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Chapter Three: What is happening to our common home?
Here is the link to the Vatican Document; Laudato Si
http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
The title of Chapter One is: “What is Happening to our Common Home”
This chapter is heavy and is calling us to look at the Global reality, not just looking in our back yard’s, but looking to our neighbors and beyond. The biblical question that faces us is: “Am I my brother’s/sister’s keeper? (Gen 4:9-12) This small bible verse started with a question, “Where is your brother Abel?” Yet due to Cain’s shrugging of his shoulder and flippant answer, paradise continued to be lost. And yet, it didn’t have to be that way/it doesn’t have to be this way. With both care and responsibility - leading to conversion, “repent and believe the good news”, metanoia-to see the big picture; a new age could unfold where deep in our souls we can see the web of life and the connection of all. “What is here is also there; what is there also here.” Katha Upanishad 2:1:10 IT
In each of the previous reflections I started with an image or a video. In entering this video today, we focus our minds and expand our horizon. Again, it is not about analyzing, planning, or fixing that which is before us. Rather it is to simply take in what is presented and allow the seeds of change to germinate.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you+tube%3a+laudato+si%2c+what+is+happing+to+our+common+home.&docid=608055553575553868&mid=75F7264AF437E5D9058175F7264AF437E5D90581&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
This video was put out by Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) which is centred in England and Wales is an overview of Chapter 1.
What jumps out to me is that the video in a simple and clear way calls us to reflect upon the bigger picture, to think about the other and that we can make a difference when we work together. And so, we are “Our Sister’s and Brother’s Keeper”.
Let’s start off with a poem from Langston Hughes:
I’ve known rivers; I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human viens.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers, Ancient, Dusky rivers, My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Chapter 1 goes from paragraph 17 to 61
(#23) “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.”
Pope Francis states we are in time when information abounds, and science grounds and allows us to analysis our present situation. Without this grounding in reality (what is), our theology and philosophy can prove abstract and useless. (#17)
Pope Francis coined a new word: “Rapidfication”. We all know change is part of life; (Life, Death and Resurrection/Birth, Life, Death and New Life), yet we also are aware that this change is taking place in warp speed. Just think of the changes you have seen in the world and in your house over the past 20, 30, 60 years. Again, refrain from judgement (change simple is and we ain’t going back). The concern of Pope Francis and many; are that; “the goals of this rapid and constant change are not necessarily geared to the common good or to integral and sustainable human development. Change is something desirable, yet it becomes a source of concern when it causes harm to the world and to the quality of life of much of humanity.”
Let us ask the question regarding change; is it geared to the common good or is it one country over the other (“first”) or one race or gender or one family? Is change about a mindful sustainability of the whole? Remember the image of the Blue Marble/Planet Earth hanging in the darkness of space; it reminds us that there are no edges in a sphere, there is no head at the round table at the banquet and this is all we have. “Enough for everyone’s needs but not everyone’s greed.” Gandhi
1:1 Pollution and Climate Change
Two of the phrases that jump out in these three paragraphs are: #20 “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth….. Frequently no measures are taken until after people’s health has been irreversibly affected.” How sad this is and yet we know the deep truth. (Think about Flint Michigan). I saw this in Illinois along the Mississippi where a huge electric coal plant once polluted the air, the water and ground water by massive coal ash pits. (the plant is closed because it was no longer profitable, and yet the ash pits remain. (Ash pits are full of known carcinogens) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/coal-ash-spill-dam-breach.html Your health depending on your zip code you live in.
Here is a video done here in California about Zip Codes and how they point to not only the quality of life but how long you will live.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=your+health+depends+on+the+zip+code+you+live+in%2c+you+tube&docid=608049029596188452&mid=A242DDE9D5EF40DC5196A242DDE9D5EF40DC5196&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
The following article is from the EPA:
Living and working near sources of air pollution can lead to higher exposures to air contaminants, many of which contribute to adverse health effects including:- reduced lung function,
- asthma,
- cardiovascular disease and
- premature death.
Some communities are more impacted than others, making air pollution an environmental justice concern. Children, older adults, people with preexisting cardiopulmonary disease, and people of low socioeconomic status are among those at higher risk for health impacts. https://www.epa.gov/air-research/research-near-roadway-and-other-near-source-air-pollution
The second phrase that jumps out to me is “a throwaway culture”. This happens when people and things are seen and used as objects for our climb up the ladder of success rather than a subject to respect, care for and build relationship with. “You are that” (VI Chandogya Upanishad). Rather than seeing life as a “loop” or a circle where (# 22) “plants synthesize nutrients which feed herbivores; these in turn become food for carnivores, which produce significant quantities of organic waste which give rise to new generations of plants. But our industrial system, at the end of its cycle of production and consumption, has not developed the capacity to absorb and reuse waste and by-products.” We simple throw out and buy new. The key word in the future will be “sustainable”!!!
The next few subtopics are Water, Biodiversity, the Breakdown of Societies, Global Inequality. I am overwhelmed/insignificant as I look this. So please go to Laudato Si and read it for yourself.
http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
Here is a 12 minute video from both Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grims who were students of Passionate Fr. Thomas Berry, CP. They are leaders in not only in the Catholic Church but in all Faith Communities. I would go out on a limb to say that what ever you see or read from them is solid and trustworthy. Fr. Thomas Berry, CP books are foundational and inspirational.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=video%2c+water%2c+spirituality+ecology&docid=608008639716461843&mid=8370EB5A4BE0F1054A8F8370EB5A4BE0F1054A8F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
TED Talk by Mary Evelyn Tucker: Introduction to the program “Journey of the Universe” is powerful and foundational. It can be found on the web and is gift for our time.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mary+evelyn+tucker+ted+talks&docid=607993233645044283&mid=A45B8DA30734971B6768A45B8DA30734971B6768&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
While “staying in place” I have been watching PBS in the evening when there are reruns on the HGTV or Food Network! There are some amazing programs that address Nature and our Environment. The series on Water is very good and living out here in California, you have experienced the drought and how Water=Life.
This is a 54 minute video program.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/molecule-made-us/
Let me close this reflection with a quote from the Unites States Bishops for it encapsulates the entirety of this class. (#52) “As the United States Bishops have said, greater attention must be given to ‘the needs of the poor, the weak and the vulnerable, in a debate often dominated by more powerful interests.’ We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family. There are no frontiers or barriers, political or social, behind which we can hide, still less is there room for the globalization of indifference.” This quote is a reminder of our present situation where all the world is dealing with/infected/affected by Covito-19. United we stand/Divided we fall; and so a the Body of Christ we chose to stand with reality, and that is that we are ONE.
From paragraph 3 to 16 Pope France in Laudato Si begins by building a foundation for this encyclical by looking back at the statements from the recent popes: Pope Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI. Pope John Paul II wrote: “The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement. Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in “lifestyles, models of production and consumption, and the established structures of power which today govern societies”. # 5.
This call to change our life style calls for an ecological conversion that begins in the heart. The text from Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is very powerful and challenging for us, for he asks us to “acknowledge ‘our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation”. And then he brings this into the sacrament of reconciliation. For “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God”. #8
So, before we move on, let’s sit with this. Not in a way that is judgmental or hyper critical, but it away that is real. Acknowledging what is and then through love and mindfulness see what can be.
The following link is one that needs time. For it embraces the moment and the day and beyond. In the “examen” the Jesuit process of reflection, we are called to begin with Gratitude, Awareness, Understanding, Conversion, Reconciliation and ending with a Prayer.
http://www.ecologicalexamen.org/
Take the time you need and remember to breathe through out. Allowing for (the Spirit, the Ruah, the Breath) to guide you to those verdant pastures and quiet waters. Also know that you can go back to any page/link you like at any time for whatever the reason. “Be Gentle”.
From #10 to #13 Pope Francis calls us to look at Francis as guide and Patron Saint of Caring for the Earth. A key phrase that is used often is that of an “integral ecology”. What does this mean? I think it means seeing the world as One and that there is a relationship between our actions and the worlds health (soil, soul, society). It need not be complex and the following two quotes’ points in that direction.
“An integral ecology includes taking time to recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us….” (#225)
“An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness.” (#230)
Here is a small video/cartoon that may help explain “integral ecology”. Before you see it, I know we are not in Minnesota, but having lived there for six years I think it clearly says what “integral ecology” is all about.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=intergral+ecology%2c+pope+francis%2c+youtube&&view=detail&mid=0B4B584D640E83F047D60B4B584D640E83F047D6&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dintergral%2Becology%252c%2Bpope%2Bfrancis%252c%2Byoutube%26FORM%3DVDRESM
We have entered into the text from Laudato Si and seen how it calls us to live a life of Wholeness. Where there is a sense of integrity and authenticity between our daily lives and our faith life.
***Please let me know if you have any Ideas of how to can come together to process this***
I will conclude with the prayer taken from the end of Laudato Si:
#246. A prayer for our earth
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one. O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light. We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace. AMEN