To discover the universe is a big step toward knowing ourselves.
As humans we are born of the Earth, nourished by the Earth, healed by
the Earth. The natural world tells us: I will feed you, I will clothe
you, I will shelter you, I will heal you. Only do not so devour me or
use me that you destroy my capacity to mediate the divine and the human.
For I offer you a communication with the divine. In the vastness
of the sea, in the snow-covered mountains, in the rivers flowing through
the valleys, in the serenity of the landscape, and in the foreboding of
the great storms that sweep over the land — I offer you inspiration
for your music, your art, your dance. All these benefits the Earth
gives to us: individually, communally, and throughout the entire Earth.
~ Thomas Berry in MAKING PEACE ed. by McConnell and van Gelder
There is an art to wandering. If I have a destination, a plan -- an objective -- I've lost the ability to find serendipity. I've become too focused, too single-minded. I am on a quest, not a ramble. I search for the Holy Grail of particularity and miss the Chalice freely offered, filled full and overflowing.
It was architect Mies van der Rohe who said, "God dwells in the details". Scientists study fractals to find order hidden within chaos, the details of our world. Fractals -- we are finding that they suggest an underlying order in things as diverse as stock market fluctuations, flooding ... and the order hidden within the chaos of a running stream. I catch hints and whispers of a beneficent universe... Our familiar, intimate environment is a universe in itself -- and one full of delightful revelations.
There is no art to wandering. If I have a destination, a plan -- and objective -- I've lost the ability to find serendipity... I search for the Holy Grail of particularity and miss the chalice freely offered, filled full and overwhelming.
