Like me, you are probably wondering where summer went. In Michigan, we revel in long, warm evenings when one can dine al fresco, welcome an approaching thunderstorm that cleanses the air, and appreciate the simple pleasure of eating ice cream on the porch.
Yet the leaves begin to change colors and swirl to the ground. It’s time for apple cider and football and sweaters.
And then it is winter, with its fierce beauty, and spring and … the seasons change; the same and yet ever new.
How easy it is to let nature simply exist around us, with us oblivious to its beauty. An excellent topic of contemplation from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ is artistry in the created world. Pope Francis says (referencing St. Francis of Assisi):
“Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker” (Wis 13:5); indeed, “his eternal power and divinity have been made known through his works since the creation of the world” (Rom 1:20). For this reason, Francis asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there, and those who saw them could raise their minds to God, the Creator of such beauty. Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.
You may know that I have some misgivings with parts of this encyclical. Pope Francis illustrates great concern for our environment, which is, of course, laudable. However, I see him laying far too much blame on free markets for problems such as air pollution. He appears not to understand that pollution is lowest precisely in countries with freer economies. The poor suffer most because they have a chasm of disconnect between themselves and free markets. He even has a name for this. He identifies this as the problem of “inclusion.” For instance, many have no choice but to light their homes with anything other than kerosene, which creates harmful soot and breathing problems.
That being said, Laudato Si’ is a good reminder to take time to contemplate the beauty of God’s created world as it is and as it can be. In the developed world, we’ve become a moving mob of necks bent over cell phones. While the poor are disconnected from markets, we are all too often disconnected from nature and one another. We need to remember the lesson of St. Francis of Assisi and once again contemplate God’s creation, a world of joyful mystery.
