Lent Week Four 3/14/21: Ripening

Psalm 65

You visited the earth and slaked our thirst, offering Living Streams of water; You fed the hungry, and taught of Love’s way. You watered hardened souls, filled with stone and weeds, softening them with kindness, and blessing their growth.

You crowned your years with abandonment, inviting all to Eternal Life.

in the desert flowers come forth,

the pastures flourish with fruit and grain;

Creation’s diversity is glorious! May all people honor these gifts with joyful song

while walking the path of Love.

~Nan Merrill

Veritas or the greening power of the Divine is one of Hildegard of Bingen’s most well known themes. She utilizes the word “greening” both literally and metaphorically. Greening or growth is associated with the lush, moist, green in nature; the fruitfulness and vigor of our bodies, minds and spirits; and the healing power of the human body through plants. Veritas is a reminder of our interconnectedness with the life and beauty of all creation. (Healthy Hildegard)

The concept of veritas reminds me of my many hikes in the woods during the pandemic. I enjoy looking at the variety of green mosses that endure during the winter when all else appears dead. While the trees are dormant, the rains keep the tree trunks moist with the moss. Kimmerer (2003) says that “the mossy sponge drips a constant flow of water to the tree roots, saturating the ground below and filling the soil reservoir for the summer ahead”. She further explains that “mosses are immune to death by drying. For them, desiccation is simply a temporary interruption in life. Mosses may lose up to 98% of their moisture and still survive to restore themselves when water is replenished” (p. 37). Mosses are reminders of my desire for a moist heart, greening and ripening with new life and creativity. However, when the dry seasons come, I trust that I will endure, like the moss, until the rains moisten and restore my soul.

Hildegard celebrated the sacramental character of the universe. God flames the fields, shines in the waters, and suffuses the whole earth. The earth is in deep trouble today with many natural disasters such as depletion of the ozone layer, oil spills, fires, destruction of the rainforests, and contamination of soil and water. The depletion of the ecosystem symbolizes a lack of care and reverence for all living things. “The rape of the environment provides a mirror image of violence people use to control and dominate each other.” (Durka, 1991)

Just as the care of our bodies, minds and spirits are important for growth and wholeness, so is care of the whole earth and all of creation. Greening and ripening can only come forth as we “touch the earth lightly and nourish the life of the world in our care”.

Song: Touch the Earth Lightly - St. Mark’s Lutheran, Winnipeg

Veritas, gift of God

Life breath

Health, wholeness and holiness

Emerald vitality,

Sparkling water

Damp stone

Ventilating wind

Fiery glow

Igniting the world into being

Illuminating all creatures,

Giving them color and vigor.

Root of growth

Proliferation of spring

Making grasses laugh

Plants sprout

And flowers blossom.

Joy of youthfulness

Zest of the aging

Energy of the heart loving

And the imagination creating

Fragrance of a life lived with compassion and justice

Green sap of the tree of life, drenched in the sun

Exuberant fountain flowing from the Living Light

Bright power of the Luminous Word born from the greenest branch

Grace and healing tonic of the Holy Spirit

Divine Wisdom’s sweet exhalation.

~ Nancy Fierro, shares her thoughts of Hildegard of Bingen

Artist and educator, specialist in the life and work of Hildegard and

author of the book, Hildegard of Bingen and her Vision of the

Feminine.

Reflection:

1. Go for a walk. Use all your senses. Touch the earth. Listen to the sounds. Notice everything that is green. What do you notice in yourself as you spend time in nature?

2. What does it mean to you to “touch the world lightly, use the earth gently, nourish the life of the world in your care”?

3. How is the moisture of your heart? Is it fertile with growth? Dry? Parched? What is your desire?

Song: Psalm 65 - Restore

Sources:

Durka, G. (1991). Praying with Hildegard of Bingen. Winona: MN: Saint Mary’s Press. pp.70-74.

Kimmerer, R.W. (2003). Gathering moss: A natural and cultural history of mosses. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press. p. 37.

Healthy Hildegard (2020) https://www.healthyhildegard.com/why-is-hildegard-of-bingen-important/

Merrill, N. (2007). Psalms for praying: An invitation to wholeness. New York: NY Continuum pp.118-119.