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Meditation Hildegard of Bingen I compare the great love of Creator and creation to the same love and fidelity with which God binds woman and man together. This is so that together they might be creatively fruitful. Understanding is the root. The resounding WORD blossoms forth from it. A wheel was shone to me, wonderful to behold... Divinity is in its omniscience and omnipotence like a wheel, a circle, a whole, that can neither be understood, nor divided, nor begun nor ended. God says: "I am the day unto myself, not formed by the sun, but rather, forming the sun, igniting it. I am the understanding not understood, but rather, allowing all understanding, illuminating it. I have a voice of thunder, living sound, the movement of all creatures." There is no creation that does not have a radiance, be it greenness or seed, blossom or beauty. It could not be creation without it. God says: "I am the supreme fire; not deadly, but rather, enkindling every spark of life." You are music. You are life. Source of everything, creator of everything, angelic hosts sing your praise. Wonderfully radiant, deep, mysterious. You are alive in everything, and yet you are unknown to us. "I, the fiery life of divine wisdom, I ignite the beauty of the plains, I sparkle the waters, I burn in the sun, and the moon, and the stars. With wisdom I order all rightly. Above all I determine truth. I am the one whose praise echoes on high. I adom all the earth. I am the breeze that nurtures all things green. I encourage blossoms to flourish with ripening fruits. I am led by the spirit to feed the purest streams. I am the rain coming from the dew that causes the grasses to laugh with the joy of life. I call forth tears, the aroma of holy work. I am the yearning for good. Invisible life that sustains all, I awaken to life everything In every waft of air. The air is life, greening and blossoming. The waters flow with life. The sun is lit with life. All creation is gifted with the ecstasy of God's light. In doing good, the illumination of a good conscience is like the light of the earthly sun. If they do not see me in that light, how can they see me in the dark of their hearts? I am for all eternity the vigor of the Godhead. I do not have my source in time. I am the divine power through which God decided and sanctioned the creation of all things. With my mouth I kiss my own chosen creation. I uniquely, lovingly, embrace every image I have made out of the earth's clay." Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is a burning Spirit. It kindles the hearts of humankind. Like tympanum and lyre it plays them, gathering volume in the temple of the soul. Holy Spirit is life-giving-life, all movement, root of all being, purifier of all impurity. absolver of all faults, balm of all wounds. Radiant life, worthy of all praise, The Holy Spirit resurrects and awakens everything that is. Truly, the Holy Spirit is an unquenchable fire. Yet in this radiance is a restorative stillness. It is the stillness that is similarly in the will to good. It spreads to all sides. Holy are you, you that give existence to all form. Holy are you, you that are balm for the mortally wounded. Holy are you, you that cleanse deep hurt. Bulwark of life, you are the hope of oneness for that which is separate. You are the mighty way in which every thing that is in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, is penetrated with connectedness, is penetrated with relatedness. The earth is to the sun, as the soul is to God. The earth, at any point, can be located by its relationship to the sun. The earth has a scaffold of stones and trees. In the same way is a person formed: flesh is the earth, the bones are the trees and stones. The soul is the firmament of the organism, then. In the manner in which the soul permeates the body with its energy, it causes and consummates all human action. This is how a person becomes a flowering orchard. The earth is at the same time mother, she is mother of all that is natural, mother of all that is human. She is the mother of all, for contained in her are the seeds of all. The earth of humankind contains all moistness, all verdancy, all germinating power. It is in so many ways fruitful. All creation comes from it. Yet it forms not only the basic raw material for humankind, but also the substance of the Incarnation of God's son. This is the underlying natural law. When the elements of the world fulfill their function, they come to ripeness and their fruit is gathered back to God. Out of the soul in good standing, the vigor of the virtues flows out as do the elements of creation. It flows back in the same capacity in attentive prayer. When one's thoughts are neither frivolous nor flippant, when one's thoughts are neither stiff-necked nor stupid, but rather, are harmonious - they habitually render physical calm and deep insight. As often as the elements, the elements of the world are violated by ill-treatment, so God will cleanse them. God will cleanse them through the sufferings, through the hardships of humankind. The marvels of God are not brought forth from one's self. Rather, it is more like a chord, a sound that is played. The tone does not come out of the chord itself, but rather, thru the touch of the musician. Holy Spirit, through you clouds billow, breezes blow, stones drip with trickling streams, streams that are the source of earth's lush greening. The blowing wind, the mild, moist air, the exquisite greening of trees and grasses --in their beginning, in their ending, they give God their praise. Now humankind needs a body that at all times honors and praises God. This body is supported in every way through the earth. Thus the earth glorifies the power of God. Limitless love, from the depths to the stars: flooding all, loving all. It is the royal kiss of peace. In no way can a believer who sets heart and being on God ever be forgotten by God. No warmth ever goes to waste. But the creator, too, is bound to creation. He showers upon it greening refreshment, the vitality to bear fruit. The soul that is full of wisdom is saturated with the spray of a bubbling fountain--God himself. God has arranged all things in the world in consideration of everything else. The more one learns about that which one knows nothing of, the more one gains in wisdom. One has, therefore, through science, eyes with which it behooves us to pay attention. Creation blooms and flourishes when it remains in right relationship and keeps to its assigned tasks. Creation is to serve humankind in its bodily needs, and to be for the health of the soul as well. Like billowing clouds, like the incessant gurgle of the brook, the longing of the soul can never be stilled. Envy drives out all greening power! Humankind should be the banner of divinity. God says: "Ever you are before my eyes." God, I am your opus. I have my home on high, I meet every creature of the world with grace. Now I seek no more, desire no more, wish no more but what is holy. Thus, I am in every respect of a heavenly nature. Incarnating, you have redeemed me; dying, you have awakened me. God has built the human form into the world structure, indeed even the cosmos, just as an artist would use a particular pattern in her work. God be praised in his handiwork: Humankind. Humankind is called to co-create. In the praise of God a person is like an angel. But it is the doing of good works that is the hallmark of humanity. The work of God, God brings to fullness in humankind. Now this human is rightly called "alive" because as long as the person exists on the breath of the Holy Spirit, the person is indeed, life. When a person understands Justice, the self is let go. All nature is at the disposal of humankind. We are to work with it. Without it we cannot survive. The soul is only as strong as its works. The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions. Divinity is aimed at humanity. [From Gabriele Uhlein's selection of Meditations] Posted with Craig Chalquist's permission. Back to Christian Masters |