A COOL BEAR

Cool Bear dreaming of Cool Beer.

Many of you reading this blog would give anything for a hot drink. Just the opposite for me in the Caribbean. What wouldn't I give for a cool beer or a cool anything -at any time of the year, night or day! I believe I could work out a blog about reaching God -myway..perhaps..godsway..through a COOL BEER.

Instead, I shall attempt to reach God..through a COOL BEAR

This is thanks to my brother, Isidore, who sent me a picture by email. It filled me with envy. Here was a polar bear relaxing with all feet in the air. You might think this was his way of conveying to me how he thought I spent my time. No such luck!

This much-blessed bear is lying on the Arctic ice, looking cool, cool, cool! The caption he sent to me read, "Keep cool, brother!" My riposte was, "Give him a beer...you can do it." No sooner said than done. Bear dreaming of a glass of beer hovering over its head. A perfect image of a well-appointed heaven -cool beer in a cool bed. I'm dreaming impossible (?) dreams.

The sad thing is that, little though the bear knows it, global warming is causing its Arctic Ice Bed to melt beneath it at an alarming rate. Its natural habitat is being dissolved even while it takes a cool sleep. Surely this is a metaphor of what is happening to the world in which we live -the world that we are to hand down to succeeding generations.

I can think of rivers in which I used to enjoy bathing. Not again! Now, on coming out of the water, my skin would be itching because of all the insecticides, fertilizers and detergents that have found their way into the clear, pure water. You will have your own tales to tell. This is a crying shame. I really mean it. God, the Creator, must feel like weeping at what we are doing to the world He made for us and found to be so good.

When God put man in the Garden of Eden it wasn't so that he should demolish it. It was so that he should cherish it, develop it and protect it. There's no denying man's marvelous achievements through ever-evolving skills and technology...from Cave Man to High-Rise Man. But at what a price! How far has man fallen short of the expectations God had when "He took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it," (Gen. 2. 15).

Remember how Jesus was able to find explanations and excuses for the men who were nailing him to the cross? "Father forgive them: for they do not know what they are doing," (Lk. 23. 34). Well, there was a time when we had no awareness of environmental issues. Now we know all too well what is happening to our world and why. We know, but we don't care sufficiently to do anything about it. We can't plead ignorance.

My friend the bear, is telling me from his cool repose that our Christianity, our humanity, should make us more responsible, more protective of our environment...for God's sake, for our sake and for bear's sake. If I take this to heart then I can claim I know how to

Reach God...My Way...Through a COOL BEER.

Sorry! I mean a COOL BEAR!

Peter O.P.

Next week Isidore will meet God through "Restoring Settings."