A Conversion of Heart
Waiting for my early-morning train, I looked down and saw trash litter the tracks. I wasn't surprised. This is often the backdrop of the communities I live in and journey through each day.
I found myself wondering, “Why would someone do this?”
“Why would someone throw a book, a bottle, their trash, when a garbage pail is only a few feet away?”
Pope Francis, among others, discuss the notion of ecological spirituality. This notion speaks to an awareness of the deep connection between us and our planet and universe.
The Holy Father writes, “Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves as a mere setting in which we live.”
I will not alarm you or bore you (depending on where you stand politically) about our warming planet. I will not provide an assessment on the effectiveness of recycling programs, measuring your carbon footprint, or even the dangerous misuse of fossil fuels that is causing havoc now and surely for our descendants.
No, all I raise this day, is perhaps truly the first step that we may have skipped.
How do we see all of God’s creation?
Specifically, how do we see the land we walk on, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the sky we look at from below?
Might we begin to see this creation as the gift it is and encounter God’s divine spark here. Might we change our relationship with nature?
This requires a collective shift. We can learn a great deal on the matter from our Indigenous neighbors, especially those who once lived on this land, and continue, although smaller in number, seek right relationship with our planet.
We can learn from our children as they marvel at the colors, the movement of the wind, the strength of the sun, and the purity of the snow.
As spring soon approaches, we can learn from the flowers that emerge from the thawing ground, and the birds as they fly so smoothly above.
How might you, how might I, be in a better relationship with our earthly home?
A conversion of heart is required, not only for the future, but for today.
