Lent, Week 2, Day 2

"Our senses are lanterns that illuminate the world. Beauty is never simply in the mind alone... Beauty awakens for us through what we hear, touch, taste, scent, and see. Beauty envelops the heart and mind… there is no longer any separation between thought and senses, between heart and soul." (John O'Donohue)

A flock of gulls flies overhead.

They are so beautiful, their black wings against the morning's blue sky.

Last night I watched the same sky,

covered with stars.

I feel the ocean water which laps at my toes.

I walk among the rocks,

picking up quartz and crystal.

What do I have to give You?

I close my eyes and listen.

You say to me, "Love the beauty of my creation."

I wait. There must be more.

But there is no more.

And I am left hearing the words again:

"Love the beauty of my creation."

~ Paula D'Arcy

In the song below, all the images hold a "numinous and sacred resonance." The words creates images of both the beauty of creation, and the very near of presence of God who creates, sustains and welcomes everything.

The words "I arise" suggest an awakening.. to our participation in the beauty of creation, and to the living threshold between nature and divinity, a presence that is wild, free, diverse and indivisible.

I Arise Today (The Deer's Cry/St. Patrick's Breastplate), sung by Rita Connolly

https://youtu.be/xeVEGOPjJXQ?si=gnE7182inRvdK0Kg

Suggestion: As you move through the rest of this work, be present to how beauty visits you through your senses: sight, taste, smell, touch and sound.

How do experiences of beauty affect your emotions? or mood?

Resources:

John O'Donohue, Beauty, The Invisible Embrace. Harper Perennial, 2004.

Paula D'Arcy, Gift of the Red Bird: a Story of Divine Encounter, Spring Valley, NY: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996.