Faith for Flourishing

There is an idea from Hasidic Jewish thought of humans assisting God in “hallowing” or sanctifying creation. As a young student of religion, I dismissed it, smirking it away. Holiness is the realm of God and God needs no assistance lest He un-God Himself. Then, wielding that same Hasidic idea, the author Annie Dillard hit me over the head with her Pulitzer-prize-winning book “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.”

“I am sitting under a sycamore by Tinker Creek. I am really here, alive on the intricate earth under trees. But under me, directly under the weight of my body on the grass, are other creatures, just as real, for whom also this moment, this tree, is “it”… in the top inch of soil, biologists found “an average of 1,356 living creatures in each square foot… I might as well include these creatures in this moment, as best as I can. My ignoring them won’t strip them of their reality, and admitting them, one by one, into my consciousness might heighten mine, might add their dim awareness to my human consciousness, such as it is, and set up a buzz, a vibration…Hasidism has a tradition that one of man’s purposes is to assist God in the work of “hallowing” the things of Creation. By a tremendous heave of the spirit, the devout man frees the divine sparks trapped in the mute things of time; he uplifts the forms and moments of creation, bearing them aloft into the rare air and hallowing fire in which all clays must shatter and burst.”

In a moment, sitting by the creek and becoming aware of the countless living organisms in the inch of soil beneath her, Dillard realizes that for all these small creatures, this present moment is just as real as it is for her. She sees value in consciously acknowledging their existence as part of the web of life. Even though the organisms are dimly aware compared to her consciousness, she wants to “add their dim awareness” to her own.

This poetic meditation, awake to the interconnectedness and sanctity of all life, challenges us to honor the shared reality we inhabit with all God’s creatures in each moment. Expanding our awareness to include “the other” is a spiritual practice. It heightens our consciousness of life’s intricate and divine tapestry.

By intensely appreciating the divine value in all living things, even simple ones, humans lift up the holiness inherent in the natural world. And so honor our Creator.