Pay attention… we are connected
It’s around this time of year that pet blessings abound and that we reflect, and give thanks for the life, work and witness of St. Francis. St. Francis is associated with pet blessings because he understood the connectivity of all nature which includes our relationship with every other human being. He understood connectivity. He knew what it was about and he practiced it. But it's an elusive thing. You can’t go to the deli section of the supermarket and ask for half a kilo of connectivity, so let me explain.
The best example I can think of to explain this connectivity business is to ask you to think of the closeness, the relationship, that you have with your pets. And if you happen to be a hard-working farmer, then the connection you have with your livestock. If your pet or livestock is hurt, then you are hurt too. In this part of western Victoria it is a very easy thing to understand and it a very delicious thing to enjoy.
St. Francis understood this vocation of connectivity very well and he lived it in his daily life. He knew how connected he was to creatures, and to nature. Thus he is famous for calling the moon his sister and the sun his brother.
But his sense of connection also extended to his fellow human beings. There is the famous story that whilst walking one day St. Francis and his companion came across a poor man along the road. Seeing the man’s misery, Francis was moved with compassion. He took off the cloak he was wearing and said to his travelling companion, “It is fitting that we should restore this cloak to this poor man, for it is his, and I accepted it only until I should find someone poorer than myself.” His companion thought this was ridiculous but Francis persisted, “I should be counted a thief by God were I to withhold that which I wear,… from him who has greater need of it than I.”
St. Francis understood that he was connected to the poor man on the side of the road and so he behaved in a certain way and did something about it.
But do you see there is something else going on here? Our connectivity calls us to respond by action and the best example I can think of today is the way we choose to behave towards our pets and animals. We choose to make sure that our pets have food and water. These simple things require action from us and require us to behave in a certain way. When our creatures are poorly, we make sure that they get the proper treatment from a vet. When they need a walk or the company of another animal or simply some one on one time, then we do something about it.
In a year where we have been clearly reminded of our interconnectedness and our responsibilities to one another, we must not forget our interconnectedness and our responsibility to creation – God's good gift to us. Our care for the Earth is expressed mostly in small things, commitments to change that may go unnoticed. Our connectivity requires us to behave in certain ways. It’s not just an academic exercise. Our responsibility for our pets, for creation and for each other must be expressed in tangible, physical, observable ways.
For a little while we are placed upon this earth and for a little while we have the opportunity to enhance and enrich not just Mother Earth, but also each other especially like St. Francis those who are less fortunate than ourselves. It’s why we choose to physically donate to Anglicare and why we choose to recycle.
For this fragile tiny blue planet in a vast universe is our mutual home and there is a nobility in the duty to care for it through our little daily actions.”
Our vocation of connectivity or interconnectedness is a wonderful vocation and a fine responsibility. When we are faithful in our vocation and bless others and creation through our actions, then we will find in turn that we too are blessed and united and enriched.
The first step is to open our eyes and pay attention.
When we pay attention, the Earth will teach us to understand harmony and balance, give and take.
When we pay attention, we will be inspired again by the audacious hope of all green things.
When we pay attention, we will understand God's steadiness, constancy in change and the mysteries of becoming.
When we pay attention, we will marvel at God's unseen order – the interconnection of all living things.
When we pay attention, we will know others to be our brothers and sisters, children of one common home.
Let us pay attention to the earth and pray.
God of all Creation, through your goodness you have given us the Earth as our home. We are grateful for all the wonders of the world which so clearly proclaim your glory. Teach us how to pay attention that we might learn from the natural world. Teach us how to care for each other as we care for creation. We ask these things through the intercession of Francis of Assisi and in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen