In the second week of his Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius of Loyola suggests that we pray for an intimate and interior knowledge of Jesus Christ. That knowledge is gained by a contemplative entry into the mystery of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Ignatius knew that there are an infinite number of ways for us to know the divine. Thus, he reminds us that we can find God in all things. Not just the experiences that we want to find God in, but everything. One writer has described Ignatian contemplation as a "long, loving look at the real."
The path through which many people find a sense of the divine is through nature. Fr. John McCarthy, a Canadian Jesuit, offers a series of reflections on the way he has come to an intimate knowledge of the divine in Do Monkeys Go To Heaven? (just published by Novalis – 2014). Full disclosure: McCarthy and I are both natives of St. John's, Newfoundland, and live in the same Jesuit community. Of course I’m going to recommend the book!
McCarthy has spent years pondering and taking a long and contemplative look at the relationship between nature and belief, between faith and science in his many years of field research, studies, reading, prayer, and play. His experience is that through creation we can perceive the presence of the divine. He weaves insight and experience as he demonstrates how nature can be a path to God.
One of McCarthy’s reflections is about the lowly dandelion, one of the most common plants in the world. Is it a weed, or as McCarthy asks, “an evolutionary success story?" McCarthy, in line with the methodology of Ignatius, is not focusing on the dandelion. Rather, his interest is summed up in the title he gives this particular reflection: "love for those common things." Ignatius knew that we could come to an intimacy with God through everything and everyone and everywhere we encounter, whether it evokes a pleasant feeling or a challenge to our way of perceiving reality, whether it is common or extraordinary.
McCarthy has sixty reflective pieces, divided into the months of the year. With each one, he is inviting us to stop and take a long, loving look. In that reflective look, we discover something about God and something about our own experience.
Do Monkeys Go To Heaven? had its origin as a weekly reflection for the Catholic chaplaincy bulletin at St. Mark's College at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. These reflections offer a superb commentary on the relationship between faith and science. They are accessible, readable and humorous. But, don't be fooled by their seeming simplicity. They are not the reflections of a casual observer. Fr. McCarthy is a scholar who continues to publish research in publications that most of us will never hear of, let alone read. He has a doctorate in boreal forest ecology and is quite respected by his colleagues in his area of research.
One of his activities in his visits to almost anywhere is the search for new species of lichens. This activity is not comparable to the random picking up of shells that we might engage in on the beach. He explains the connection to the divine: "In the Creed, we profess faith in Jesus Christ – through whom all things were made – all things, even lichens." This is a passion, a vocation within his vocation as a Jesuit priest.
In the introduction to his book, McCarthy explains that, "At an early age I was seduced by nature: tempted by rock, wind and water, invited by barrens, bogs and forests, infatuated by the wild, open country of my native Newfoundland. Mesmerized, obsessed, blinded, I fell for nature. The affair continues." He goes on to say, "Nature excites my imagination. It stirs my spirit. I gravitate towards nature. I need it. Without it, I diminish. My heart, at home in nature, is stilled, focused as it is on the beauty, the plain and simple "being-ness" of natural diversity."
Fr. McCarthy shares with his readers that obsession and seduction. It's evident that he has been a keen observer of common and uncommon things all his life: forests, Winnie-the-Pooh, monkeys and their salvation, popular movies like Avatar, the Irish band U2, silence, dandelion, fog, chlorophyll, lichens, salmon, and so on. Even testes come under scrutiny! He draws on his experience of Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia, and places throughout North America and the world. The reflective pieces serve as an encouragement for all of us to have our eyes and ears opened to all that we can learn from our surroundings.
McCarthy expresses his hope for the reader: "If, in reading my stories, you come to witness and embrace the wonder and mystery of your days, I will be blessed, and will not have recounted mine in vain." As far as I know, Ignatius never explicitly stated his hope for those who used his Spiritual Exercises, but the reality of what happens is expressed well by McCarthy. Retreatants can’t help but discover the divine through their own life experience. This book can be used for personal reflection or reflection with a group.