Index of Rev. Grey's Columns

I haven’t followed the news very faithfully, especially in Florida, where the beach beckons, and I am surprised by great blue herons outside my window. Not to mention the huge turtle sunning him or herself on a rock. However, the death of one pope and election of another is very significant, so I paid attention. That so many paid attention reflects the influence of a pope who, while constricting social freedoms, also built bridges between his and other religious bodies, witnessed for political freedom, against poverty and, in recent times, against the war in Iraq. Pope John Paul II touched so many lives all over the world that some, we know, called for his immediate sainthood.

While the Catholic Church requires miracles in determining sainthood, Catholic Scholar Robert Ellsberg, deciding whose lives to include in his book All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for our Times defined “miracles” loosely, counting the courageous witness of faith. In addition to those beatified by the Catholic Church, Ellsberg includes other Catholics and non-Catholic Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, at least one Native American, a transcendentalist Unitarian, and those of other faiths..

Ellsberg did not include the prophet-monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who is, thankfully, not yet dead. A deeply compassionate Vietnamese Buddhist monk and courageous witness for peace Thich Nhat Hanh’s understanding of “miracle” reflects its root meaning, from the late Latin “mirare” – to wonder. He names the simple mindfulness of attentive walking on the earth, and gazing into the eyes of a child, as examples of what is a miracle. Love, compassion and generosity, these, too, he claims, are miracles, qualities that express the deepest truths of life. I agree.

Driving to the parking space behind my friend Nancy’s home, where I am staying, I spot a great blue heron wading in nearby water. I am experiencing many of what Hanh calls “miracles of mindfulness” during these last two months of the sabbatical, and I am aware that I am the recipient of love and of generosity, beyond my expectation. Truly I feel blessed and renewed by a sense of daily miracles.

Beyond the moment of this heron, there is also the election of a new pope. I am concerned. For, Pope Benedict XVI understands his faith very conservatively. Desiring to save Catholicism from what he sees as post-modern dangers of relativism, he may lead his Church toward a reversal of its progress in interfaith relationships. His intent to follow his predecessor, in continuing to limit the ministries of women, and the life and health-giving choices of some of those who love one another, is troubling. Still I confess that I also stand in hope, as do some liberal Roman Catholic scholars, who when interviewed, tell us that the new pope is a good listener, a spiritual and kind man, and that sometimes a leader is transformed by his experiences. Prayerfully I hope that this will be so.

Meanwhile, in this and every moment, we are called to join with one another and others in the work of miracles, affirming a spirit of and striving for the reality of inclusion, love, justice, and compassion for all peoples of the earth.

With love, in peace,

Nina