City Of God 30

What makes a city, a city? I was thinking the other day (no, really, I actually WAS thinking the other day!) about the kind of infrastructure that makes it possible for us to cope and live here in Vancouver. Even now I am trying to visualize the vast network of pipes and tubes and watermains under the ground and underneath the pavement. Those are things we don't ordinarily get to see. They are hidden from us. Unless you happen upon a city road crew at work digging everything up and catch a glimpse at all the equipment that runs throughout the hundreds of square miles (or kilometres, if you will). I mean, if you are flushing the toilet, or brushing your teeth, taking a shower, or washing the dishes or whatever, how likely is it that you are going to visualize just where the waste water and other stuff is going to go and how it's going to get there? We simply take for granted that it's all taken care of, and we don't even give a thought as we turn on the faucet or flush the toilet. It's as though we have accepted that we all live by magic, that this is our entitlement, and why shouldn't we all live like gods and princes? There is also the blessing of electricity. You turn on a lamp, or simply you open the door and the lights come on. Your fridge hums faithfully along, keeping the food cold and fresh. Your fob key magically opens the door of your apartment building. The alarm system is flawless, and needs only the magic code to disarm it. And let's not get on about computers or we will never stop writing this. No one really gives a lot of time to think, to visualize the massive networks, the thousands and thousands of miles of cables wires and fibre optics that run through our buildings and underground everywhere to make it possible for us to function: to turn on a switch to start the computer, to turn on the intravenous drip for the patient in hospital emergency. Now, try to imagine the hundreds and thousands of years of civilization, of technological and scientific discovery, of that huge socio-historical phenomenon in eighteenth century Europe, known as the Enlightenment, and all the labour, work, research and discovery of so many heroes, sung and unsung, to make it possible for you to make a smoothie in your blender, then turn on your dishwasher. To imagine life in cities, before the advancements and discoveries that we accept now as entitlement: no sewers, since human waste was simply tossed out the window onto the street below. Can you imagine the absolute horrid stench of cities in that time? In the warmest weeks of summer? No electricity meant, well, no power. Homes, if heated at all, were heated by wood or peat burning fireplaces and that is when we first encountered air pollution. Candles and torches lit interior and exterior spaces at night, and people usually went to bed early. Those who weren't illiterate read books, which were more precious and more costly, being harder to manufacture and come by, even after the inventions of Gutenberg of movable type printing. People travelled on foot, or horseback or carriage. Old age as we know it, was a fairly rare phenomenon, since not many people made it past fifty. There is a relationship between spirituality and gratitude. I think that even some atheists will admit to this, though they are still not likely to acknowledge the existence of the God of All Existence. But it is a beginning. Here is a suggestion: the next time you are going to the toilet, especially if you have to sit there for a while, put down your smartphone and give a thought or two to the many people throughout history and at this present time whose thought, discoveries, hard work and labour have made it possible for you to take your privileged dump, and to not have to worry further about the results with just a press of a handle. Try to visualize where all that crap and toilet paper is going, of how carefully and thoughtfully the pipes and ducts and valves have been manufactured and are being maintained, so that one unpleasant and daily bodily function can become downright tolerable, quick and trouble-free. While you are turning on your computer, try to imagine all the technology, work, research, study and discovery that has made it possible for you to connect with Uncle Google, that motherlode of all knowledge and information and world history. The next time you are on Facebook, try to imagine and think of those people who make it possible for you to connect equally to people you care about, and really care very little about. The next time you are on Skype, try to remember that not very long ago we could only talk to people in other countries by long-distance telephone and that could be a costly process. Now, free of charge, you just turn it on, and Bob's your uncle as you are chatting with someone on screen, almost as though you are sitting in their living room, even if you are in Canada and they are in Colombia. Give some thought to those people, to those complex technological processes that allow us all to live like princes and gods. Once you feel the gratitude welling up in your heart, you will have the very beginnings of contact with the Divine and so you will find yourself entering the portal to the City of God.