We feel the sun; we see the moon, rain clouds, storm clouds, ice, snow, birds, great whales, and waves. We hear the sound of cicadas, thunder, and gulls. We look up at mountains, and our spirits turn outward. Our footprints are left in the sand-which-once-was-stone, but only for a time. We are part of the mathematics and the music. Both observer and participant, we are always impacted and impactful. God is humble.

To know God is to become increasingly aware of God’s humility. To love God is to become increasingly aware of the love of God. That awareness seems to occur concurrently with the humility and love that God develops within us. God’s humility confronts us; God’s love surprises us. We are not asked to love without the love of God, nor are we urged to humility without the humility of God. Like the sheepherders in Bethlehem, we are overwhelmed by the glory of God. God is humble.

Alma Snell, a member of the Crow Nation (tribe) of Montana, had a profound spiritual presence to her daily life. She would suddenly and quietly say, aho, a word to express thanks and joy in the Crow language. It may have been in response to the sound of a bird or recognition of the presence of God. It was a vocal response to the spiritual moment of God-and-Alma. It was a delighted, grateful, you-are-here. Aho was enough and everything. That one simple word was like touching hands with God. There was not a moment in any day that Alma was inaccessible to God. Delighting in the creation around her, she lived the rhythms of the day as prayer. She listened for the heart of God. That was her praise.