Season of Creation Daily Day 12: What did Merton see out his window?

Take a moment to reflect on the photo.

The forms and individual characters of living things, 
of inanimate beings, of animals, flowers and all nature,
constitute their holiness in the sight of God.

Their inscape is their sanctity, the imprint of God's wisdom, God's reality in them.

The special clumsy beauty of this particular colt on this day in this field under these clouds is a holiness, it declares the glory of God.

The pale flowers of the dogwood outside this window are saints. 
The little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the edge of that road are saints. 
This leaf has its own texture, its own pattern of veins, its own holy shape. The bass and trout hiding in the deep pools of the river are canonized by their beauty and their strength. 

The sea too is a saint who praises God without interruption in her majestic dance. 
The great, gashed, half-naked mountain is another of God’s saints. 
Alone in his own character, nothing else in the world ever did or ever will imitate God in quite the same way. That is his sanctity. 

But what about you? What about me?

— Trappist Fr. Thomas Merton (1915-1968) from New Seeds of Contemplation, inviting us to see the holiness of all creation

Over the next 24 hours, consider specific aspects of creation that you encounter, through this lens of holiness. 

Special thanks for monastery inspiration

Season of Creation Daily
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Editor's note: Season of Creation Daily is inspired by the Care for Our Common Home Ministry, Paulist Center Boston. To receive daily reflections by email, sign up here.