Continuing the Journey
The grey woods behind the new rectory are now being visited by fat brilliant red cardinals. The occasional scarlet bird finds its way to the kitchen window sill looking for a hand out. The red blurs I saw from the old rectory kitchen window were fire engines.
Sitting at my desk all I need to do to travel to a different world is lift my eyes slightly above my computer screen. The sunlight is shaded by the bare limbs of the towering treesallowing light without glare. The warmth of the light is reminiscent of my recent Costa Rican vacation.
There I sat outside drinking my morning coffee with the flittering scarlet macaws and the dragon fly size humming birds busy searching for their breakfast. Rustling in the treetops the family of whiteface Capuchin monkeys march towards their morning meal. The howler monkeys hidden in the jungle signaled the dawn and dust by their haunting call.
Trekking in the jungle is why people flock to Costa Rica but with the salty sweat stinging my eyes, sitting on my deck I could see more wild life in comfort with morning coffee and evening basil mojitos. On the walk to the beach an iguana always crossed my path and the hermit crabs were busy finding their algae. A mile down the beach, where a middle size river runs into the ocean,a bask of crocs splash in the brackish water where they stay, so I was told.
Costa Rica is very attuned to the impact of people on the ecosystem. Twenty five percent of its land is protected from development. A good deal of land is pristine beach. Living in harmony with the environment is possible. Costa Rica is also on its way to be the first carbon free country by the year 2021.
Pope Francis has emphasized Catholic Social teachings that many peoples of the world look to for guidelines, but unfortunately many of the people of the world do not follow them. Costa Rica is one of the five nations in the world that Catholicism is the State Religion. That does not make it perfect but maybe that culture has fostered the fact that Costa Rica wastwice named the happiest country in the world.
Costa Rica disbanded its military in 1948 and has maintained peaceful despite being wedged between two hostile nations. It spends its money on universal healthcare, education and conservation. (I might suggest that it could spend more money on roads but because it does not have a military, it could reason, as President Eisenhower did in 1956 to promote theNational Interstate and Defense Highways Act, a military “travels on its stomach.)
Pope Francis has a greater vision for a more peaceful and beautiful world. But, it is unsettling to many. Jesus was killed on the cross because he unsettled the powerful of the religious and political world. Christianity is a contracultural religion that makes Christians uncomfortable, and rightly so, in the current culture. Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si (Praise Be) is an encyclical on climate and justice to “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.” The encyclical has caused much debate but little dialogue. (Debate is oppositional; two opposing sides try to prove each other wrong. In dialogue, one listens to understand, to make meaning, and to find common ground. In debate, one listens to find flaws, to spot differences, and to counter arguments. Dialogue enlarges and possibly changes a participant's point of view.)
Laudato Si is a teaching that needs to be listened to and be part of a dialogue, not debated. It is equal to the other teachings that many find uncomfortable in our culture but need to be discussed with dialogue, not like the screeching of the howler monkeys. The beautiful creatures of the jungle have the annoying voices, but we do not live in the jungle. We say we live in a civilized world that should not screech. Fr. Michael