Laudato Si Sunday reflection: Using love as our bait

Today's reflection is brought to you by
Matthew 4:18-22.

We are all fishers of people,

O God,
though some of us
are more successful
than others.

Perhaps we need to look at our bait.

Do we speak with fire and brimstone
or joy and humility?

Do we reach out with dogma and doctrine
or simplicity and tenderness?

Do we listen to others with judgment and condemnation
or forgiveness and compassion?

Do we offer burdens of guilt
or smiles and helping hands?

Do we display pious pretenses
or do we live your gospel
through a real relationship with you
and the people with whom you surround us?

Please, teach us to fish for people
with the kind of love you offer to each of us.

+Amen.

* * * * * * * 

The idea of understanding the needs of society's grass roots comes up frequently in Pope Francis's letter to the world, Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home. And here's a question I forgot to ask last week -- just who makes up these grass roots? Quite often they are the poor, the lower class, the people without power, until they organize around a cause and make their voices heard. Like Jesus' fisherman friends did when they learned about love from the Greatest Teacher of them all.

The idea that the voices of those who make up grass roots movements need to be heard continues in this week's reading of paragraphs 147-151 of Laudato Si, which can be accessed by clicking here and scrolling down. This week, though, we shift focus toward urban issues as we start a new section called Ecology of Daily Life, which talks about quality of life for human beings, particularly in cities. Did you know that of the world's 7.7 billion people, 54% of us are city dwellers, and a full 81.4% of Canadians live in urban settings? These stats have all risen since I last looked at this section of Laudato Si four years ago!

Pope Francis and friends want to point out the importance of beauty, simplicity, and order in human life. Paragraph 147 notes that "We make every effort to adapt to our environment, but when it is disorderly, chaotic, or saturated with noise and ugliness, such over-stimulation makes it difficult to find ourselves integrated and happy."

Even so, "An admirable creativity and generosity is shown by persons and groups who respond to environmental limitations by alleviating the adverse effects of their surroundings and learning to orient their lives amid disorder and uncertainty." Paragraph 148 underlines the fact that even when our living situations are chaotic, "a commendable human ecology is practised by the poor in spite of numerous hardships" and human beings can find a sense of belonging and solidarity by working together to improve their surroundings in their homes and neighbourhoods.

Unfortunately, such places often attract a criminal element that aims to exploit the poor. Pope Francis and his encyclical writers are very aware of the fact that violence, drug culture and antisocial behaviour are often present in these situations, but the Pope says, "I wish to insist that love always proves more powerful. Many people in these conditions are able to weave bonds of belonging and togetherness which convert overcrowding into an experience of community in which the walls of the ego are torn down and the barriers of selfishness overcome."

In our wide open spaces here in Canada, and here in Edmonton, urban planners have tried to find solutions to inner city problems by creating "integrated communities" where people of different social strata can live together... but they often meet seemingly insurmountable opposition from people who fear that their way of life will somehow be undermined by the presence of low-income housing, halfway houses or Housing First accommodations which give homeless people roofs over their heads and then deal with their social challenges. My question is -- how do we allay the fears of people who have never met the poor? I guess we really need to become Fishers of People who catch everyone up in a net of love -- even the doubters -- by creating even more opportunities to gather and get to know each other.

I would love to see many more "integrated communities" in my city and country, but our provincial government seems to be leaning in the opposite direction, cutting funding for affordable housing supports and programs. If we want to change that, we need to speak up, write letters, and expect more from our elected leaders. And we need to offer more opportunities for so-called average people to walk with our inner city brothers and sisters on a regular basis, to meet them and learn about their lives.

Here comes a little plug: On Leap Day, February 29th, Hope Mission in Edmonton (and Calgary) will host a 2 or 5 km fundraiser walk called Cold Hands, Warm Hearts. It's a perfect opportunity to learn more about our inner city sisters and brothers and ways to care about them, with them. If you would like to join the team I've started, click here and come walk with us!

Paragraph 150 draws us back into the land of consulting with the grass roots when it says, "those who design buildings, neighbourhoods, public spaces and cities, ought to draw on the various disciplines which help us to understand people's thought processes, symbolic language and ways of acting. It is not enough to seek the beauty of design."

Conservation also needs to be a part of what we strive for in our communities. In paragraph 151, we see that it is important to preserve those parts of a landscape which help to create our sense of belonging as human beings. Elements that create cohesion are important because they unite us, toppling the belief that we are all strangers and preventing us from creating "us vs. them" neighbourhoods. Natural areas that create a sense of well-being help us to realize that we belong to the great "we" -- that we are all one family. If we understand Jesus at all, we know that he came to knock down our divisions and to remind us that every one of us is an equally beloved child of God.

Just imagine if our communities could always reflect this fact! In the week ahead, let's focus on the idea that really, the grass roots of any society is made up of people who are all equally beloved of God, and that we should all be working together to create a world and society that reflects the beloved-ness of every human being, all 7.7 billion of us, AND all other beings, great and small. How might that understanding change our society and our world? Would terrorist organizations have any reason to be so hateful, or would love prove more powerful, as Pope Francis says?

How can we create a sense of equality and beloved-ness for everyone we meet, regardless of their place in society?

Laudato Si Sunday Reflection: Enmeshed in God's creation

This week's reflection is brought to you by
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7.

O God,
Your words to the suffering servant
in the book of Isaiah
can also apply to each one of us:

You are my servant,
whom I uphold,
my chosen,
in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit in you
to bring forth justice to my earth.

You will not break those who are bruised
and you will not extinguish any small hope;
you will faithfully bring forth justice.

I am God,
I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you your gifts and talents
to be a light in my world,
to open the eyes of those who cannot see my way,
to free those imprisoned by fear and darkness."

You call us to be mindful
O God,
of your ways in our world,
of how we are enmeshed in your creation.

Help us to hear
and do
what you ask of us!

We need you,
and you tell us that the world needs us
to become your action
for the good of all.

Help us to work together
to bring all of creation
to your light,
your hope,
your freedom.

+Amen.

* * * * * * * 

God is always calling us from our problems toward solutions, and that's what the rest of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home is all about. Not that they will be easy solutions. The reason Pope Francis's letter to the world is something of a hard sell is that, if we are to make it work, it is the wealthy 8% of the world's population who will have to overhaul our lives with an eye to what the planet requires for the survival. We are the ones who will have to rethink our jet-setting vacations, recreational vehicles and over-sized homes. And it comes down to the wire -- will we change willingly, or will the increasingly dangerous climate conditions force change upon us? Australia's wildfires are yet another wake up call that we can't afford to ignore!

How many of us are willing to sacrifice for the common good, and to reduce our ecological footprints so we can live more sustainably? This week we are reflecting on paragraphs 137 to 142 of Laudato Si, which can be accessed by clicking here and scrolling down.

Before I get into the Pope's discussion of an integral ecology, I'd like to share once again a little piece I came across from Australia's Rolling Stone Magazine (Issue 771, February 2016). David Suzuki, our Canadian environmental scientist and global climate change crusader, an avowed atheist, noted that many of our planet's issues have been separated into different categories, to be handled by different agencies. Suzuki was thrilled by Pope Francis' encyclical, commenting that,

We are enmeshed...

 ...we [environmental activists] act as though [hunger, poverty, social justice, environment] are separate issues. And the Pope doesn't separate them: he says, 'We've spent all our time focused on two relationships: our human relationship with God, and our relationship with each other. But there is a third relationship, and that's our relationship with the rest of Creation.' Thank you, Francis. It's an astounding thing to come out of the Catholic freakin' Church!

Suzuki is right -- the beauty of the Pope's letter to the world is that it underlines, over and over again, the importance of realizing that everything we do impacts life on this planet in some way, and that there are no "separate issues." We are enmeshed in creation, in our world's many issues, in each other's lives.

Paragraph 137 begins with the refrain that everything is closely interrelated (we hear it twice more in these 6 paragraphs!), followed with the reminder that we need to take into account "every aspect of the global crisis" using an integral ecology. In other words, we must look at what is happening to the environment through the lenses of science, culture, politics, technology, faith, health, resource use, equality and solidarity, climate change, economics, everything.

Facing up to the challenge of employing an integral ecology requires "reflection and debate about the conditions required for the life and survival of society" (paragraph 138), not to mention the rest of creation. "Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it" (paragraph 139). And the crises we face are both social and environmental, demanding "an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature." If we can do those three things, our ecology becomes wholistic or integral.

Paragraph 140 notes that researchers have an important role in determining the environmental impacts of human activity, and that they must have the academic freedom to help us to understand the balance of the ecosystems that make up our planet because otherwise, we can't begin to live sustainably. We humans are pretty good at seeing the things that directly impact us, but wear blinders when it comes to impacts on other creatures essential to the world's survival. And often we don't see impacts until much further down the road. Case in point? The past and present use of DDT and other pesticides -- that we now know are found in our own bodies, though they were only supposed to suppress certain "pests."

Pope Francis is trying to make us realize that the economy's "predictable reactions and... standardization with the aim of simplifying procedures and reducing costs" can no longer be the driving force in our earth's development (paragraph 141). The quality life for all creatures and the human institutions that protect justice, peace and freedom for all of creation need to be given higher priority than the many financial and political forces that have overseen our planet and allowed it to fall into ruin.

One major problem, according to paragraph 142, is that lack of respect for the law has become more and more common at all levels. The pope and friends cite the continuing destruction of forests in countries that have clear forest protection legislation, and the importing of drugs to affluent societies from poor regions that suffer because of the drug trade. If we follow world news at all, we can probably name dozens of other examples of international, national, and local laws that are being ignored all the time, or situations where industry or politics find and exploit loopholes in various social and environmental regulations.

It makes me happy that more and more, activists are discovering and speaking up about the places where laws are ignored to the detriment of our planet -- and that average citizens are getting involved through social media campaigns. But what really needs to happen is that we all need to develop an integral way of thinking at all levels, all the time.

We've just begun a new decade, and as I see it, our challenge as a human race is to see our lives with integral ecology in mind. Almost every choice we make as human beings, whether we realize it or not, has an impact on our planet. For example, my choices this morning have included what to eat for breakfast (what do my food choices cost my planet?) how to prepare it (how is my energy use impacting the environment?), what I will wear (how has it been produced, and who or what is affected by that?) and how I will get to church (can I reduce my fossil fuel emissions?) Seeing how we are enmeshed in the bigger picture takes effort and practice, but it can certainly help us to live more sustainably.

In the 2020s, we must all ask ourselves: How am I enmeshed in God's creation? How can I live more sustainably? How do I fit into an integral ecology? And how can I bring others to this kind of mindfulness?

Laudato Si: Sunday Reflection #27... An integral way of thinking

The last few weeks of these reflections have been a pretty tough slog, I'll admit. I laugh at myself because I hated writing essays as a student -- and here, what have I done but set myself the challenge of an essay a week on some darn difficult topics! But it's all worth it if it spreads the ideas of Laudato Si even just a little bit further. Thanks to all of you for reading along with me as I go -- knowing that you are participating in this project keeps me motivated.

I'm actually looking forward to reflecting on the rest of Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home, because the second half of the encyclical is going beyond the problems toward solutions. Not that they will be easy solutions. The reason Pope Francis's letter to the world is something of a hard sell is that, if we are to make it work, it is the wealthy 8% of the world's population who will have to overhaul our lives with an eye to what the planet requires for the survival of life. We are the ones who will have to rethink our jet-setting vacations, recreational vehicles and oversized homes. And it comes down to the wire -- will we change willingly, or will the increasingly dangerous climate conditions force change upon us?

It also comes down to being willing to sacrifice for the common good, and to reducing our ecological footprints so we can live more sustainably. This week we are reflecting on paragraphs 137 to 142, which can be accessed by clicking here and scrolling down.

Before I get into the Pope's discussion of an integral ecology, I'd like to share a little piece I came across from Australia's Rolling Stone Magazine (Issue 771, February 2016). David Suzuki, our Canadian environmental scientist and global climate change crusader, had this to say:

We are enmeshed...

"I'm an atheist, but the Pope's environmental Encyclical [June 2015's 'Laudato Si'] was such a mind-boggling event: I'd kiss his hands, his feet and any other place he'd want me to kiss him, just for publishing that amazing document! He's done something that we don't tend to do: we tend to go, 'Oh, this is an issue of hunger and poverty, that's Oxfam; this is an issue of social justice, that's Amnesty International; this is an issue of environment, that's the Suzuki Foundation' – we act as though these are separate issues. And the Pope doesn't separate them: he says, 'We've spent all our time focused on two relationships: our human relationship with God, and our relationship with each other. But there is a third relationship, and that's our relationship with the rest of Creation.' Thank you, Francis. It's an astounding thing to come out of the Catholic freakin' Church!"

- See more at: http://rollingstoneaus.com/culture/post/david-suzuki-encounter/3089#sthash.29L9Togm.dpuf

Suzuki is right -- the beauty of the Pope's letter to the world is that it underlines, over and over again, the importance of realizing that everything we do impacts life on this planet in some way, and that there are no "separate issues." We are enmeshed in creation, in our world's many issues, in each other's lives.

Paragraph 137 begins with the refrain that everything is closely interrelated (we hear it twice more in these 6 paragraphs!), followed with the reminder that we need to take into account "every aspect of the global crisis" using an integral ecology. In other words, we must look at what is happening to the environment through the lenses of science, culture, politics, technology, faith, health, resource use, equality and solidarity, climate change, economics, everything.

Facing up to the challenge of employing an integral ecology requires "reflection and debate about the conditions required for the life and survival of society" (paragraph 138), not to mention the rest of creation. "Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it" (paragraph 139). And the crises we face are both social and environmental, demanding "an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature." If we can do those three things, our ecology becomes pretty wholistic or integral.

Paragraph 140 notes that researchers have an important role in determining the environmental impacts of human activity, and that they must have the academic freedom to help us to understand the balance of the ecosystems that make up our planet because otherwise, we can't begin to live sustainably. We humans are pretty good at seeing the things that directly impact us, but wear blinders when it comes to the importance of other creatures essential to the world's survival, not to mention our own. Case in point? The past and present use of DDT and other pesticides -- that we now know are found in our own bodies, though they were only supposed to suppress certain "pests."

Pope Francis is trying to make us realize that the economy's "predictable reactions and... standardization with the aim of simplifying procedures and reducing costs" can no longer be the driving force in our earth's development (paragraph 141). The quality life for all creatures and the human institutions that protect justice, peace and freedom for all of creation need to be given higher priority than the many financial and political forces that have overseen our planet and allowed it to fall into ruin.

One major problem, according to paragraph 142, is that lack of respect for the law has become more and more common at all levels. The pope and friends cite the continuing destruction of forests in countries that have clear forest protection legislation, and the importing of drugs to affluent societies from poor regions that suffer because of the drug trade. If we follow world news at all, we can probably name dozens of other examples of international, national, and local laws that are being ignored all the time, or situations where industry or politics find and exploit loopholes in various social and environmental regulations.

It makes me happy that more and more, activists are discovering and speaking up about the places where laws are ignored to the detriment of our planet -- and that average citizens are getting involved through social media campaigns. But what really needs to happen is that we all need to develop an integral way of thinking at all levels, all the time.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent in the Christian world, and perhaps our challenge for these days leading to Easter can be to see our lives with integral ecology in mind. Almost every choice we make as human beings, whether we realize it or not, has an impact on our planet. For example, my choices this morning have included what to eat for breakfast (what do my food choices cost my planet?) how to prepare it (how is my energy use impacting the environment?), what I will wear (how has it been produced, and who or what is affected by that?) and how I will get to church (what are my fossil fuel emissions?) Seeing how we are enmeshed in the bigger picture takes effort and practice, but it can help us to live more sustainably.

This Lent, we can ask ourselves: How am I enmeshed in God's creation? How can I live more sustainably? How do I fit into an integral ecology?

*******

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.

(A prayer for our earth and all quotations from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

Up next: #28... Grassroots Cultural Ecology