God comes to you disguised as your life.
–Paula D’Arcy
Dust to dust
is not
nothing to nothing
as if dust were not precious,
as if returning to dust meant our lives didn’t matter,
as if we could disappear without a trace,
as if God could ever lose us.
The dust, the soil, the particles of Earth
are particles of what once was living
and now nurtures life.
If Earth, which is made up of all that was,
isn’t enough
to make me feel secure,
I remember that
all creation came from God in the beginning.
Today, it’s enough to know that Mother Earth
is one of God’s disguises.
Mother Earth/God feeds and cares for me
providing food, air, water,
trails to walk on,
beauty to awaken me.
My father’s ashes
are in the ground and soon my mother’s will be too.
Wherever I walk, I am supported and loved
by mothers and fathers from many generations–
not to mention the parents of animals, birds and other creatures.
Yes, their essence is with God,
who is in heaven.
But where is heaven?
Is it not where
God is?
And God is
everywhere.
God is
in the dust.
As I walk in the hills
and enter the silence of now,
I hear Mother Earth say,
“My child, I’m here for you.”
I hear my heart respond,
“I’m here, Mother Earth,
here for You, too.”
I breathe in
I am Your child.
I breathe out
One of Your wonders.
Mother, I am here as a child of yours, as part of the wonders, I am free.
–Thich Nhat Hanh, The Silence Within
An Everyday Pilgrim 