In the latest video blog from For the Life of the World, Evan Koons reads a beautiful poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins over some striking visual imagery. Watch it below:
Hopkins begins by highlighting the wondrous and mysterious pulse of nature, moving eventually to the acts of we “mortal things,” prone to appease the self, and bent on crying, “Whát I dó is me: for that I came.”
But he doesn’t stop here, for surely man was neither created nor destined to spend his days merely “selving” — meeting his needs, satisfying his desires, and protecting his interests with little regard for God or neighbor.
Rather, as Hopkins continues, and as Koons aptly interprets, we are called to make every interaction “an invitation to abundant life.” Koons explains:
Hopkins flips it. He adds, “I say more.” And I love this line — “I say more” — because it doesn’t reject or deny or condemn our “me” nature. It just simply says, “there is so much more.” Hopkins reminds us of our restored nature, that we are new creations. We are called to be an offering…
“The just man justices,” he says…This is the act of entering into injustice with your whole being. You must be present in the injustice to transform the injustice, and that requires vulnerability…This way of being is directly opposed to “selving,” right? It’s directly opposed to safety, security, and comfort…
Hopkins is saying be graceful in all you do. May every interaction be an invitation to abundant life. May it be an unwarranted gift…All of our work, all of our comings and goings, everything we are and everything we do is meant as a gift to the Father and to the world.
Christ does indeed play in ten thousand places, and we as his children are invited to be active participants in his movement of divine generosity — in the home, on the job, and all across our communities, cities, states, and world.
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