Praying with the Elements for Advent: Christmas Eve: Spirit

Reflecting on the Infinite, we celebrate the element of Spirit; in our bodies, in our world, and in our hearts. With Spirit we honor possibility. The unknown. The undying beauty of human potential. We look toward a Great Turning toward a livable future for humanity and all the other creatures we share with planet with.

“We have begun to contemplate our origins: star stuff pondering the stars; organized assemblages of ten billion billion billion atoms considering the evolution of atoms; tracing the long journey by which, here at least, consciousness arose.”[1] “However insignificant we may feel with respect to the age and size of the universe, we are, even so, beings in whom the universe shivers in wonder at itself.”[2] “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”[3] Thus, we must become the heart of the cosmos.[4]

“We cannot [effect change] without the traditional religions, but they cannot presently do what needs to be done. We need a new type of religious orientation. This must…emerge from our new story of the universe. This constitutes a new revelatory experience.”[5] We are building this new religious consciousness through rituals like this one; within, on the margins, and outside of traditional religions. Deepening our connection to the earth, and contributing to a shared vision for her future.

“When the universe was just quarks and leptons, could anyone have known that it was in the process of bringing forth stars and galaxies? We find ourselves inside an amazing drama filled with danger and risk but also stunning creativity… It is in the nature of the universe to move forward between great tensions, between dynamic opposing forces. If the creative energies in the heart of the universe succeeded so brilliantly in the past, we have reason to hope that such creativity will inspire us and guide us into the future.”[6] “In a mysterious and profound way, the Infinite wants Earth. The Infinite wants life. The infinite wants humanity. The Infinite wants you.”[7]

What will be the great work of the human species in relation to the cosmos? Wonder will guide us. “Wonder…is an opening into the heart of the universe.”[8]

[1] Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, PBS Television Series, 1980.

[2] Ibid., 114.

[3] Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, PBS Television Series, 1980

[4] Brian T. Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker, Journey of the Universe (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 115.

[5] Thomas Berry, Dream of the Earth, 87

[6] Journey of the Universe 117-118

[7] David Christopher, Holy Universe 83

[8] Brian T. Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker, Journey of the Universe (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 114.