From a Taoist perspective, the tao (or logos) is the non-dualistic source of all manifest phenomena that share the common features of duality, (yin and yang) as in light (wave and particle) and life (body and spirit), and of affinity.

The affinity of body and spirit mirrors the affinity of logos and eros, and of Creator and Creature. In the realm of our sentient world this affinity is the love (agape) that unites our soul with others and with the oversoul in whom we have our being in the light and life eternal, and to which our spirits return when we leave our physical bodies that return to the earth (or matrix).

The spiritual connections that we make in this life through our love and compassion for each other and for other sentient beings transcend time and space, many continuing after death and into the next life, and many being already established in past lives. As Tibetan Buddism teaches, we should show loving kindness to all creatures because every species was once or will be our Mother.

These spiritual connections enable us to commune with our ancestors and with our deceased loved ones across time and space. As converging paths to the universal center of Light and Love, they become the bidirectional rays merging with and emanating from the divine heart of the logos.

As we become aware of these sacred connections, we begin to see that we are part of a vast nexus of creative manifestation and transformation; and we begin to  understand that through our actions and beliefs, through our shared sorrows and joys, our lives can become one of celebration. But first, we must be prepared to suffer -- even be prepared to have our hearts broken -- so that we may become open to the sentient world. Only when we cry for others and not for ourselves do we also love from the heart of understanding, and embrace fully, the sanctity of life, whatever form divine conception may choose to take in kindness and reverence.

Today, molecular scientists are decoding the word of God as manifest in the atomic structure of material objects, and in the genetic codes of living subjects. Indeed, the double helix of the DNA molecule is evident in the genetic structure of all life, and is like a fingerprint of the Creator on all living beings.

The atomic structure and relationships of energy particles within matter -- in carbon, silicon, nitrogen and water, mirror the creative wisdom and great mystery of the Creator: God. The relationships of these energy particles of light creating and maintaining the matrix of the material realm, mirror the relationships of those elements and beings that create and maintain ecosystems, the biosphere and the cosmosphere. The Word, the Wisdom, and the Will of God is in all things, in "All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small. The good Lord made them all." That was the first song I learned as a child in an English Methodist primary school. At that impressionable age of four years and one month, I saw all things as bright and beautiful, especially little creatures. All is energy and light, manifesting the infinite dimensions and matrices of divine conception and creation in every tree, mouse, wolf, beetle, and running deer.

Through quantum physics and ecology, we have learned more about these dimensions and matrices of life transforming energy, most notably that everything is interconnected and interdependent. We are also learning that when we harm the ethos (intrinsic nature) and telos (function or purpose) of any being, or its connections, as when we displace any photon from its path, gene from its genome, or tiger from the jungle, suffering and destruction result. The ethos or spirit, and telos, or life purpose, of every being, wolf and tree, salamander and swamp, are as vital to the maintenance of the Tree of Life - the matrix of the biosphere - as every co-inhering particle is to the structural stability and integrity of matter. Grave are the consequences, and great the suffering, when we unwittingly or willfully, be it out of ignorance, arrogance or greed, disturb the nature or spirit and relational integrity of atoms, genes, wolves, and stars.

We can be noble, as the old Serbian saying goes, not because of our power over life, but because we know we are made in part of stardust. We should be humble too, because we are also part manure!

The sacred cannot be known until it is felt. It cannot be shown until it is lived. The sacred cannot be defined, confined, or refined by words alone. But it can be heard in the songs and mantras of the frogs and birds and stars, and witnessed in the wonder of Earth-born things. Speaking to us in many tongues, the birds teach us the language of the heart, so that when we enter the forest, we will feel at home. Like the seasons and the days, their songs change. They speak so clearly to us at dawn, and through the day, a few into the night. Some will tell us they see a leopard or a snake in a tree. The language of the birds is the language of the heart, the universal language of all beings. The enchantment of bird song is the chant of one heart. Until we revere what we hear, we should not revere what we believe. Animals are superior to us because they are more obedient to their Creator than we. We do well when we sing like the frogs of spring. Frog is one song of God. What is your song?

Those who see animals through the heart's eye, also see themselves in other beings, because they are empathic. They see angels in animals and animals in angels. Those who see through the heart's eye connect with the God within all being: with the God in Nature and all wild things. To be wild is to be authentic. When we are authentic, we are free. It is one's nature. All peacemakers are therefore wild. Peace comes to a civilization from within, expressed without as reverence for Nature and all life.

All that we have is each other. What more do we need?  When our hearts are open, we are filled and fulfilled. The language of the heart enables us to heal, to cherish and to celebrate our God - natures. We are of God and in God. Like all beings we are therefore divine.

When we speak the language of the heart, our divine nature shines, showing the Truth we live by. That truth is the first word that we reinvent: compassion. We turn it from a noun into a verb of action, of heart-felt passion and heart-filled loving kindness toward all suffering souls. The more feeling that we have for all that feel, the more the sacred is revealed in all our relations.

We need to reinvent words and rediscover that language that is not impoverished by rationalism and instrumentalism. How else can we have dialog with our feelings, our nature, our God? With this ancient language of the heart, when we talk with Nature, we talk to God.