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Professor mixes flowers, bees and moral theology |
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By Dave Hrbacek
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Thursday, 29 July 2010 |
Chris Thompson has what could be the ideal classroom in which to teach his favorite subject: moral theology.
 The Outdoors
Dave Hrbacek
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No, it is not one of the classrooms at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, where he serves as academic dean. Nor is it the beautiful chapel that greets those who walk through the seminary’s front door.
Rather, it’s a small, 20-acre piece of land teeming with life in rural
Wisconsin. He bought it about 10 years ago with his wife, Mary, and it
has transformed his life and the way he teaches in ways he never
predicted.
“For years, I was always looking to have a little place where I could
get away,” said Thompson, 50, a parishioner at Nativity of Our Lord in
St. Paul. “I just needed to get out and be quiet. I’ve always had a
desire for a more contemplative life.”
Something in him yearned for a greater connection to the natural world.
As he deepened that connection by purchasing the land and replacing the
corn with native prairie grasses, wildflowers and four beehives, he
began to realize that nature sits at the heart of the Catholic faith.
“There is an order in creation that our reason can grasp and, in so
grasping, it can argue for the existence of God,” he said. “It is not
irrelevant to Catholicism to believe in the fundamental intelligibility
of the natural order. It is one of the pillars upon which our faith is
built. It’s central to our faith.”
Simple yet significant
I got a chance to chew on this concept as we made our way along back
roads that took us through Glenwood City and on to his small slice of
paradise. If what he is saying is true, I know more about moral theology
than I thought. I have spent a lifetime enjoying the outdoors, and I am
continuing that pursuit with more passion than ever.
So, every time I field dress a whitetail, every time I unhook a
largemouth bass, every time I pause to admire a beautiful cluster of
wildflowers, I am deepening my faith.
That’s the simple message Thompson preached to me on a warm, sunny day
as we hiked through the thickest growth of wildflowers and grasses on
his property and headed to a pair of beehives on the far edge.
Chris wanted to give me a closeup view of what goes on in a beehive.
Donning a white bee suit, he beckoned me to come close enough to take
some pictures.
Mary Thompson was kind enough to give me a sample of her family’s harvested honey before we left. It was delicious.
Chris Thompson, academic dean at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, pauses on the way to his bee hives in Wisconsin to admire the native flowers he has planted and grown. It is here that he has learned important lessons in moral theology, a subject he has taught for almost 20 years. Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
Buzz of 80,000 bees
Today, the Thompsons have the luxury of being able to eat honey to their
hearts’ content without ever having to visit a grocery store.
“I can get 80 pounds of honey per hive,” Chris said. “The hard part is hauling [it from the hives back to the truck].”
On this day, I would not be able to watch him harvest any honey. That
happens in the spring and fall. Right now, we are between flows.
But I was not disappointed. I was happy to be able to conquer my fears
and stand for several minutes near the home of about 80,000 bees.
The good news is they seemed to remain calm while Chris pulled off
several compartments and removed a couple of panels for me to observe
and photograph. Their mood was kept peaceful by the generous blanket of
smoke Chris poured over them.
A ‘living palette’
As fascinating as beekeeping can be, Chris’ real excitement comes from the native grasses and wildflowers he has planted.
After buying the land, he quickly went to work replacing row crops with
native growth. Unlike corn, the native prairie comes to fruition in
mid-summer. We witnessed a rectangle of land bursting with colors.
Green, purple and yellow formed a vibrant carpet of color.
“It’s like a living palette,” Thompson said. “It’s like a work of art
that’s alive. Every time I come out here, I’m fascinated by the changes.
One of the things you learn is nature is always in motion.”
Dave Hrbacek is a staff photographer at The Catholic Spirit. Visit his Faith Outdoors blog.
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