Dragonflies

Dillard writes, "Hasidism has a tradtion that one of man's purposes is to assist God in the work of redemption by hallowing the things of creation."


Today I was walking to the dining hall and I saw of flock of cobalt dragonflies. I was startled by the depth of my delight. They are bugs, after all, and I have made this walk to lunch a couple hundred times.



But in that moment, they didn't look like bugs in an ordinary part of my day. The midday sun hit them so that they sparkled, and their metallic blue was out of place in the tableau of concrete and shrubbery. They were glittering gems suspended in the air.

How can these be anything but sacred?

The hallowing work of God is continued in our wonder and surprise and delight. When I see them, I feel part of that holy moment. It's a work that continues itself; I'm only present for the consecration. In that moment of delight and surprise, I'm sanctified with the dragonflies--by The Presence in the dragonflies-- by the katydids, the moths, and the tree frogs.

I continue the hallowing work of God by being in the present.