God’s Own Pocket

Rev LeAnn Blackert

A friend and I walk slowly up the hill back to the campus of UBC after spending time enjoying the gloriously beautiful May day on the beach. Everything about the day seems perfect: the temperature, the sun, the gentle breeze, the slowness of time as we pause from our busy end of school year papers and exams.

As we ascend, we look up to see a young man walking down the narrow trail. We step aside to let him pass. He looks at us with a smile, holds his hand to his chest, and says, “Truly we are being held in God’s own pocket today, aren’t we?”

As April showers give way to May flowers, we hope for many perfectly glorious days to bask in the sunshine and wander amid the explosion of colour. There is so much to love about spring! And until that one moment of encounter on a trail, I had never thought about the natural world as “God’s own pocket.”

The image that immediately came to mind when I heard that phrase was a t-shirt with that pocket on the chest. I envisioned that pocket holding me close to the heart of God.

Is it any wonder that so many of us find our spirituality connected with the natural world? That we find walking trails, sitting under trees or on a beach, connects us with holiness the same way others find connection with the Holy One in a church’s sanctuary. Sanctuary isn’t limited to buildings. What better sanctuary than a circle of trees – or a blue sky covered meadow – or a blanket on the grass beneath a starry night sky?

Connection with holiness cannot be limited to one specific location. We simply cannot box up God, the Great Mystery, because the Source of Life is bigger than any thing our finite minds can imagine.

Jesus, the One at the heart of the Christian story, spent most of his time in ministry outside. He preached from boats on lakes and open spaces in the mountains, he withdrew to the wilderness for times of solitude and prayer. He cooked fish on the beach for his friends. Before he became active in his ministry he spent 40 days in the desert, fasting. Today we call that a vision quest. And like contemporary vision quests offer, he had visions that informed his future work.

So much of the Biblical story unfolds in the natural world that it should be no surprise to hear that space identified as God’s own pocket.  Richard Wagamese, beloved mentor to many, extraordinary storyteller speaks eloquently of spirituality. In his newest book, What Comes From Spirit, he writes:

Spirituality isn’t simply spectacular. It’s spectacularly simple. It means whatever moves your spirit. Not your mind. Your spirit. Your mind is not the seat of you. Your soul is. Your spirit. Finding, approaching and engaging with whatever moves your spirit is being spiritual. Music, books, film, art, theatre, dance, a bird skimming a straight line through the air, a sunrise, a breeze, the smell of rain, a quiet conversation, a hug. It’s spectacularly simple. If it moves your spirit, it moves you closer to your true, essential self – and so, closer to Creator.

What is it that moves your spirit? What is it that makes you feel like you are being held in God’s own pocket? As the old Nike commercials used to say, “just do it.” Visit a sanctuary, wherever that might be for you. Pause. Breathe. Celebrate. And connect with the Great Mystery in a way that feeds your soul! May the month of May be a time of bright, colourful new growth in your spirit!