He knew to address brother bear and sister moon as family. He was not going to pretend they were not as sacred as scripture or prayer.

I can't pretend that crossing paths with a fox feeds me more than a psalm.

Jesus continually finds life in everything and family in everyone. It is all Holy ground we tread on; try taking off your shoes and feel it; be overtaken by it.

Try again to pass by the dying raccoon or begging Lazarus.
You will only see yourself and the Divine and it will become much harder to turn away.

These things don't need you to see them to continue giving you life or being Holy, but you will be made new by the dance of the leaves in the wind or the rays of the sun if you would allow them to penetrate your soul. Open your "third eye" to see the world made new, the kingdom of God, the grace of the Divine and to find more of yourself.


"God has no hands but ours, no bread but the bread we bake, no prayers but the ones we make, whether we know what we're doing or not. When Christians speak of the mystery of the incarnation, this is what they mean: for reasons beyond anyone's understanding, God has decided to be made known in flesh. Matter matters to God. The most ordinary things are drenched in divine possibility. Pronouncing blessing on them is the least we can do. " -Barbara Brown Taylor