6 September 2026 1st Sunday in the Season of Creation
Genesis 2:4-14 Psalm 139:13-16 Acts 17:22-31 John 3:1-17
Our reading from Genesis gives us a different perspective on creation. The heavens and the earth were created; and it was watered by a great river. Mankind was created. Plant life was created. And all breathed the air and were hydrated by the great river(s). Trees provide us with oxygen, breath, and trees breathe as well. There is a profound link between the tree, the forest, and the breath of life. Every tree that breathes assists to rehabilitate our carbon footprint.
We are surrounded by trees, but do we ever stop to ‘listen’ to them. When you enter an area of dense vegetation, there are no sounds other than those of that vegetation. Ok, there may be the noise of a bird or insect which are there because of that dense vegetation, but more than that there is the sound of ‘nothingness’. You become immersed in life and life sounds. Sounds too soft to hear – fluttering wings of butterflies and moths, beating hearts of tiny animals and the breathing of trees as they convert the cardon dioxide we and our industries create into oxygen. These sounds combine to become a chorus of praise - not like a choir, but a symphony of living sounds from creation. Listen to the forest next time you are there. Become aware and join in the chorus of the forest. And beyond all the sounds, the songs and music of the forest, there is another voice, the silent word of God. God’s Spirit is the deep impulse that created diverse life forms and continues to create in the forest. Like Elijah on Mt Horeb, listen to the word of God stirring life through the forest. Be still and hear the voice of God, the spiritual impulse behind all the sounds of life.
Richard Rohr tells of an encounter he had with a Jewish Rabbi, who was also a physicist, who was talking about the name of God. The Rabbi was critical of we Christians for our understanding of, or misunderstanding of, the commandment ‘thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain’. He said it was not just avoiding declarations like ‘God damn you’, because the meaning of the commandment was so much more than that. No matter how well we think we understand the name God, we can’t even come close. When you look at Hebrew, you find it is only consonants, and the educated Jew automatically fills it with the appropriate vowels. And if the sacred name Yahweh was pronounced correctly you cannot close your lips or use your tongue. The name can not be spoken, it can only be breathed, the sacred name Yahweh is an attempt to imitate and replicate the sound of inhalation and exhalation. [try it and listen for the sound]. The one thing we have all done since the day of our birth was breathe in and out. It is the only constant, along with the beating of the heart. And the heart starts beating even before we start breathing. And we all know that there will come a day when that heartbeat and breathing will cease. Knowing this can change your life, and it can also change your prayer life. Prayer is not so much something to do but is it something done to you. You allow it. You say yes to it. You bring it to consciousness, and to awareness. You awaken to the mystery and the miracle that is happening around you, within you and through you, all the time.
The breathing forests, the breathing land, the breathing wilderness, the breathing rivers, all living creatures, are praying the name of their Creator. And that is a thought that might just take your breath away.