Helmet to keep the noggin safe: check.
Long-sleeved shirt to keep the chill at bay: check.
Gloves to keep the fingers warm enough to shift and shift and shift again, navigating the ups and downs and ups again of monumental glacial deposits: check.
Tires properly inflated to aid in conquering the “up” parts of said glacial deposits: check.
Friend to offer companionship, inspiration, and challenge: check.
Neighbors and passers-by waving encouragement: check.
Brother Wind singing gently and working mostly in our favor for the bulk of an 18-mile ride: check.
Sister Mother Earth cloaked gloriously in the textures, scents, and shades of autumn: check.
Brother Sun adding a touch of brilliance to Sister Mother Earth’s autumn accouterments: check.
Sister Horse watching with placid wonderment at these strange, wheeled, fast-moving creatures in their neon colors and odd head-coverings: check.
Brother Eagle keeping a majestic eye on the day’s happenings: check.
Sister Water refreshing us upon our return: check.
Moving one step closer on my journey to understanding The Poor Man of Assisi’s love song to God with and through all of Creation: check.
An hour-long bicycle ride through hilly terrain may not strike the average reader as a spiritual practice. For that matter, physical exercise in general may not strike the average reader as a spiritual practice. But consider this: a bike ride, especially one undertaken on a magnificent autumn day in Fond du Lac County, WI, is a glorious way to re-connect with those oft-forgotten non-human members of our extended family, dancing (or rolling, as the case may be) through Creation with Creation as Creation. Moreover, physical exercise is a marvelous way to “lose” ourselves, moving away from the anxieties and insecurities that like to nag our thoughts, replacing them with a grounding in the gifts of breath, body, and circulatory rhythm that like to welcome us back to a state of peace and all things good.
According to Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, narrator of the video on the Canticle of the Creatures linked here, the spiritual revolution sparked by Francis of Assisi was possible “because Francis accepted losing himself.” In losing himself, Francis found—and found deep gratitude for—the richness of all Creation.
How will you move from the superficial riches of our manufactured world to find the richness of all Creation? How will you return to the peace and goodness of God’s gifts to us? How will you share your gratitude for the richness, goodness, and peace that you find?
How will you lose yourself today?
– Lori Randall, in thanksgiving for friendship, a good bike ride, and losing oneself in exercise
How will you lose yourself today? Actually it was yesterday I visited the chapel of a Wisconsin trout stream, there I am refreshed deeply and completely in the Creative hand of God. How will you share your gratitude for the richness, goodness, and peace that you find? I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work for the protection, restoration and sharing of these streams for more than 35 years.
Oh, yes. What a richness in all of Creation which offers us the goodness of God’s loving gifts. Yes, we have so much to be thankful for.
Creation gives me space, quiet, wonder, refreshment and I am so thankful for God’s creation.
Growing up on a farm I was constantly in creation and loved it and my Dad gifted us with the wonders of Creation.
Yes, we are so blessed. Thanks God.
Thanks Lori for this reflection. I do feel closer to God in creation , whether I’m working in the garden or taking a walk, it gets me out of my head which can be filled with concerns or worries and just to “Be” and enjoy God’s creation with gratitude.
For me, I am so grateful to be living in the countryside; there is nothing like it. I can take a walk (acre after acre) and be alone with God and with creation- listening to all he has given me. Oh the sounds of all that is chirping, stirring, wind blowing, etc. For years what gives me greatest peace is to take a walk through my garden(s). I go morning and evening- sometimes even mid-day. I talk to all the plants, encouraging them to grow. I look each day to see how much did they grow, where are they at in their life cycle. I water (feed) them, tend to them, weeding them, propping up those that need help. I wonder in the glory that such a small seed becomes a plant and then grows to produce such a bounty. I relish in those that blossom into flowers and give beauty to the world, even just my little world because they bring sunshine to my day; and I thank God for such pleasure and beauty. It gives me great peace – and great pleasure to see them grow.