In one of our prayer times (I love participating in meetings that are grounded in contemplative experiences!) we reflected on this reading from one of our founding sisters, Mother Evangelista:
Read the first chapter of Genesis: the numbers and varieties of creatures God has made in the mineral, the vegetable and animal creation. And these were made to help me to praise, reverence and serve God. … All have been created by God for my benefit to remind me of their and my Creator and for His praise, reverence and service – this is my end and grand destiny.
She wrote those words in her 1901 retreat notes. It's amazing to see how Mother Evangelista, in her own time, was able to look beyond the common understanding of dominating/using creation for our material benefit. She seems to make the connection between the gifts of creation and our reverence/awareness of God. Beautiful words to pray with!
Tomorrow morning I'm headed back to Seattle. But first, I get to spend an evening in our Novitiate and visit with our Novice Sukyi and my former novice director. We've been so busy with our meetings, I haven't had much time yet to connect.
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