By seeing God in a single leaf or in a tender blade of grass it is possible to understand many of the great riddles posed by religious writing. For example, if I substitute the word God for Tao in the following: "Therefore all things without exception worship Tao (God) and do homage to Virtue,"⁵ it is possible to begin understanding the relationship of Supreme Power to Nature. People are part of Nature as well and are compelled to look to a Higher Power. That power could be another person, government, Nature, or cosmology

The following cosmology will seem simplistic. For that I apologize in advance. But, try to pick up on the profound implications of these simple statements.

In my heart this means that everything that can be experienced with my senses and understood with my mind is completely, in and of itself, God. Every unknown person I meet on the sidewalk deserves my reverence and respect for his or her deity. How can a rational person make such a statement?

To begin understanding this People, Nature, God Trinity, I looked to the creation stories. When one examines the Hopi traditions⁸ as well as the many other creation stonies⁹, it is possible to understand that at some point in each story's reality there is a force that leads to the actuality we now live in. Many in the scientific community reject the notion of a divine creation, thinking the big bang was just a random occurrence in chaos, while Buddhist tradition does not seem to acknowledge Creation at all. They see preoccupation with creation as unimportant. Buddhists seem satisfied with the understanding that the "wheel of becoming" exists. How it came to be is not important because their practice seeks to perfect living in the present. But for me, all the stories and theories are important. They are important because they reveal the collective human understanding of Gods power revealed in Nature. Even the Godless theories have divine attributes to the Sempiternal Harmonist.

In my heart and mind there is a simple notion that is Sempiternal. That thought is that before the beginning there was God, the Infinite Power (X ^¥). Not one grain of sand, atom, electron, or quark existed independent of God. To suggest that a grain of sand existed that was not part of God would imply the presence of another Creator. Since I believe in one infinite universal Sempiternal Creator this hypothesis is illogical. Therefore, the three-dimensional universe (X³) that we are alive in is factored from the very substance of the Infinite. God did not create our world. Our world is that part of God that we can understand. Of course, while our universe (Nature) is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient, God is much more then our world. It is like placing a pencil dot on a piece of paper. The dot contains the complete essence of the paper but the paper is much more then the dot. A Sikh passage states,

Understanding is only the easy part of the challenge. Loving God, the complete three-dimensional universe and the portal to the infinite dimension within us, is the biggest obstacle to accepting God in Nature. That is because there is both light and dark in our world and we think that God should be only light.

When I decided that I would accept the belief that there was one God, I had to accept that everything observed (by any intelligent life), observable (but unobserved as of yet), and not observable (due to inadequate sensory perception) was created from the very constitution of the creator. This means that I had to accept lightness as well as darkness as a creation of the Limitlessness. After all, the darkness between two stars is as much a part of the creation of the universe as the stars themselves. All extremes had to be accepted as the essence of the creator. This also includes the acceptance that all actions that are considered to be goodness or evilness are Gods essence. What a quandary that seems. But, look closer.

All of creation has the desire to feel pleasure. Trees desire to feel the pleasure of sun and carbon dioxide. Animals desire the pleasure of a full stomach. Humans want the pleasure of being aware. I believe that the purpose of people is to know and love God.

Both the darkness and lightness are creations of God and are the very essence of the creator. But, when given the clear opportunity to choose between these two manifestations of creation, people chose to cling to light. We have a natural capacity toward light. This is also true about evil and goodness. The natural direction for us is toward goodness. It can be observed in people who are presented a clear choice between being hated and loved. My talisman reminds me that I have the choice of looking toward the goodness of God. Then, I tenderly love my braid of sweet grass and remind myself of the relationship to God and Nature. I know that Nature and God love me in the most honest way. And, that is what all of the Manifestations of God have taught. By the way, when your guests look away from the light to see each other’s face, it is because they trust that the light will still be there when they need to look back at it. But, in the short term they need to see their friend's face bathed in the light.

When I light the candle on my shrine its light shines on the cross, the Buddha, the prayer wheel, the feather, the bamboo flute, and the sweet grass. The light of the Holy Spirit is like that too. It shines on and manifests its soul in the complete Universe.

Although I have been open to the soul of the Universe from a very early age, a few years ago I found World Scripture - A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Text. This book is a project of the International Religious Foundation. Presented between the covers of this book are scriptures that relate to various topics that interest people at some time in their life. These passages from the Hindu, Christianity, Zoroastrians, Islam, Confucianism, Tao, and nearly all religious texts are presented with practically no editorial comment. Yes, them are differences in the way things are worded, but the unified loving heart of God can be seen in these scriptures. The connection to Nature runs through this compilation like a gentle stream of truth through a mountain of soul.

As I finish this humble offering, a wee house wren is singing sweetly in the hedge outside my window. I don't know the words of that song but the melody reminds me that we are one in Nature. I need this petite bird. I don’t know how it needs me but my thought right now is to chant a gentle prayer of thanks for its song. I light the candle at my shrine. It shines on the plan and I am warmed in my place in the universe.