By Mitch Day ‘12

Detroit, Michigan was not on my list of summer vacation destinations, so I was less than thrilled at the prospect of spending a month of my school’s curriculum in a place that had become the butt of so many one-liners, like “Default City” or “Debt City.” So I was surprised when, in spite of its reputation and well-documented shortcomings, Detroit became a place where I would witness the power of the Pope’s environmental encyclical call to action. Allow me to explain:

I arrived to the Motor City having seen the photos and read a litany of depressing rhetoric:

• One in four have fled Detroit since 2000
• 40% of the city’s street lights don’t work
• 78,000 structures and 66,000 lots are abandoned

When August began, I did not anticipate being overwhelmed with the beauty of the desolate street squares, or stricken with awe from the empty skyscrapers now decrepit… And I wasn’t, at first.

My prayers prior to landing in Detroit had been inspired by Pope Francis’ recent challenge to “see and appreciate beauty in all things” and to “develop an openness to awe and wonder” for my surroundings. For me, this attentiveness was much easier along the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, but seemed quite unavailable in my new withering backdrop. Yet, like the stubborn contingent of Detroiters that chose to stay, I continued to pray and contemplate the pope’s message during these drives, even in the absence of much obvious aesthetic pleasure.

On one of these rides it occurred to me that this city and its deserted lots might be a poster child for Pope Francis’ most recent call to action—better than most, in fact. Many of the people who remain are committed to Detroit, despite its deindustrialization, its unemployment, and its poverty. The remaining contingent of Detroiters seem to have embraced or grown a newfound respect for simplicity, as the former luxuries of its golden age are gone.

In Laudato Si’, which is addressed to “every person living on the planet”, the pope emphasizes simplicity. Those who remain in Detroit are making strides to restore abandoned public spaces with a similar spirit. For example, in large-scale art projects, like the outdoor Heidelberg Project, artists continue to create meaning and beauty out of city blocks fallen victim to urban decay.

(Here is an image of public art in a yard near downtown Detroit—the artist created beauty out products from the auto industry’s ruin.) Other Detroit residents have turned to innovative agriculture by crafting urban farms and gardens out of the acres of vacant structures and leveled land.

The attitude portrayed by the Detroit community is contagious, if you’re looking for it. I found numerous illustrations of this new spirit of Detroit, from t-shirts quoting Gandhi’s call to “Be the change you want to see in Detroit” to the bumper stickers encouraging us to “Say nice things about Detroit.” Even the graffiti along the walls of the deserted buildings had hidden promise: “Detroit will rise again.”

The city’s approach towards renewal is something I want to emulate as the seasons change. With a deliberateness I learned in Detroit, I hope to lower my own threshold for wonder so that I might experience God’s beauty within the decaying areas and empty portions of my own life.