In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from Psalm 24 entitled “The Earth Is the Lord’s.” I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.
Everything Belongs to God
The Earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein.
For He hath founded it upon the seas,
and established it upon the floods.
—Psalm 24
Everything belongs to God.
My heart belongs to God, and its quiet beating.
My house belongs to God, the bed I sleep in,
the dining table where I take my meals,
the study where I write my poems.
My car belongs to God, and everywhere that I can go.
The mountains that I love, with rippling streams,
hanging lakes, vast flowered meadows,
all belong to God.
The beach that I walk when the weather is warm,
every grain of sand, every beach towel,
every wave, every fish that swims
the waters of that lake, every plant
that clings to the bottom, every drop of water,
every bit of it, the people that visit it,
the channel that takes boats to it,
the pier that leads to a strong light
guiding the boats to safety, all that,
yes, all that, belongs to God.
The crackers in our picnic baskets,
the cheese, the chips, the salsa,
the apples and oranges, the raisins,
nuts, and M&Ms, the cans of soda pop,
the bottles of water, the sunscreen,
the insect repellant, the tablecloth,
all that, yes, all that, belongs to God.
The desert belongs to God, with its
snakes and rabbits, its spiders, and other
scuttley things, the wise bacteria that grows
in the soil, the rare tree, the cacti,
the succulents, the arches and other
rock formations, the occasional river
that finds its way through.
The farmers’ fields belong to God,
the lettuce, the celery, the zucchini,
the carrots, the onions, the peppers,
the peas, the kale, the cabbage,
the winter squash, the garlic,
the rutabagas, the potatoes,
the beets, the strawberries,
the raspberries, the grapes.
All that, all that and more,
belong to God.
The forests belong to God.
The pine trees, the cedars,
the oaks, the beach trees,
the spruces, the bushes,
the deer, the foxes, the wolves,
the coyotes, the moose, the elk,
the mice, the raccoons, the chipmunks,
the squirrels, the rich happy dirt.
And the cities, with their bars,
their parks, their benches, their buses,
their subways, their taxis, their fire hydrants,
their skyscrapers, the delis, their drugstores,
the grocery stores, their laundromats,
their museums, their galleries,
their post offices, their police stations,
their office buildings, their dentists,
their doctors, their therapists,
their musicians, their actors, their clowns,
all that, all that and more belong to God.
It’s so tempting to claim my things
as mine, to claim my body as mine,
to claim my illnesses as mine, to claim
my food as mine, to claim my family
as mine, but, in truth, nothing I claim
as mine belongs to me. It all belongs
to God. It is all on loan to me.
The Lord loans me everything
I could ever need. And when
I go home to God I will leave it
all behind and go where I belong.
