Heroes Not Zombies

The poet, Mary Oliver, wrote “Real attention needs empathy; attention without feeling is just a report.”

When I walked into this church in Palermo, I quickly experienced one of those moments of awe. Churches can leave me cold, and some, with their images of saints being tortured to death cruelly, I find quite off-putting. Maybe that’s just me, or maybe it’s because I brought up in the Church of Scotland, which stripped its churches pretty bare of most art.

However, the thing that really caught my attention in this particular church was that shaft of light, pouring down through the upper window, a bright sunbeam illuminating some of the space inside the church, before finally resting on some of the pews. Of course, my attention didn’t stay long on the pews, because the shaft of light pulled my gaze upwards towards the ceiling. What a ceiling, covered with art.

I was stirred by this sight, and moved, feeling a sense of being connected to something greater than me, but also feeling a sense of connection to the thousands of others who must have spent time in this church, gazing, praying, listening to sermons, singing hymns, deepening their sense of connection with each other, and with God.

So, for me, my attention, this time, was grabbed by the sunbeam, then, over the next few seconds, that light set fire to my sense of awe, and to deep feelings of empathy…..for fellow human beings, for the other creatures, as dependent as me for the sunlight in order to live, and for this entire, beautiful, astonishing little planet.

I pray we learn to treat her better, this Mother Earth. I pray we learn to treat our fellow, incredibly different species of Life, with whom we share this planet. I pray we learn to treat each other with more kindness, compassion and love.