Sunday, October 4, 2026
Spirituality for the Streets • Wisdom for the Journey • A Fuller Life for Everyone
Motto: Eternal Progression • A Fuller Life for Everyone • Live and Help Live
SCRIPTURE FOR THE DAY
“Ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you.”
— Job 12:7
The Bible occasionally suggests something religion easily forgets:
Humans are not creation’s only teachers.
Sometimes theology should close its mouth long enough to hear the sparrow.
FROM THE PILGRIM’S DESK
The City Is Wilder Than You Think
Today is World Animal Day, traditionally associated with the feast of Francis of Assisi.
That makes October 4 practically tailor-made for a Franciscan Urban Pilgrim.
We often imagine “nature” as somewhere we must travel to find.
Mountains.
Forests.
National parks.
But look around the city.
Pigeons negotiate sidewalks.
Squirrels conduct unauthorized parkour.
Moss occupies brick walls without paying rent.
Trees crack pavement.
Falcons nest on skyscrapers.
Nature never actually left.
Perhaps pilgrimage begins when we stop walking through the city as though humans are its only inhabitants.
TODAY’S SERMON
ASK THE ANIMALS
Job 12:7–10
Job says:
“Ask the animals, and they will teach you.”
That’s a strange sentence in Scripture.
Humans normally imagine ourselves as teachers.
We name animals.
Study animals.
Manage animals.
Breed animals.
Fence animals.
Eat animals.
Protect animals.
Endanger animals.
Photograph animals.
And occasionally dress animals in sweaters they clearly did not request.
But Job reverses the relationship.
Ask them.
Let them teach.
The Book of Job is one of the Hebrew Bible’s great works of wisdom literature.
Its central character suffers catastrophic loss while his friends repeatedly attempt to explain why.
Their theology is remarkably confident.
Job suffers.
Therefore Job must have sinned.
The universe, they insist, is orderly.
Good behavior produces blessing.
Bad behavior produces suffering.
Everything makes sense.
Job refuses.
His experience does not fit their system.
That is one reason Job remains so powerful.
The book dismantles theological certainty.
Eventually even God speaks from the whirlwind—not by giving Job a neat explanation but by describing a creation vastly larger than Job’s human-centered perspective.
Wild animals appear repeatedly.
Mountain goats.
Wild donkeys.
Oxen.
Ostriches.
Horses.
Hawks.
Eagles.
Behemoth.
Leviathan.
Creation refuses to become a tidy human morality play.
The universe exceeds us.
Francis of Assisi would understand something about that.
Francis famously spoke of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind and Sister Water.
Later Franciscan tradition remembered his preaching to birds and his encounter with the wolf of Gubbio.
Whether every legend happened exactly as later storytellers described it matters less than the spiritual imagination those stories preserve.
Francis did not imagine himself standing above creation.
He imagined himself inside a family.
Brother.
Sister.
Kin.
That is radically different from imagining Earth primarily as property.
Ecological theology asks us to recover that relationship.
A forest isn’t merely timber waiting to happen.
A river isn’t simply water inventory.
A mountain isn’t simply mineral deposits covered with inconvenient scenery.
Animals aren’t simply units of production.
Creation has value beyond its usefulness to us.
This challenges an economic system organized around extraction.
My anarcho-communist perspective distrusts concentrated ownership and domination among humans.
Ecological reflection asks me to extend the critique further.
What happens when domination becomes humanity’s basic relationship with the Earth?
We privatize landscapes.
Extract resources.
Externalize pollution.
Then communities with the least economic and political power frequently receive the toxic consequences.
Environmental injustice is rarely distributed evenly.
Poor neighborhoods, Indigenous communities and marginalized populations often bear disproportionate environmental burdens.
Liberation theology therefore cannot stop with human liberation.
There is no liberation on a dead planet.
And queer ecology gives us another useful disruption.
Humans love tidy categories.
Male.
Female.
Normal.
Abnormal.
Domestic.
Wild.
Useful.
Pest.
Nature is considerably less interested in our categories.
Biological life contains diversity, adaptation, symbiosis, transition and forms of relationship far stranger than the neat boxes humans construct.
Creation itself can become a teacher against rigid certainty.
Job already understood this.
Ask the animals.
Feminist and ecofeminist theologians have also pointed out that the domination of women and domination of nature have often been supported by similar hierarchical logic.
Man over woman.
Human over animal.
Civilization over wilderness.
Mind over body.
Power over vulnerability.
The pyramid keeps reproducing itself.
Perhaps the spiritual problem isn’t merely who occupies the top.
Perhaps the problem is believing creation requires a top at all.
Francis offers fraternity instead.
Kinship.
Brother Sun.
Sister Water.
That doesn’t mean romanticizing nature.
Nature is beautiful.
Nature is also quite capable of mosquitoes.
A hurricane is not secretly gentle because we call Earth our mother.
Responsible ecological spirituality requires knowledge.
Weather awareness.
Water safety.
Wildlife boundaries.
Fire safety.
Leave No Trace.
Knowing when not to touch something.
The Urban Pilgrim respects creation partly by learning how to move through it responsibly.
That is where outdoor skill becomes spiritual practice.
Learn the birds.
Learn the trees.
Learn clouds.
Learn your watershed.
Know which direction the river flows.
Understand the weather.
Learn what plants should never be eaten.
Know when wildlife needs distance rather than affection.
Knowledge creates relationship.
Preparedness fits here too.
Healthy ecosystems are infrastructure.
Trees reduce heat.
Wetlands absorb floodwater.
Healthy soil holds water.
Biodiversity strengthens ecological resilience.
Preparedness cannot merely mean storing supplies while ignoring the living systems supporting those supplies.
Ecological care is long-term preparedness.
And where is God?
I do not imagine God as a cosmic landlord who created Earth, handed humans the deed and said:
“Try not to lose the security deposit.”
Caputo helps me imagine God differently.
God insists through creation.
The wounded ecosystem calls.
The disappearing species calls.
The polluted river calls.
The hungry neighbor calls.
The call does not force us.
Trees cannot vote against the bulldozer.
Rivers cannot hire attorneys.
Animals cannot attend zoning meetings.
This vulnerability creates responsibility.
God’s weakness appears as the claim creation makes upon us without coercion:
Care.
Job says:
Ask the animals.
So perhaps today we should.
Ask the pigeon how to live among strangers.
Ask the squirrel about preparedness.
That creature has been caching supplies since long before anybody invented the bug-out bag.
Ask the spider about engineering.
Ask the migrating bird about navigation.
Ask the tree about patience.
Ask the mushroom about networks.
Ask the river about persistence.
Then perhaps ask ourselves:
What might happen if humanity stopped behaving like creation’s owner and began behaving like creation’s neighbor?
Francis might answer:
We could finally become family again.
Amen.
THE WORLD OUTSIDE OUR DOOR
October’s Biodiversity Checkpoint
Reported facts: The United Nations has made Goal 15: Life on Land its October 2026 Sustainable Development Goal of the Month. Its current overview says more than 48,600 species face extinction, although it also reports progress: protection of key biodiversity areas has expanded, the net rate of forest loss has fallen substantially since the 1990s, and 155 countries had established national biodiversity targets by 2025.
Later this month, the UN Biodiversity Conference COP17 is scheduled for October 19–30 in Yerevan, Armenia, providing the first global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Urban Pilgrim reflection: Those numbers remind me that ecological stewardship cannot be reduced to enjoying pretty scenery.
Species disappear when habitats disappear.
Habitats disappear partly because decisions about land and resources are frequently shaped by extraction, profit and concentrated control.
From my Franciscan and anarcho-communist perspective, the alternative begins with kinship, shared stewardship and communities having meaningful participation in decisions affecting the land sustaining them.
The Earth is not merely inventory.
It is home.
SCHOLAR’S CORNER
Job’s Wild Theology
Job 38–41 contains one of Scripture’s longest celebrations of the nonhuman world.
Many of the animals described are wild creatures beyond human control.
That matters.
The divine speeches do not present creation merely as something constructed for human convenience.
Creation possesses a wildness exceeding human usefulness.
Biblical theology is sometimes much less anthropocentric than Christians assume.
QUESTION EVERYTHING
What If Nature Doesn’t Exist for Us?
Would a forest still matter if humans never harvested it?
Would a species matter if it offered us no medicine, food or economic benefit?
If our answer is yes, then we have already admitted something profound:
Value is larger than usefulness.
That insight might transform considerably more than environmental ethics.
CREATION IS OUR MONASTERY
Meet One Neighbor
Today identify one nonhuman species living near you.
A bird.
Tree.
Insect.
Plant.
Learn its name if you can.
Don’t collect it.
Don’t disturb it.
Simply notice.
The first step toward protecting a world is discovering that somebody else lives there.
QUEER WISDOM
Nature Refuses Respectability Politics
Nature is gloriously strange.
Bodies vary.
Relationships vary.
Behaviors vary.
Life adapts.
Human attempts to use “nature” as justification for rigid social norms often tell us considerably more about human prejudice than about biology.
Queer wisdom asks us to approach both people and ecosystems with curiosity before judgment.
Creation contains more possibilities than our categories.
ONE BIG IDEA
Kinship
Donna Haraway has challenged people to think creatively about making kin beyond conventional boundaries.
Francis did something spiritually similar centuries earlier when he called creatures brothers and sisters.
Kinship changes ethics.
You can exploit a “resource.”
It becomes harder when you begin seeing a relative.
The Urban Pilgrim question becomes:
Who belongs to my neighborhood besides humans?
SAINT, HERETIC & TROUBLEMAKER OF THE DAY
Francis of Assisi
Today belongs to Francis.
But let’s rescue him from the birdbath.
Francis was not simply the patron saint of adorable animals.
He abandoned social status.
Embraced voluntary poverty.
Lived among marginalized people.
Crossed religious boundaries.
Critiqued wealth through his life.
And imagined creation as kin rather than possession.
The ceramic statue holding a bird is pleasant.
The actual Francis was considerably more dangerous.
WORDS FOR THE ROAD
You cannot protect a world you have trained yourself not to notice.
PILGRIM JOURNAL PROMPT
Which parts of creation do I treat primarily according to their usefulness to me?
Then ask:
What would change if I approached them as neighbors instead?
HOLY FOOLERY
Francis: “Brother Sun! Sister Moon! Brother Wolf!”
Me: “Brother Mosquito?”
Francis:
“Spiritual growth sometimes requires advanced coursework.”
PRAYER FOR PEACE ACROSS ALL FAITHS
Sacred Mystery beyond every name,
bless this living Earth.
Bless humans and animals,
forests and rivers,
mountains and wetlands,
soil and seed.
Bless Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Pagans, Indigenous traditions, humanists, atheists and all who protect the living world.
Where greed destroys,
awaken restraint.
Where habitats disappear,
awaken restoration.
Where communities suffer environmental injustice,
awaken solidarity.
Teach us to walk gently among our relatives.
May peace extend beyond humanity.
Amen.
FRANCISCAN CLAREAN REFLECTION
Take Francis Out of the Birdbath
Celebrate Francis today.
But don’t merely admire him.
Practice something.
Carry less.
Share something.
Walk instead of drive when practical.
Feed someone.
Listen to someone excluded.
Learn the name of a bird.
Repair something instead of replacing it.
Pick up safe litter.
Franciscan spirituality becomes interesting when Francis climbs down from the statue and starts interfering with our lifestyle.
THE HERBAL MINUTE
Plantain — The Sidewalk Herbalist
Broadleaf and narrowleaf plantains (Plantago major and Plantago lanceolata) are common plants found in many disturbed areas and lawns.
They have long histories of traditional topical use, but identification matters because wild plants can be confused with other species, contaminated by pesticides, animal waste or roadside pollutants.
Never consume a wild plant based solely on a photograph or casual identification.
And don’t harvest from contaminated areas or places where collection is prohibited.
Today’s herbal principle:
Knowing where a plant grows is part of knowing the plant.
Urban herbalism requires ecological awareness, not merely identification.
URBAN PREPAREDNESS
Know Your Watershed
You know your street.
But do you know where rain goes after it leaves your street?
Learn the watershed where you live.
Identify the nearest river, creek or drainage system.
Notice low-lying areas on your usual routes.
During heavy rain, those ordinary places can become hazards.
Never walk or drive through floodwater when its depth or safety is uncertain.
Preparedness becomes easier when you understand the landscape before the weather becomes an emergency.
An Urban Pilgrim doesn’t merely carry gear.
She learns the city itself.
OUTDOOR PILGRIM SKILL
Wildlife Needs Space
Seeing an animal outdoors can be wonderful.
The responsible response is usually:
Observe from a distance.
Don’t feed wildlife.
Don’t approach young animals.
Don’t place yourself between an animal and its escape route.
Secure food and trash appropriately.
If an animal changes its behavior because of your presence, you may already be too close.
Local wildlife authorities can provide guidance for specific species or injured animals.
Franciscan love does not require hugging the raccoon.
Brother Raccoon has boundaries.
Respect them.
PILGRIM PRACTICE FOR TODAY
Take the Francis Walk
Take a short walk today.
For ten minutes, don’t wear headphones if it is safe for you to do so.
Notice five living things.
Name what you can.
Wonder about what you cannot.
Pick up one piece of safe litter if practical.
Then say quietly:
Brother.
Sister.
Kin.
You don’t have to believe the tree understands.
The practice is meant to change you.
CLOSING BLESSING
May Brother Sun warm you.
May Sister Water refresh you.
May Brother Wind remind you that control is mostly imaginary.
May Sister Earth teach you enough.
May Brother Squirrel demonstrate preparedness without convincing you to bury canned beans throughout the neighborhood.
May your backpack travel lightly upon the Earth.
May your outdoor skills deepen respect rather than domination.
May your preparedness protect both neighbors and place.
May Francis teach you kinship.
May Clare teach you simplicity.
May Job teach you humility before mysteries larger than human explanation.
And may the God who does not dominate creation from above but insists within its fragile relationships keep calling:
Notice.
Listen.
Protect.
Share.
Restore.
You were never standing above creation.
You were always standing inside it.
Eternal Progression • A Fuller Life for Everyone • Live and Help Live.
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