I'm away in France, but can't escape the news

I will rise above it today.

Apr 22, 2025

I’m visiting my older son and his family in Veyrier-du-Lac for the next few weeks. Come May, the tourists will swarm this little lakeside village in the foothills of the French Alps, but for now it’s still sleepy and the natives are enjoying the spring air.

Pollarded plane trees just beginning to leaf out

It’s not that warm, but she’s got her beach read

Usually I wear my hiking boots on the plane to save space in my carryon luggage, but this trip I left them home because my right hip is doing an ouchy thing that doesn’t want to hike. Even at 85 I’m a very brisk walker ,so the ouch is really cramping my style. For now I’m taking it easy in hopes it will subside enough that I can indulge in my favorite pastime—flâner: walking and gawking, especially in the cities and towns of Europe.

Flâner is a word so French it has no English equivalent. The verb describes a particular kind of wandering through a city on foot. The flâneur (flâneuse, f.) ambles along without a clear destination in mind, although with a clear purpose: to be both part of a place and outside it, observing it in a philosophical spirit. I am definitely a flâneuse.

Came upon a leisurely—very leisurely—game of pétanque a block from the beach. It’s usually a geezer game, as you can see, involving a lot of contemplation and discussion of whose ball got closest to the cochonnet (a little ball about the size of a pingpong ball).

We had a pétanque court at my son’s wedding back in 2011, and when young people play, the discussion can get very emotional. The cochonnet is that little green dot in front of the jeans guy’s left foot:

RIP Pope Francis. RIP Voice of Empathy.

I think if Jesus were to witness what passes for Christianity today (at least by Trump’s MAGA people) he would be shocked back into the grave. Pope Francis did his best to remind us we are better than this.

On treatment of refugees, immigrants, the poor, he said:

It's hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need. If I say I am Christian, but do these things, I'm a hypocrite. (Letter to the Bishops of the United States of America.)

On Gaza:

In the face of the cruelty of conflicts that involve defenseless civilians and attack schools, hospitals, and humanitarian workers, we cannot allow ourselves to forget that it is not targets that are struck, but persons, each possessed of a soul and human dignity.

And on the moral imperative to care for the environment,“A prayer for our earth” :

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

… from his powerful encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home

The late lamented Walt Kelly drew this famous Pogo image for the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970. He and Pogo would be distraught to see how little progress we’ve made in the fifty-five (!) years since. Or that some people don’t believe climate change is real and that humans (the fossil fuel industry) are sealing our own fate.

Power Like a Seed, by Rev. Sarah A. Speed (h/t to faithful reader R. Kleinfeld)

In a world that wants power like a machine gun,
power like a bomber plane,
power like a gated fence to keep the hungry out,
I want power like a seed --
power that will crack me open and grow something good;
power like an open door,
an invitation that says, "Come on in;"
power that feels like a strong spine with a soft heart.
I want the power to listen, to lean in, to ask follow-up questions.
But more than anything, I want the power to bring us together, to lift you up.
There are different kinds of power.
One will build a wall.
One will plant a garden.
We should know by now, only one will bear fruit.

If you appreciate Alive! with Joy, I’d be ever so happy if you’d share and/or restack it. And I’d love to hear what’s on your mind this week—joys, fears, actions, inspirations.