I am afraid, that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, more than ever before, are falling into deaf ears.
BABU JOSE PAMPLANY OFM
St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) had his feet on the earth and his heart turned to God as he composed his famous Canticle of the Sun, to express his special love for Creation as well as his appreciation and gratitude for the creator, the intelligence behind the brilliant design of this magnificent universe. St. Francis writes: “Be praised, my Lord, through all Your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and You give light through him. … Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which You give Your creatures sustenance. Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure… Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs”. This around 800 years old yet wonderfully voiced worldview of St. Francis made him known as the Patron Saint of the Environment.
Inspired by this canticle of St. Francis the encyclical Laudato Si’ published by Pope Francis in 2015 focuses on the care for the natural environment, the earth and all peoples of the world. The encyclical's subtitle, “Care for Our Common Home,” fine-tunes its focus lenses on things that really matter to our world. This centuries old Canticle of the Sun, of St. Francis which was a reminder to us to admire, thank and praise God for creation then has in our time evolved into Laudato Si’ of Pope Francis as a warning and a wakeup call to everyone to care for the creation that makes our lives possible and arouses our responsiveness to questions of relationship between we, God and the world we live in.
In my understanding the canticle of the sun or also known as the canticle of creatures is a profound invitation to a new and reconciled relationship; in one word, peace. There is no better bestowal of peace than that which emerges from nature: the sound, the silence, the serenity and every aspect of nature; and there is no wonder why the Prayer for Peace is attributed to St. Francis. It is simply and amply clear that we are guilty of disregarding nature if we do not experience the tranquility that nature renders to us. When nature is viewed holistically and inclusively as our common home just like St. Francis who saw the sun, the wind as Brother Sun, Brother Wind, we build a loving and lasting reconciled relationship, a special kinship with God's creation and be like St. Francis’ instruments of peace.
St. Francis of Assisi as we can see from his life was moved by the intrinsic value of all life as an expression of creative love and the deep bond of friendship, respect and reverence between him, creation and God as it is evident in all that he said and did. The lively and symbolic display of the birth of Jesus, the prince of peace on earth in 1223 by St. Francis is yet another act of being down to earth with a heart turned to God. Since then the making of cribs has become for the church a rich tradition of spreading peace and joy to the world. St. Francis did not want to be the master of anyone but the brother of all. For, the suns, wind, water, fire, earth, are not simply natural elements, but also symbols of the forces that work in our innermost being. St. Francis of Assisi engaged with these forces of nature which are sometimes destructive. Neither water, nor wind nor fire, nor even death frightens him. He was a rare and special person who welcomed death as ‘sister death ‘. When he was dying, the Joy of knowing that sister death has come to his cell he did not forget to seek pardon from his brother body which bore the brunt of all his sacrifices, fasting and penance and desired that he be laid naked on the naked floor. Even at the hour of his death St. Francis was busy reconciling himself with the forces of nature with song in his heart and this reconciliation led him to realize that he himself was one of many creatures, and he was close to them. And for this reason St. Francis of Assisi remains as reminder for all of us about the need for an ecological conversion and Laudato Si invites us not only for a sort of conversion of heart but also shows us how to embrace the path of ecological conversion so as to hug the earth and all that live therein.
In our obsession to make everything and everyone in the world straight and perfect, without realizing that there is nothing in this world that God has created which is straight and fitting to our inbox thinking and our perception of perfection has often made us all people with a straight face. In our selfish pursuit for comfort, we have evolved our concept of straight jacket perfection with deep seated prejudice on the round and curved created world and we find it hard to align ourselves to the earth, the sun and the stars as none of those in the created world are straight and perfect to our concept and comfort driven calculations. This attitude and outlook of ours is creating a distance and a disconnect between God, others and the created world is a stark reality that constantly stares at our face.
The ABCD of life is, After Birth Certainty of Death. To learn from nature that after the sun sets there will certainly be a sunrise and there is certainly this magic light at dawn and dusk when you can see the light even when you can’t see the sun. Nature will teach us survival techniques to sustain ourselves, to push back the frontiers of human endurance to the edge of possibility. That if we embrace the earth as the roots do, we can grow and be firm, and we can flourish and flower and be fruitful and multiply. Nature is like a valley that echoes; what you do in life with nature echoes and reechoes now and for eternity. You will know what I mean if you ever persevere in caring for a creature, a dog for example, you are sure to get back in full measure and overflowing with all the love and attention you give it. Such an experience opens a window to you that demonstrates the goodness and gentleness of nature and its creatures.
Prakruthi Mithra (friend of Nature) since 2014 is an initiative in the spirit of Laudato Si’ by the Franciscans (ofm) at the foothills of Wayanad Kerala which now fulfills its objective of demonstrating the goodness and gentleness of nature with gratitude and Joy.
Prakruthi Mithra is a Franciscan mission venture of caring for creation in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. It is a paradise for nature lovers and it offers the apt ambience for a nature friendly feel. Prakruthi Mithra makes a sincere effort on getting people to love nature and restoring ecology... or in other words, introducing the concept of Eco-restoration and an invitation to be a friend of Nature, embracing an eco-spiritual lifestyle for life. At Prakruthi Mithra the sound of the rain... running streams... chirping birds will surround us with silence and the sentiments of solitude… ...the green carpeted tea gardens by its side, the coffee and shady trees around... with its cool and pleasant weather even in the middle of Summer Prakruthi Mithra is a great place to unwind and fall in love with the silence, the sound and the beauty of nature.. Prakruthi Mithra strives to nurture a culture of conversion for restoring nature. At Prakruthi Mithra we make every effort in rebuilding our human capacity for cultivating that little curve that makes smiles possible.
By our presence at the edge of a teagarden valley in Wayanad blessed with beauties of nature and many of its creatures we proclaim to every human person, the crown of creation, that protecting and preserving nature and the environment – is a favour that we do to ourselves. Restore nature and nature will restore you, the opposite being the obvious... Destroy nature and it will not be able to hold you up –this is the gospel we preach to the ends of the earth (Mk.16:15). This beautiful and explicit recognition of our complete dependence on the Earth and the environment as our common home is the theme song of our being and becoming at Prakruthi Mithra.
We teach the young and old to recognize from a touch me not plant (Mimosa pudica) - how sensitive and shy it is. There was a time when we humans thought that it’s only we who can feel the pain of another, that it’s only we who can show sympathy, solidarity and take this risk and challenge to sacrifice one’s life for the sake of another. Now time has come for us humans to realize that the creatures of nature are outdoing us humans in showing sympathy, solidarity and making sacrifices without expecting anything in return. Simply put, be kind to nature and all its creatures and nature will be kind to us and without even knowing it we will become a kind natured person. Just as a simple smile can make you look more beautiful than any makeup; simply be deeply in love with nature and you will be beautiful from the inside, yes embrace the earth like the roots and you will see the fruits. An inclusive reciprocity devoid of cruelty to all living beings calls for ecological conversion- Nature will in all probability do well without us but we will not be able to do well without nature for this reason at Prakruthi Mithra we encourage and engage everyone who is associated with us to be a petal of Peace. If only we live to learn once more that a curve on our face and lips can make smiles possible, the world would have been spared of many strange and straight faces and nature would have regained its real beauty once again.
Our aggressive pursuit for progress and personal comfort is also our submission that obviously we know nearly nothing about the fact that the “have-nots” of the world are increasing greatly both in number and in degree of misery. The connection between environmental degradation, poverty, and our moral obligation to one another should cause any thoughtful person to worry about the serious situation of the world in which we live in. Though worldwide, environmental awareness is growing. It's already in a state of too little too late. I am afraid, that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor more than ever before are falling into deaf ears. We can only hope that as individuals we will find the strength to keep doing what we can to make this world our common home and that the words of Pope Francis, expressed so beautifully to all the world’s people in his Encyclical Laudato Si’, may inspire us to find ways to abandon many of our selfish ways and find our way together into a restored future for nature.
Babu Jose Pamplany OFM is the director at Prakrithi Mithra eco-spirituality centre, Wayanad, Kerala.
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