As we finish the long process of putting away all the Christmas decorations, I’m ocassionally stuck by the Ornaments we put on our Christmas tree (and a particularly valuable one that I broke this year that was one of my wife’s favorites). What strikes me is how many memories, emotions, and and how much spirit is wrapped up in these material objects with hooks hanging out of them. Our entire tree is made up of ornaments from our childhood, of things that we or family members have made, or souvenirs of places we’ve been. It’s an easy reminder of the depth simple objects can impart.
At the same time, I’m reading Richard Rohr’s book Universal Christ, and working through some of the reflections and meditations from the Companion Guide that goes with the book. This morning was an embodiment exercise about incarnation. In his book, Rohr writes:
“Most Catholics and Protestants still think of the incarnation as a one-time and one-person event having to do only with the person of Jesus of Nazareth, instead of a cosmic event that has soaked all of history in the Divine Presence from the very beginning”
And then in the companion guide, the embodiment exercise said “Take a few minutes to open yourself to the Divine Presence being soaked in the place where you are reading this.” Rather than doing that, though, I thought immediately of an experience I had several years ago.
About 5 years ago, I was puttering around the house and went into my son’s room to put something away. And when I looked up, I paused and had a moment that totally overwhelmed me. I was looking at his desk, which was just the normal desk of a second grader, but I was overcome with something I didn’t have words for at the time. I felt a wave of gratitude and fullness for the blesssings I saw before me, and the entire moment had a divine aspect to it that welled up in my heart. I was so stuck by it that I took a a picture.
What I didn’t have words for then is what I now read in Rohr. I saw the “Christ-soaked” nature of the everyday objects before me. The book about sharks. The Hardy Boys book. The Boy Scout magazine. The oragami box. The Cub Scout “Duty to God” worksheet. The Jack and Annie books. At that moment, to me, they were all sacrements imparting God’s grace, and I just felt so blessed that we got to experience all those things.
It was one moment - that eventually passed - but I am so glad a took a picture of it to remind me that these ordinary objects sitting around the house have a divine element to them - if we are open to them. It reminds me of a poem by St. Francis of Assisi that I paired with a photo I took where we like to go to the beach in Rhode Island.
All of this goes back to Rohr’s discussion of incarnation as “a cosmic event that has soaked all of history in the Divine Presence”. I really identify with the notion of soaking in God’s presence, like morning dew on grass. I have these individual moments where I can get a glimpse into this universe, but they are rare and very fleeting. So rare that I remember the one from five years ago.
Part of wanting to start this blog was to document these “Christ-soaked” moments amidst the blitz of our everyday lives. I write this after having driven all around eastern massachusetts for Club lacrosse and Futsal games today. We live lives of busyness and committments, but the nature of incarnation has been there from the start of time and is not going anywhere. It will wait for me as I try to catch up - or slow down…