When I say that I view the world in terms of the Sacramental, what I am saying is that along with the physicality of the world, there is also another level of reality, a spiritual one in which there are constantly things going on. Usually the first thing that people think about when they hear the word Sacrament is of the Holy Eucharist, where the bread and wine are said to be something more that simply bread and wine. What exactly happens during the Holy Eucharist has been widely interpreted. Calvin thought that the spiritual presence of Christ was present during the Holy Eucharist. Luther explained it in terms of the consubstantiation, in which the body and blood of Christ coexists with the bread and wine. The traditional Roman Catholic view is known as transubstantiation wherein the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ.
Albeit that there is much more going on here in terms of philosophical categories of thought, but the one thing that all of these formulations get at is the centrality of something bigger going on than meets the eye. Sacrament has also meant a number of other things in Christian history, such as baptism, reconciliation, marriage, and confirmation. As many of the people who know me area aware of, some of my favorite spiritual influences have been Emerson, Thoreau, Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, and Annie Dillard. If there is one thing that these people have taught me, it is that the world is a μυστηριον. The world is filled, infused with the divine. The world is sacramental. The more sacramental we view the world, I would argue, the more we have a propensity to treat the world and all life forms with a sanctity, with an honor. In the Buddhist tradition, all sentient life forms automatically have a worth and a value on their own. In Christianity, this has not always been the case, and often times christians act as though the only sacred act of World Making that God did was that of humans. I propose that christians must begin to see the world in more sacramental ways if they are to foster any sort of protection for the non-human portions of creation. God's World Making extends far beyond the human sphere, and far be it from us to limit God's efficacious spirit which is infused into all of creation. What is it about the grandeur of the world that has always marveled man. It is not simply for its beauty, although this plays a role, but it is also man's sense that there is something beyond what is seen, that the world in all it's beauty has a source. What I am getting at here is what is known as Panentheism. God is in everything, but God is not the sum total of everything, for he/she is much farther beyond that.
When I look at the world, I see it as such, as infused with the divine. The animals, plants, trees, soil are all a part of God's being. They are infused with the divine. In this, I wonder and am amazed.
