"The universe wants to be noticed"

Golden threads. Photo by apophysis_rocks.

"I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is improbably biased toward consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it -- or my observation of it -- is temporary?"

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[...] I was thinking about the universe wanting to be noticed, and how I had to notice it as best I could. I felt that I owed a debt to the universe that only my attention could repay, and also that I owed a debt to everybody who didn't get to be a person anymore and everyone who hadn't gotten to be a person yet.

-- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars*

Am I living in a way that notices the universe?

Am I living in a way that looks through both ends of the telescope?

Am I living in a way that pokes dark corners with bare hands?

Am I living in a way that cannonballs into the riptide of human consciousness?

Am I living in a way that admits the possibility of a soul?

Am I living in a way that admits the possibility of oblivion?

Am I living in a way that acknowledges the end of living?

Am I living in a way that digs for the few, golden, permanent threads?

Am I living in a way that leaves me choked up,

because no matter what I believe,

this beauty is undeniable?

* Warning: Reading this book will set a million thoughts teeming and send a million emotions colliding and stash a million quotes in your journal/phone/Twitter feed ... and then lead to short blog reflections that don't come close to capturing how you really feel about it.

Prayer #221: On Notice

Lord, I can't explain
why this world moves me
to tears

maybe because it's so
daring and futile
by turns

but the bare fact remains
it does

so I can only ask
they magnify
my sight

and not obscure it.

Amen.