In the Many 14, 2018 edition of "America" magazine, Nathan Beacom comments,
"Pope Francis has noted that for many people the beauty of nature is the starting place for an encounter with God. Today, when other occasions for such an encounter may be harder to find, the 'still, small voice' can still be heard in quiet woods and on mountain heights. John Muir, the great American naturalist, had it right when he wrote that 'every man needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.' In addition to being a place of encounter with God, these lands are places for encounter with one another, family, and neighbors."
Human beings are more organically a part of the whole of Nature than we realize. The late Judy Cannato, (photo below), wife, mother, grandmother,and an American Catholic spiritual writer (books published by Ave Maria Press) and spiritual director, became fascinated by the new advances in science which enhanced her understanding of Christianity. She wrote of the profound mystery of humans' biological and spiritual interdependence with the rest of creation:
"The water in your body contains primordial hydrogen formed in the first seconds of the Big Bang. The carbon atoms that formed you came together after the explosion of a supernova. The concentration of salt in your body matches the concentration of salt in the ancient seas. Your cells are direct descendants of unicellular organisms that developed billions of years ago. You see because chlorophyll molecules mutated, so that like plant leaves, your eyes can capture the light from the sun. And in your mother's womb your tiny body repeated the whole process of multicellular life on earth, beginning with a single cell, and then developing greater and greater complexity."
Judy's whole life resonated with her spiritual union with the rest of creation. She became an associate of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and their charism, "that all may be one," influenced her deeply. She believed that God is the Power of Love uniting and energizing the Universe, a Love which must energize us for us to feel one with and protect all creation rather than exploit it. She would meditate for an hour a day. Her life story is permeated with her deep commitment to all life.
"Judy became an associate of the Congregation of St. Joseph in 1995.
Her growing interest in quantum physics and spirituality moved her into presenting retreats and writing on the new cosmology. Influenced by Teilhard de Chardin, Fr. Thomas Berry, Barbara Marx Hubbard and Fr. Diarmuid O’Murchu, Judy wrote of the connection between all life and humankind.
In (her book) Radical Amazement, she applies the reality of interconnectedness to Paul’s remarks on the Body of Christ. 'The theory of evolution and the new universe story take his words to greater depth. Now we know that the human cannot say to the river, ‘I have no need of you’, nor to the creatures who inhabit the forest, nor to any particle of creation anywhere in the cosmos. All is sacred, expressive of the Holy, a manifestation of the Divine. Each member of creationkind brings with it a gift for all, and our refusal to accept the gifts of any diminishes the whole.'
"At her funeral on May 10 (2011) at River’s Edge chapel, Fr. Norm Comtois, a staff member of Barakah Retreat Center in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, spoke of his spiritual director’s 'clearest message.' Judy Cannato warned, 'We cannot afford to be afraid. We haven’t much time. All creation beckons us. Our planet is crying out to hear the voices of love.'“ (Sharon Abercrombie, "National Catholic Reporter," May 31, 2011.)
Judy's spirituality incorporates the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi (whom Pope John Paul II proclaimed the patron saint of those who work for the conservation of the environment) and Catholic Native American Servant of God
Nicholas Black Elk, who both spoke of our brother- and - sisterhood with all people and all creation.
It is only when we understand and appreciate our own deep personal connection to all of creation that we can commit ourselves to defending and protecting the natural environment. Among many other environmental issues, at this point in time, our federally protected lands in Utah are under attack. Beacom writes,
"President Trump wants to shrink Bears Ears National Monument (pictured at the beginning of this post), a collection of red rock canyons including sites considered sacred by Native Americans, by 85%, and another monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante, by about half....This decision, now facing a number of legal challenges, is part of a larger change in the direction of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. The Trump administration has been deregulating mineral and gas extraction and cutting budgets for federal conservation efforts, and is undertaking the largest reduction in federally protected lands in U.S. history. (caps mine.) For Catholics, these are matters of great concern."
He continues, "Catholics believe that things can have value apart from their usefulness to us - things can have value simply in virtue of being made by God and being a present object of divine delight. Preserving these wilderness areas is a reminder to ourselves, and a statement to our community, that we have not given in to the world of getting and spending, but still hold on to this idea of the sacred."
However, another aspect of the shrinkage of these national monuments is their incredible historical and scientific significance:
"While both Utah monuments have drawn criticism, they have simultaneously boosted local tourism. Grand Staircase-Escalante also has spurred significant scientific discoveries.
"Grand Staircase's Kaiparowits Plateau ranks as one of the most important examples of the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs roamed the area, according to David Polly, president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Nearly half of the plateau falls outside the new boundaries, Polly noted in an interview — including nearly all of the Tropic Shale, a roughly 94 million-year-old swath of rock that the new proclamation identifies as a protected object.
"Bears Ears, by contrast, is best known for tens of thousands of relatively intact archaeological sites and petroglyphs within its boundaries. Some date from the ancestral Pueblo era, and many tribal members continue to visit the area regularly to conduct rituals as well as to gather herbs and firewood." ("The Washington Post," Dec. 4, 2017, in an article by Josh Dawsey and Luliet Eilperin.)
President Theodore Roosevelt once famously declared, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public." Do we believe that, as Beacom states, "Setting aside certain stretches of land as above the use of the market, as outside the realm of profit and gain, is a sign that our nation still believes in the idea of sacredness"? Then it is our duty to speak up to protect these National Monuments, which are sacred to Christians and Native Americans in different ways, and sources of precious historical and scientific artifacts, including many ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings.
We need beauty as well as bread. We need places to play in and pray in, places of deep bodily and spiritual healing. For it is our radical amazement at the wonders and beauties of Nature that opens our souls to encounter God. It is in the sacred and joy-filled times that we take to explore our harmony with Nature that we can experience God's Peace. We are Children of the Universe, interconnected with everyone and everything. No one should take that intimate knowledge away from us by taking away our sacred places and sacred spaces.
Our whole planet is suffering, and many powers seek to destroy and exploit rather than protect and nourish. As Judy Cannato warned us, 'We cannot afford to be afraid. We haven’t much time. All creation beckons us. Our planet is crying out to hear the voices of love.'“