To Be His Keeper

Almost imperceptibly over time we have lost a true appreciation for creation. Sleeping through the sunrise, staring at the sidewalk, using ipods to block out the birds' sweet melodies. It is a bleak lifestyle, but one I subject myself to without argument. Yet God, in His patience, is ever ready to open my eyes to the wealth He has laid before me. Quite suddenly, waves of quiet praise will kiss the shores of my heart. It is in these moments that mundane affairs are abruptly suffused with irrevocable charm. It is a great blessing (one I surely don't deserve) to see beauty with my fallen eyes. For days now I have been marveling over the wood of the trees. I find myself imagining gentle hands tracing every leafy vein and erecting living beams to point our eyes to the heavens. The tenderness in His work is enough to break my heart. Knowing that every seed was carefully lain for the good of His greatest work.. You and I. Everything we need to support ourselves has been provided from the dawn of the world. As I rest my hands on the pew before me in Mass, I'm baffled at how even His trees are gladly hewn to become tools for worship. I look over my head and wonder as creation houses creation. The inanimate seems to pulse with life and I chide myself for ever feeling even a twinge of loneliness. The thrill this brings to my heart, to note even the simplest manifestations of Providence! And the daunting realization that we have been appointed caretakers over the vastness of creation.

Jesus told us in the gospel of Matthew that we must become the salt of the earth. Until very recently I couldn't even begin to grasp the magnitude of that statement. It's like trying to make a newborn grip a jar of peanut butter. Salt flavors and preserves. That's easy enough. But where is the parallel? Well, when you put it in your food, the salt doesn't change. It alters the flavor of what it's added to. As salt, I must not be changed by the things around me.. I must change/enhance the hearts that come into my sphere of influence. Me? That's almost laughable. Salt stands for power and effectiveness. Steadfastness. As if acting out this mission weren't hard enough, salt also preserves. Without salt food will rot. It putrefies. If I dont preserve creation and the people in it, the world we know will decay. The masterpiece I wonder over, the great garden that gives me life will fall into a state of unyielding deterioration. We already live in a shadow of the splendor of Eden. Heaven help us, that the shadow might not slide into utter darkness.