The Circus--God's Creation

We took out granddaughter to the circus last night.  What a blessing to enjoy the circus through the eyes of a child.  We went to the Kelly-Miller circus in Mendon, MA.  It was little Lucy’s first experience of a circus.  She didn't know where to look.  Wonder was written on her face.  The fascination was contagious.  No wonder kids want to run away and join the circus.

    

Below is Little Sister Jo’s poem, and that says it all.

The Little Sisters of Jesus are based on the spirituality ofCharles de Foucauld. Here, Little Sister Jo, whose community “is with the circus,” describes their life at the circus in a poem.

Do you realize how the Circus speaks of God?

It was mid-season and it seemed we were living in a whirlwind. We were tired and complaining, saying:
 “We’re crazy to work so hard, to keep up such a pace. For what, anyway?”  When out of the whirlwind, God answered and said:

Who is this who speaks so?

Stand up and be questioned.

Do you realize how the circus speaks of God?

Where were you when I created light and darkness,

when I laid the foundation of the earth and spread out the firmament,

when I created light and stars?

Where were you when the living creatures came forth and animals and humans

lived in harmony and worked together?

You were not there and could not have known it.

So I inspired your forefathers and mothers

to create the circus!

A child comes out at dawn to watch the circus unfold,

and experiences in a few hours what unfolded billions of years ago

when I created the universe.

In the twilight of dawn, in that virgin point of time

between darkness and light, come children of all ages,

and as day bursts they see nothing but an empty field

still damp with the dew of darkness.

Then trucks arrive, stakes are driven, wood and rust split the dewdrops,

like the firmament of old.

Did you see their eyes when the elephants came lumbering

forth upon the field, and camels and horses,

and how the workers called them each by name—Minnie and Susie,

Barbara and Margaret, Gismo, Tchaikovsky and Brahms,

Katie the miniature hippopotamus and Goliath the water buffalo?

Did you feel their awe when man and beast worked together

pushing up the tent poles?

It took me 7 days of billions of years to create,

and here one can experience it, fresh and alive, in a few hours!

Do you realize how I made the circus to speak of my creative work?

Why do you think so many tents are decorated with stars?

Do you realize that the tent is not only firmament

but tabernacle, church, tent of worship

wherein takes place the Liturgy of the People?

I have made it so, years ago, when I designed it

in the hearts of your forefathers and mothers.

There is a curtain in the temple separating this sacred space,

hiding ordinary life from our eyes for a few hours

Through it will step the priestly ringmaster.

musicians and the makers of wonder and mirth.

The worshippers are waiting anxiously for the service to begin,

with ritual foods and their programs in hand.

Now for a few hours a transformation takes place.

You, artists, and your audience are one.

When you let go of the trapeze bar and trust the catcher will catch you

do you realize your audience is letting go and trusting, too?

Perhaps they’ll one day do the same with me.

When you perform feats of balance and skill,

do you realize your audience is doing things

they never dreamed they could do before?

Perhaps they’ll realize

that if they have faith the size of a mustard seed

I, too, can help them do extraordinary things.

When you clown and mimic their foibles and blunders

do you realize you are getting your audience to laugh at themselves?

I wish I could get them to do that.

A sense of humor is so healthy and humility so holy.

Animals do seemingly impossible things for animals to do.

Performers do seemingly impossible things for humans to do.

They perform “divinely” we say.

Like me, the Master of the Impossible.

Long ago I planned all this so my children would not lose

their sense of creation

of sacrifice and self-forgetfulness

of yearning for the divine

of awe and wonder

and laughter and love

Do you not realize it’s so?

Do you not realize how the circus speaks of God?

I who cross deserts and mountains to come to you.

I who am on the road with you.

Do you not realize it’s so?

Do you not realize how the circus speaks of God?

I who am Awe and Wonder

and Laughter

and Love.