RAIN IN THE CATHEDRAL    

 February 24, 1977

     I’m not in church.  But I’m feeling closer to “God” than ever before, while getting drenched in an unseasonal rain.

     As soon as I entered the park boundaries, accompanied only by my guide, I became keenly aware that every stone, every blade of grass, every petal of every flower, every leaf on every branch of every tree, every feather on every bird, every graceful leap of every impala, every flame in the eyes of every lion… seemed lovingly crafted by hands of the Divine.  I pulled the Land Rover under an acacia tree, turned off the ignition, unfurled the canvas-top and soak in the quintessential wildness of Africa.

     To me, now, Serengeti itself, being a direct “creations of God”, is a divine cathedral, whereas the “real” cathedrals, even St. Peter’s with its Sistine Chapel resplendent with Michelangelo’s grand illusion, are but relatively diminutive and insignificant creations of Man.

     Amidst the pitter-patter of the rain around me, Raminothna said, “Giving that Homo sapiens itself is a ‘God’s creation’, then any ‘creation of Man’ can be considered an extended ‘creation of God’.  Ultimately…”

     “Ultimately?”

     “… the Universe Itself is the supreme cathedral, the Earth is one of Its innumerable chambers of worship, and life is the act of worship itself,” said Raminothna.