The universe does not
revolve around you.
The stars and planets spinning
through the ballroom of space
dance with one another
quite outside of your small life.
You cannot hold gravity
or seasons; even air and water
inevitably evade your grasp.
Why not, then, let go?
You could move through time
like a shark through water,
neither restless or ceasing,
absorbed in and absorbing
the native element.
Why pretend you can do otherwise?
The world comes in at every pore,
mixes in your blood before
breath releases you into
the world again. Did you think
the fragile boundary of your skin
could build a wall?
Listen. Every molecule is humming
its particular pitch.
Of course you are a symphony.
Whose tune do you think
the planets are singing
as they dance?
“Boundaries”
~ Lynn Ungar ~
Blessing the Bread
(Image from Panhala)
This beautiful poetic reflection on the interconnectedness of all things – Boundaries, by Lynn Unger – offers a source of inspiration for the “ecological conversion” to the integral ecology paradigm to which Pope Francis exhorts us in Laudato Si’. This Lenten Season, the JPIC office invites you to focus on the four commitments of our province (Sustainability and Access to Water, Justice for Immigrants, Ending Human Trafficking, and the Development of Haiti), as we fast and pray for such an ecological conversion.
