The hills and groves were God’s first temples 

Filled with the glory of God 

Stone sermons 

Set us off on a great adventure 

Filled with the glory of God 

Every hidden cell throbbing with music and life 

A great adventure of mind and heart 

Every tree swirling in glorious enthusiasm 

Every cell throbbing  

We are all kin in the evolving community of life 

Every tree tossing their branches, enthusiasm like worship 

Our vision must be one of flourishing for all  

Our evolving community of life is now under siege 

Stone sermons 

Give us visions of an evolutionary future that will still surprise us 

No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples 

Note: This pantoum poem was created by Carol Lenox, using group responses given during a lectio divina experience of the monthly Thomas Berry Lectio Gathering in North Carolina. The words in the poem are excerpts from the texts used – My First Summer in the Sierras by John Muir and Ask the Beasts by Elizabeth Johnson.

Image: Asha Gupta, Redwood, https://www.flickr.com/photos/asha-gupta/5108425378/, CC BY-ND 2.0, October 23, 2010.