Greenblade - creation - faith - justice

Greenblading

— by Susan Dixon

What If?

What if we were look to the Bible for answers but hear with new ears?

We are in trouble now. The road we are on, the one where we are using up the resources of the earth at an unsustainable rate, is a dead end. At things are going we cannot assure the next generation, let alone the seventh, that they may even be able to live on the earth we leave to them, let alone thrive.

So we cast about for solutions. With all the perversity of the human, we seek those solutions in the very things that have brought us to this point: we have mined the earth, so we must mine more, we have dominated the earth, so we must redouble our domination. (You know the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different result.)

There is a lot of theological backing for this view involving that word “dominion” in Genesis and the belief that this world will pass away, almost certainly violently, to make way for the new and redeemed world. I am not prepared to argue about this theology. Argument itself plays into a spirituality of violence. I am, however, prepared to say it is wrong. It is wrong because it leads to death and death is not what Jesus promised. He said it would be tough and that there would be sacrifices but he said, “I come that you may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

A theology of death plays environmental chicken, with the destruction we are bringing about in an end game with the return of a vengeful Jesus. A theology of life sees Jesus as integral with allof creation, not simply the human and not simply for the purposes of individual redemption. Franciscan priest Fr. Richard Rohr says,

The book of Acts says God has raised up Jesus and anointed him as the Christ. Our new awareness of the cosmos’ vastness and unimaginably ancient history is forcing us to rehear those scripture texts. It’s exciting good news. The Jesus we now have, the Jesus we participate in,  are graced by,  are redeemed by, is the risen Christ,  the eternal Christ. The word “Christ” means “the anointed one,” and that anointment by God includes us and all of creation.
 

In this article Rohr explores the implications of the Incarnation. He suggests that the material and the spiritual coexist and not just in Jesus. They coexist, and this means that all of creation is sacred. He says, “We bring the plants and animals and all of nature in with us. They are windows into the endless creativity, fruitfulness and joy of God. We assert that we believe in the sweep of history, humanity and all of creation that Christ includes.

That is, indeed exciting good news. I think it goes farther: we bring the plants and animals and all of nature in with us, but by the same token, we aren’t going anywhere without them. If we fail the plants and animals, the penguins and the plankton, we have failed in the first responsibility God gave to us – to care for creation. If the plants and animals, the penguins and the plankton die, that is our indictment. They will live – and so will we – if we can learn that they are a part of us.

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