See God in everything

This morning, Rabbi Miriam Lorie joined BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought.

Listen here

BBC Pause For Thought

One of my best, weirdly spiritual, recent memories is seeing the full moon glittering over the sea with my seven-year-old son. I taught him about werewolves (naturally, mums have to educate their children properly) and since then we’ve howled together at the full moon every time we’ve seen it.

There have been some amazing moons this week! I believe some of your listeners across South England were lucky enough to see the blood moon on Sunday. Here, through the London cloud, we couldn’t see much of it. But the bright, full, low moon has been just stunning even without the eclipse.

The moon is a crucial part of my Jewish lunar calendar. And, as a religious person, amazing nature has always been a way for me to feel connected to God. But I can see how it wouldn’t necessarily be that way.

In the wonderful book Orbital, by Samantha Harvey, one astronaut, Nell, an atheist, wants to ask another, Shaun, how he can believe in a creationist God, but she’s already anticipated his answer:

“How could you be an astronaut and not believe in God?”

She’d point out the windows, at the endless and ferocious dark, and the scattered solar systems, and ask him who could have made that, “but some heedless hurling beautiful force?” And he’d point at the same display and ask,

“What made that, but some heedful hurling beautiful force?”

It’s the same down here on earth too. Last week, in my hospital chaplaincy role, I met two chemotherapy patients. One - uninterested in speaking to a chaplain because he didn’t believe in God if this is where he was. The other, who said God is what sustains her through her chemo.

So, ultimately, it comes down to a choice: choose to see God in everything, or… don’t. The Persian poet Hafez put it in such a delightful way:

“See everything as God, but keep it secret”.

So Scott, if you see me and my son howling at the full moon tonight, it may just be my funny little way of saying, I choose to see God in this moment.