by Ken Sehested
What is it you wish to know, oh mortal one?
Do you think you must ascend to the highest heaven or descend to the deepest pit?
Do you not know that Wisdom has pitched a tent in your midst?
Ask the four-legged, and they will mentor you, or the winged-of-air, and they will school you;
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.
Who does not know that the Gracious Host has done this?
In the Blessed One’s reach is the heart of every creature, the breath of every living thing.
Brother Sun declares the Beloved’s glory. His voice goes out o’er all the earth, his words to every inhabited place.
Sister Moon and stars pour forth speech to brighten the night in splendor and counsel.
Now hear the blessed promise of old, made new in your hearing:
May you go out in joy and be led back in peace, the hills bursting in song, the trees in applause!˙
©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org, adapted from Job 12:7-10, Psalm 19:1-4, Psalm 97:6, Isaiah 55:12 and St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun”