Many of us see God in creation in different ways. When I was at the restorative justice conference in Chicago in October, I was sharing with the group how I saw God in nature, which is one of the reasons I love to hike, feeling connected to God when I walk in the midst of forests and trails and nature. Several members of the group shared a similar message. I think of Hildegard of Bingen, a German Benedictine nun from the 12th century, who was declared a Doctor of the Church by Benedict XVI, who wrote these words: "Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. Now think. What delight God gives to humanity with all these things. All nature is at the disposal of humankind. We are to work with it. For without it, we cannot survive.” Like Hildegarde, the author of the book of Wisdom saw God in creation. He did not make the marvels he saw in creation an idol, for doing so would be foolish and ignorant according to him. So many of the faithful see God in the beauty and wonder of nature, and this serves to strengthen and confirm our faith in God.
Christians are called to serve the Lord in different ways, to see him in the different facets of the world. A saint whose feast day falls on this Sunday, November 16, is St Hugh of Lincoln. Hugh was a monk in a Carthusian monastery in France in the 12th century, in the same era of Hildegard of Bingen. The Carthusians are one of the monastic orders that observe a strict vow of silence. At the age of 40, he was asked to open a Carthusian monastery in England. He earned a great deal of respect from the people of that area of England when he made sure that the poor that were displaced by the building of the monastery were justly compensated for their land. He later was appointed Bishop of Lincoln, where he showed a special love for the sick, the poor, and the lepers of his diocese. He started the rebuilding of the cathedral in Lincoln when it was badly damaged in an earthquake. He also personally shielded a group of Jews from an angry mob. We see God in creation, and we reflect God’s love and mercy in how we treat God’s creation and our brothers and sisters in the reality that is present in our lives. May we thank the Lord for the greatness and beauty of his creation, for the way we see God’s majesty in his creation and in the nature of the world.
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