Celtic Spirituality, the Immanent Presence of God
Gaelic Blessing
“Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you,
Deep peace of Christ, the light of the world to you.”
In Celtic Spirituality, God’s presence is in and through the created world. There is no dualism. Nothing is seen as secular. All is holy. Nature is sacred. God is present everywhere, but this is not pantheism. The hills, the sky, the sea, and the forests are not God, but their spiritual qualities reveal God and are connected to God. This is like the artist’s connection to his painting. While bearing the artist’s hand’s identity, a picture or statue still exists separate from the work.
Gaelic Blessing is the John Rutter anthem our choir sang at my ordination. I have experienced the words of this music from an early age. Sitting by my desk, even in front of a picture window, I become consumed with my world and its problems and become self-absorbed. We go outside, and we are in a different world.
We suddenly experience a world more significant than our own that we did not create. Our problems become small. We are connected to something greater than ourselves. Following the moon’s rise at night, the rising of the sun in the morning, its setting in the evening, or listening to the constant rhythm of the waves by the ocean brings peace to our bodies, souls, and minds that no drug or substance can duplicate.
joanna campbell. along the missouri river
Nature helps us live in the present. God most often meets us in the present moment, even on these cold winter days of Advent. Maybe especially in the winter of Advent, when the deciduous trees are now bare and sleeping, so we more clearly see beyond the world around us.
Two authors I had the privilege of getting to know at the College of Preachers are good reads about Celtic Spirituality: Esther de Waal in The Celtic Way of Prayer and Herbert O’Driscoll in The Road to Donaguile: A Celtic Spiritual Journey.
Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/