By Sister Sharon Zayac, OP
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it
was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” ~ Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Dickens could be speaking about today.
And it is surely easy these days to get stuck talking about the worst of times, isn’t it? We are barraged with what is going on here at home and around the globe: escalating climate disasters, wars, the rise of authoritarianism, the upheaval of millions who are displaced from their homes and seek to find safety and security elsewhere. We grapple with planning for our futures as everything changes around us. All of this, even as we respond to many efforts for creative and effective collaboration to address these calamities.
May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope. (Laudato Si’ 244)
How do we respond in a sane, hope-filled, and courageous manner? Where do we find the perspective that gives us a context that holds all of this and helps us make sense of it?
What’s the Story?
Where do we find that bigger picture that teaches us about who we are and how we are to be, together, in this grand evolutionary journey? One that holds everything together, even in the chaos? Is there a Story big enough to give us that context? Both science and our faith in a loving Creator offer us such a Story.
Remember the first part of that quote? The one we so often glide right over? It is the best of times. There is evidence of that everywhere, as well. Are we open, willing to find new ways to look at our world and see differently?
Over this past century, science has been revealing to us the story of the incredible journey of a Universe still evolving after its momentous beginning 13.8 billion years ago. It speaks of the dynamics that make the Universe what it is. These dynamics are totally interrelated. Each of them only works in tandem with the others. The Universe is the story of birthing, of each subject alluring the other into becoming all it can, of collaborating (not competing), of constantly changing and thereby making the whole new. These universal dynamics are also the dynamics that work within us humans.
Earth and Creation teach us
The evidence is everywhere! Earth teaches us. The prairie burns and wildflowers emerge. The whole prairie is new. Trees communicate through their collaboration with fungi and through that protect their offspring and warn one another of danger. The whole forest is new. We too are in constant interaction with everything and everyone around us. We are literally new beings with each interaction. And as each of us becomes new, the whole of humanity is changed. Each of us has the power to make the kinds of changes we wish to see in the world.
Creation teaches us that. Physics provides us the evidence for that. As we grow in our understanding of that total interrelatedness, the whole of creation is transformed. We will not allow “our struggles and our concern for this planet take away the joy of our hope.” (Laudato Si', p. 244)
Sister Sharon is an internationally sought-after speaker and teacher on eco-spirituality and eco-justice. She is on the team at Jubilee Farm, Springfield, Ill.
