Upon hearing of this, I was reminded of how we would like to look away from the Cross too, but that we are called to do otherwise if we are followers of Christ. I can imagine that in those days, some who were crushed by Jesus' death and who could not yet make sense of the resurrection and who could not some their wailing, might have been given the same advice.
Another obsession of mine is the understanding that the early church did not have the same understanding that we have today. We all have much to learn, as do the generations that will follow us. Yes - follow us, another reason the spill matters.
One day I was looking at Facebook and someone, maybe Dan? Maybe it was one of Dan's friends? Anyway, someone remarked that the Pelican was an ancient symbol of Christ, jogging my memory of this same piece of information. This really got me going, as you might imagine.
So I started at last to write this post and the googling began. I came across this rather thoughtful piece, even though (prejudice alert- mea culpa) I saw where it was coming from and almost did not look. (more reason to look at that at which we do not want to look.) Oh wait, you need the link - here it is, it is called, The Cry of the Oil Soaked Pelican.
The reality is that we can all wail and rail against this, but that we must also all own up to our own culpability in it. That is just a sad reality and one that I think of every time I turn the ignition key in my car. A Prius would be nice, but not in my budget today. And the cars are just the tip of the iceberg; petroleum is our societal crack.
I don't want to sound all sanctimonious and of course I have. What can I say? I am as upset with myself as I am with the world. Being upset changes little, but it can propel us to action.
It is not just that we are all oil-addicts, it goes deeper. This touches on government and society, convenience and community, power and control. A deep and collective examination is called for, but that would entail staring at the Cross as well as staring at the pelicans and marshes. It would require staring into the eyes of the families who lost someone in the blast that set off the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
And all the blaming - BP, Halliburton, Barack Obama, the conservatives, the liberals, the good, the bad, the ugly. Enough. Our hands are all interlocked in this, one way or another.
Not unlike me finding my friend Dcap's video on Caminante's blog. We are all indeed connected. To those who do not know, Dcap is my real life friend; Caminante is a blog friend who has now been met more than once and is a very real life friend too. Dan, whom I referred to above, is from the same blogging circle in which I met Caminante. However, he has since met Dcap and Paul in person. Baya, referred to below, is from yet another circle. She and I have never met, but we know several very real people in common. I think you see my point about interconnection.
My friend Baya made a remark on Facebook yesterday, clearly someone had referred to this event as a natural disaster; I have heard the same. There is nothing natural about it - it is man-made, as she clearly stated, and should be viewed only through that lens. More staring at uncomfortable objects required.
That means staring at ourselves.
And who wants to do that? I don't know about you, but staring at the pelicans, the Cross and at myself, might make me feel ill baby, ill.
Check out Dcap's video if you will. What will we do?
Like the town leader cries in Romeo and Juliet "ALL are punished!"
ReplyDeleteBut I think a lot of folks would buy electric cars, or take trains, etc if they were available. What we each CAN do is pressure our reps to subsidize those things.
Sometimes I think of humans as cancer cells - really - what other organism kills it's own host?
Fran...this is sad, and I agree, wholly man made, wholly preventative, and yes, we must look at ourselves, and yes, that is the hardest thing to do. But when we can do that, when we cross over into the light, we are freed. It's just getting there that is difficult. This is part of our task while on the earth -- to move THROUGH the muck, not shirk it, but to face it, plod ahead in faith and trust, and do what's right. Thanks for being vigilant and not letting any of us off the hook. It is incredibly sad.
ReplyDeleteThis image and others like it literally make me nauseated with grief.
ReplyDeleteSo, so sad...and your friend, perhaps, should look at the pictures more often.
ReplyDeleteAbout twenty years ago, I had decided to quit smoking. That same night i saw something on TV from Sweden about the look of the lungs of people who smoke. The lungs were black as coal. I quit smoking then.
ReplyDeleteFor some time now I know I need to change my lifestyle. No plastic, no grains that take fertilizers or insecticides, no beef that eat grain that take fertilizers...
And I saw the pelican soaked in oil.
It's time I change.
Neat post, Fran. Thank you.
'...a prius would be nice..' you say. Well, we've finally got one, a second hand one that runs just fine. And now I realise the answer to our poisonous technology is not less poisonous technology, it is giving up oil altogether. Is there a saint for this?
ReplyDeleteUntil we get money out of election campaigns, our political class will sell us out to the biggest bidder. that's why we don't have first rate rail travel in this country. Or universal health care. Or those green jobs we've been promised. I try to do what I do--I live in a small apartment, don't have a car, rarely fly, replaced all my light bulbs with compact flourescents, etc. Yes, my electricity use went down, but until the government acts, we will have, at best, small incremental change at a time when we need big steps.
ReplyDelete