In his reflections on COVID-19, Alan S. Cayes, founding member of the Dialogue Institute for Spirituality and Sustainability, makes an interesting observation on how human beings have damaged the earth’s ecological systems in catastrophic proportions, often leading to causing our own misfortune.
He says “the myriad water bodies are no longer teaming with fish and microorganisms but struggle to survive against humanity’s onslaught with pollution and toxic and hazardous wastes. The lands are no longer covered with pristine and diverse vegetation but bear the brunt of the dominant species that prides itself with steel and concrete.”
Cayes quotes science author David Quammen, who in Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, says “we invade tropical forests and wild landscapes, which harbour so many species of animals and plants, [including bats] – and within those creatures, are so many unknown viruses. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.”
Has nature become an unchartered territory we could conquer, exploit and mould to satisfy our quest for betterment, progress or development? Has obsession with economic or monetary value desecrated God’s abounding creation that gives life?
The desertification of forests and wildlife may paradoxically lead us to reflect on our own desertification in this period of lockdown. It’s a time of reflection, of reckoning what is of authentic value in life. It’s a ‘wake-up’ call from our frenetic, overstressed life, often pursuing things that bear no significant value to our wellbeing.
In the wise words of Ecclesiastes 1:14: “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and chasing the wind”. It is a time of adjustment, a time to realign to life-giving values, a time of a deeper conversion and discernment of God’s will for our life.
In our suffering we come to realise our total dependency on the Creator’s love and mercy. We come in touch with our vulnerability. We realise that despite our capacity to build massive buildings, gigantic ships, sophisticated machinery and massive shopping malls, we fail to maintain clean air and water, productive lands and forests and preserve our ecological systems. We fail to sustain that which gives life.
As we contemplate ‘a new normal’, we are called to embrace a return to core values. This not only includes connecting with nature and preserving the environment, but most of all an understanding that the universe itself is sacred – that creation embeds a spiritual essence – God’s own breath – a life-giving power that sustains our own very life.
Pope Francis says: “To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope!”
Let us rediscover the joy of being together, the smile of an innocent child, the wisdom of our elderly parents, the awesome and wonder of God reflected in bliss, in the beauty of creation.
Gordon Vassallo, Accredited spiritual guide, Ignatian Spirituality Centre