The Breathing Together of All Things

The poet E.E. Cummings described his father, Edward Cummings, as “a preacher who horribly shocked his pewholders by crying ‘the kingdom of Heaven is no spiritual roofgarden: it's inside you.’” 

I agree with Edward Cummings that the kingdom of heaven is inside us. However, we need to take that marvelous realization a step further by understanding that it is not just inside us, it is inside everything. Perhaps this is what Teilhard de Chardin meant by “the breathing together of all things.”

It might seem ridiculous to think of an inanimate object like a desk “breathing.” However, all matter, even matter that is very dense, is made up of infinitesimal particles that have energy and are constantly moving. In order that have space to move, there must be some space between these particles. The process of these particles moving through space can be likened to breathing, as air particles move through the space in our lungs. Thus, it indeed can be said that everything that exists is breathing together! Furthermore, if we believe that God created the universe, then this movement of particles through space is God’s breath animating all things!

That the kingdom of heaven is within us through God’s breath means that we can never be separated from God. This understanding frees us from fear. That the kingdom of heaven is within all things through God’s breath means that all things are imbued with God’s Spirit. This understanding requires us to treat all other beings and all things with reverence.

We don’t need to go to a spiritual roofgarden to find the kingdom of heaven. It is both within us and around us, as water is to a school of fish. We just need to school ourselves to understand that the kingdom of heaven is in our midst and act accordingly.