Thoughts on the Feast of St. Francis

Too often people view nature as something separate instead of something of which they are a part. Nature--mountains, trees, squirrels, frogs--is not something beneath you for you to control or bend to suit your needs. It is something around you in which you are meant to participate.

How many people, looking at a tree, see something more than part of the backdrop? Something more than an object that needs trimmed, maintained, or put to "better" use?

How many people hear the laughter of their leaves when God tickles them with the breeze?

Too few.

I wonder how long and how much it will take for humanity to realize their interconnectedness with the rest of Creation.

I wonder if, by then, it will be too late.

I once spoke to my friend, an old squirrel, about the Sacraments--
he got so excited

and ran into a hollow in his tree and came
back holding some acorns, an owl feather,
and a ribbon he had found.

And I just smiled and said, "Yes, dear,
you understand:

everything imparts
His grace.

--The Sacraments, St. Francis of Assisi
(translated by Daniel Ladinsky)