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Tag Archives: Care of Creation

Yosemite Valley, John Muir, Antoni Gaudi and the Heart of Creation

18 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by mcummins2172 in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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Care of Creation, creation

Yellowstone Falls

Last week I spent four days in Yosemite National Park continuing my quest to visit all of our country’s national parks.  (I am now at twenty-six parks visited.)  Each park – I have found – has its own particular beauty and awe.  What most struck me in Yosemite was Yosemite Valley itself.  Via the entrance road from El Portal, you weave into the valley catching hints of the surrounding mountains through the standing ponderosa pine trees.  Yet, it is only within the valley that you are brought into a full awareness of the enormity of the surrounding cliffs and mountains that loom large over the fields, river and forests.  One would think that the sheer cliffs and mountain rockfaces would weigh down on the valley and any person within it but the opposite is the case.  El Capitain and Half-Dome continually pull one’s line of sight upwards and beyond oneself.  Yosemite Falls and Bridalveil Falls, even as they drop into the valley, beckon the viewer to look up to the source of their waters.  Even the tall ponderosa pines direct one towards the sky and what is above.  Every aspect within this valley draws the person upwards. 

John Muir named Yosemite Valley, “Nature’s Cathedral” and I cannot help but believe this upward movement of the valley is part of what Muir experienced himself and what, at least partly, stands behind his designation.  Cathedrals and basilicas – by design – are meant to draw the person upwards into the transcendent and that which is beyond oneself.  Interesting note – the basilica I found myself just naturally beginning to remember while standing in Yosemite Valley was La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.  On a tour of the famous basilica a number of years ago, I remember our group’s tour guide remarking how Antoni Gaudi based the design of the church not so much on the foundation sunk in the earth but rather on the movement of being drawn upward and this is witnessed to throughout the architecture.  I have no idea if Gaudi knew anything about Yosemite Valley but I believe what he sought to express through his design of La Sagrada Familia finds deep natural resonance in the wonder and upward movement of Yosemite Valley.

Both John Muir and Antoni Gaudi were men steeped in the Christian faith.  Muir’s father was a presbyterian minister who raised his children on the words of Scripture.  Gaudi was a devoted Catholic whose life and work were guided by his faith.  Both men were also devoted to the beauty of creation.  Gaudi saw his basilica as a reflection of creation and the wonder that the Creator has entered within creation by the incarnation.  Muir’s life was marked by an Old Testament prophet’s zeal for creation and humanity’s responsibility to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us. 

The fact that both of these men – coming from different parts of the world and from different life experiences – each had a sense of the wonder of creation and its upward movement AND were steeped in the language and thought of Christianity is no coincidence I believe.  The language of Scripture which speaks of both creation and Creator, the awareness of the sublime wonder of the incarnation and resurrection and the hunch of what that implies for all of creation as well as a felt knowledge of grace in ones own life were all truths deeply embedded in each of these men (given ample witness in their work and words) and this is what gave them both the intuition required to sense the upward movement of a creation both weighed in reality and set free by grace as well as the words needed to give voice to that movement whether that be through the language of soaring architecture or the stirring words of essay, written letter or fireside conversations with an American president. 

Half Dome

Christianity, when not manipulated by a perverse ideology of selfish domination, offers a person the awareness needed to truly listen to the heart of creation.  This is expressed throughout the scope of Scripture and witnessed by a Savior who himself was fully attuned to all of the wonder and nuances of creation – just reflect on how he continually drew on creation to teach us about the Kingdom. 

John Muir heard the heart of creation reverberating through Yosemite Valley.  Antoni Gaudi heard the heart of creation and gave it voice in the soaring spires of La Sagrada Familia.  Another Christian by the name of Paul also heard it and this reflection will end with his words: 

“For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord by because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that all of creation is groaning in labor pains even until now.”  (Rom. 8:19-22) 

Church Clutter

20 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by mcummins2172 in Catholic Church, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

"Laudato Si", Care of Creation, Christianity, creation, faith, Pope Francis, Stewardship, welcome

safe_imageIt is interesting how some things stay with us and even become operating principles in our lives.

During my junior and senior years in high school and into college I worked in the maintenance department of Appco (Appalachian Oil Company) which owned a number of convenience stores scattered throughout the Tri-Cities and beyond. What I and my fellow workers heard over and over again from our supervisor was that every store had to be clean and well maintained both within and without.  In that job I spent countless hours at these stores pulling weeds, planting shrubs, mowing lawns, painting doors and helping with some mechanical and plumbing repairs.  I must say that the Appco stores were always well maintained and clean and to this day I cringe whenever I walk into a dirty convenience store and, if it is too dirty and unkempt, I will not return.

Likewise, part of me grieves within whenever I encounter an unkempt and cluttered church both within and without. Old bulletins and papers stacked on the table beside the presider’s chair along with a plethora of missals drives me nuts as do parish hallways strung with outdated posters and fliers.  Scattered and poorly maintained landscaping does little to bring a sense of beauty and prayer to a house of worship I believe.

De-cluttering does not have to cost a lot nor take a lot of time. “Start small and do what you can when you can,” is a good motto I believe.  Our diocese is in the midst of building a new cathedral and it is neat seeing the artwork that is currently going within that sacred space but it is not just cathedrals that should witness to the beauty of God and our faith.  Every church, chapel and mission is “God’s house” and can have a simple and noble beauty that helps to set the soul at rest.

Here are a few thoughts to reflect upon. Most regard the outside landscape of a church (maybe because that was the area I worked in mostly at Appco.  I still cannot walk past a weed without feeling the need to pull it up!) but the principle of de-cluttering certainly applies within churches and chapels also.

Know the geography and terrain. The parish I am currently at has a very thin top layer of soil.  As soon as it does not rain for a day or two in summer, plants and grass begin to dry up and turn brown.  We recently received a bequest which allowed us to redo the landscaping in the parking lot and in front of the church and parish office.  It would have been foolish (and poor stewardship I believe) to put in plants that would require heavy amounts of water and care.  Rather, we made use of river rock and specifically chose plants that were hardy, drought resistant and low maintenance.  The end result looks quite good and fits the terrain.

What is manageable to your community? What does the Gospel ask of us?  I am all for parish landscape crews if it fits your community but it does not fit every community and it also seems that life is getting busier and busier for most people and families.  Parishioners should take pride in their church but at the end of the day what is more important – that the lawn was perfectly mowed every Sunday or that parishioners and their families grow in their discipleship and strive to live that discipleship out in the world?  I do not pretend to know the answer but it is a balance worth reflecting upon.

IMG_5745What is best for the environment? This is a question I find myself continually returning to after reading Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” as well as my own growing interest in protecting and safe-guarding creation.  Do the plants and shrubs we favor around churches help benefit the environment or do they just look nice from our human perspective?  Can our parish grounds themselves become places that benefit and support creation?  A couple of years ago now I planted two butterfly bushes in front of our Parish Life Center because they fit and enhance the space, they are low maintenance and hardy and, in regards to this question, they are a benefit to bees and butterflies.  A simple choice in a planting can have ripples of effect.

Time can become cluttered also. Last fall, our parish went through the process of changing our Mass schedule – no small feat.  In the old schedule there was only thirty minutes between each of our four Sunday Masses.  There were a variety of factors necessitating the change but one that I saw as pastor was the limiting effect of such a small window of time between Masses.  People came in for their Mass and then they hurried out in order to let the next group in.  The opportunity for community and fellowship was stunted.  Now that we have more time between Masses (as well as making space by clearing out clutter from our vestibule) people are actually spending more time talking and enjoying each other’s company after Mass.  Sometimes schedules in the life of a church community can get cluttered also.  It is worthwhile to step back and evaluate our schedules every now and then.

A church, chapel or mission should strive as much as it can to be an oasis for the soul in a busy and distracted world. Often times in the church world we focus on the “big architecture and art work” to facilitate this and we overlook the more simple, daily and nuanced realities.  Clutter “clutters” and it distracts.  Seeking to move aside the clutter that can accumulate both within and without the church should be seen as an act of hospitality.  It is the discipline of keeping God’s house open and clean as a place of welcome, a home where the soul can find rest and respite.

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