Pre-Post week 8--reflections on readings

Pre-Post week 8—respond to readings: (1) Steven Bouma-Prediger, Introduction and Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care. (2) Also, become familiar with Bouma-Prediger on his faculty website. (3) Ernest Callenbach, Ecology: A Pocket Guide, Values

Values was listed last, but it needs to be first in my discussion. Callenbach's simple definition is helpful: Values are basic ideas that guide us in how we should behave. And he explains, "The environmental movement is fundamentally based not on economic or scientific arguments but on moral and aesthetic values about what is right, fitting, beautiful, or satisfying."  Problems emerge when folks don't know how to talk respectfully together about their different values. In fact, if they were able to listen and talk about these earth issues (or any devisive issues), they might discover that they aren't as far apart as they originally imagine. And speaking of imagining, views can be adjusted when folks see concrete consequences of their choices. 

I loved Callenbach's description of what embodied (incarnated) earth friendly values look like: folks invest in actitivies with meaning (money isn't the priority; folks consistantly practice the 3R's--recycle, reuse, reduce; folks eat healthy foods ( I loved this one--paying attention to taste and quality and sharing the joys of preparing them slowly and carefully!) New concepts were Slow Food Movement and Slow Life Movement--emphasizing local and simple--how wonderful:-) 

Three chapters were a lot to read and the material was dense.  I couldn't rush through it, and because I like to grow, I didn't rush. What follows are really my notes--lots of great quotes and some reflections.

In the introduction Bouna-Prediger plainly states his goal: “I mean in these pages not to inform but to persuade. My central claim is simple: authentic Christian faith includes care for the earth. Earthkeeping is integral to Christian discipleship.” He clarified his terms. The book isn’t about environment, nature, or even creation. He says, “This book is about the earth—the earth God created and continues to lovingly sustain and redeem…”

In chapter two he asks, “What’s wrong with the world?” The answer is a lot is wrong. This was painful reading because so much is obviously out of balance.

There are too many people and too many are hungry—1 in 8;

species extinction—we are losing 1 every 8 hours;

deforestation is rapidly increasing;

water—50% of the world doesn’t have adequate water—limited supply & poor quality;

land degradation—3 billion tons of top soil lost in U.S. each year due to wind and water erosion, other land problems desertification, sprawl;

waste—convoy of U.S. trucks would wrap around the planet 3.8 times;

energy—the U.S. uses 25% of world’s commercial energy because of our addiction to fossil fuels;

air—poor air quality related to over consumption of fossil fuels—increased acid rain and smog—hurting our lungs and killing our trees and fish

Climate—global warming is real, the question is how much and how fast

Bouma-Prediger informs me and almost overwhelms me with his persuasive barrage of painful realities, which I as a human, specifically a privileged American, helped cause.

In chapter three “Is Christianity to blame?” he begins by calling us to repentance by quoting James Nash, “Christianity has done too little to discourage and too much to encourage the exploitation of nature.” Then he repeats his premise—our faith calls for us to care for the earth. He spends considerable time deconstructing the all too easily accepted arguments that say Christianity is the problem. Perhaps the most often cited argument-- because the world will ultimately be destroyed, we shouldn’t feel bad about exploiting it. Using different translations he concludes the familiar text in 2 Peter 3 really means “that after a refiner’s fire of purification (v.7), the new earth will be found, not burned up.” And more to the point the rapture isn’t about leaving earth in escape mode, rather it is as N.T. Wright puts it, “…having gone out to meet their returning Lord, they (the saved believers) will escort him royally into his domain, that is, back to the place they have come from.”

Then he shifts--okay if foundationaly Christianity, i.e., correct biblical understanding, can't be "blamed" explicitly, then how has Christianity "contributed" to our present ecological problems. He starts by asserting, “…we Christians need to be (again) reminded that we have not always been good keepers of the earth. We need to begin (and end) with confession and repentance…Many of our beliefs, habits, and practices have in fact not served the earth but rather despoiled it (p71).”

REAL PROBLEMS—

Materialism—both economic and scientific. Success=material possession and economic productivity.

Denial of creation—

(1) we no longer consider a living relationship with God essential because we have science and technology

(2) “Urban societies have undercut the ultimate knowledge of and sympathy for the earth…”—the earth is seen as a resource. We have lost our sense that we are connected to the gifts of the earth.

*(3) Particular technologies and mind-set have changed our attitudes and practices—experience the world through a technological grid or filter. Here I am thinking about the death of Steve Jobs—he is being extolled as a great man who gave us great gifts—all of which are technological. I have read over and over again how he lacked patience and was unkind to real people who didn’t agree with him.

(4) scorned, forgotten, or denies the interdependencies that are necessary for the flourishing of life

(5) growing irrelevance of God—we say God exists, but we don’t act like it. We accept the goals of our culture—The American Dream—house, cars, clothes, gadgets—without needing God. (except maybe as the genie in the bottle to grant the wishes).

The Church

(1) The church is captive to modern Western culture, which says God exists but isn’t intimately connected in any “meaningful way to the created order.”

(2) The church has accepted the “assumptions that humanity is at the center of purpose and meaning in the universe.”

(3) The church has bought into the Western culture view that makes technology a god. Technology has given us much good stuff, like this computer I’m typing on, but it isn’t always good—marketing new versions of new products with limited compatibility with things I’ve already got—like a Blu-ray for my DVDs. The question is what kind of technology, how much, for whom, and at what cost? Do we really need to endanger our fragile seas with more drilling?

(4) The church has forgotten creation. We tend to think of saving souls not creatures. Spirituality fits in certain spheres—accepted church activities. “…we tend to deny the full power of God’s grace.”

Maybe we could ask the same set of questions as in # 3—what kind of Christian faith do we need for the earth, how much, for whom, and at what cost? Umm..interesting rethinking

(5) The arrogant, inattentive and condescending attitudes toward other non-western Christian perspectives--What is needed is humility, which is where repentance fits once again.

Chapter four “What is the connection between scripture and ecology?”

--biblical wisdom and ecological vision

I liked reading the huge chunks of scriptures he used. I read them all out loud, and I think this helped me listen more deeply.

He uses focusing questions--

Where are we?

1) God is the Creator of all things.

2) God shares his power. Creation has the genuine ability to respond. We live in a responsive world.

3) Creation is cosmos. …the universe is a place of order and structure, purposefully and lovingly designed by God.

4) Creation is good. Peace is implied when the scripture says it is very good.

5) The earth is the home for all earthly creatures

6) The climax of creation is the Sabbath.—the celebration of a day of rest was the announcement of trust in God. It shows that life does not depend upon our feverish activity of self-securing…

...a pause in which life is given to us simply as a gift.

With whom does God make a covenant?--with the earth and all its creatures. An everlasting covenant. An unconditional covenant.

Very creative—first endangered species act—initiated by God and obediently carried out by Noah.

My favorite part was his reflection on Job.

Who is at the center of things?

1) Humans are not at the center. McKibben quote: “The first meaning, I think, of God’s speech to Job is that we are a part of the whole order of creation—simply a part.”

2) “man, who is only one of God’s creatures, is not the measure of all things and the sole test of the worth of creation.”

3) “Discerning identity and vocation have to do with shaping and remaking our moral imagination. This text asks of us, as of Job, extended and disciplined attentiveness. Before he is commanded to act, Job is asked to contemplate. Look, behold, appreciate—especially that which is wild, repugnant, dangerous. Conduct flows from character, doing from being, actions from basic attitudes. Cultivate these virtues—attentiveness, gratitude, humility—precisely the kind of habitual dispositions required of those called by God to care for the earth. (p. 97)

4) Moral order…an ethic of ecological hospitality and responsibility

5) …not only is the human decentered and properly among God’s creatures, but something of the character of the created world is revealed. The natural world displays order and patterned regularity. i.e., there is a moral order

6) Connect knowledge of the created order with the isolation and pain of suffering.

Quoting from Embers and Stars, Erazin Kohak writes, “God is not avoiding the issue. He is teaching Job the wisdom of bearing the pain that can neither be avoided nor abolished but can be shared when there is a whole living creation to absorb it." I’m reminded of Belden Lane’s camping trip. And of course, I’m reminded of so much of Mary Oliver’s experience of working through her grief in the poetry of Thirst. I also remember how Jean Vanier, the founder of l'Arche--a welcoming community for the developmentally impaired, took long morning walks before he began his caretaking duties.

Outside reading--

I just reread a chapter in Light through Darkness by John Chryssavagis. The chapter title shares an important focus of our class--"The Book of Nature: Theology, Ecology and Spirituality." Chryssavagis, who is the theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues, writes from the Greek Orthodox perspective. He begins by discussing values. "Whenever we speak (whether about things in heaven or on earth), we are always drawing upon established values of ourselves and of our world. The technical language that we adopt, and even the particular 'species' that we wish to preserve, all depend on the values and the images that we promote, or rather presume. He, of course, emphasizes icons, or sacred images, as way to re-see things. "The icon reminds us of another way and reflects another world. It restores; it reconciles." He then explains, the "world is an icon, a door, a window, a point of entry, opening up to a new reality….And if the earth is an icon, if this world is an image that reflects the presence of God, then nothing whatsoever can be neutral, nothing at all lacks sacredness…The Christian is simply the one who discerns and encounters Christ everywhere."

He uses monologues by Father Zossima in Brother's K to illustrate our connectedness to the earth, our struggle for forgiveness for doing damage, and our need to embrace compassion by relating it to the cosmos. These speeches are amazingly beautiful and full of truth. Chryssavagis continues by saying, "This world is the most inconspicuous and silent sermon declaring the word of God…it is also the clearest, most visible and most tangible sermon declaring God's presence." And he adds, "Humanity, is less than humanity without the rest of creation. And Heaven is less than heaven without this world." After laying this foundation, he shifts "…this world does not always feel or even look like some sort of completion of heaven." Damage has been done, but there is a way out. He quotes St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians, "…God was pleased to reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross." Our cross needs to include self-denial,--we need to stop being so self-centered. I like how he pointed out that " a spirit of asceticism can lead to a spirit of gratitude and love, to the rediscovery of wonder and beauty in our relationship with the world…Discipline of the heart and the body is a way of relating to and reconciling with the world. His light touch drew me into accepting his premise—"The ascetic is the person who is free, uncontrolled by attitudes that abuse the world; uncompelled by ways that use the world; characterized by self-control, by self-restraint and the ability to say 'no' or 'enough'. Amen!

He suggests fasting as practice of self-denial, as an alternative to over consumption. Fasting would correct our wasting. Fasting would help us let go instead of strive to control. Also, fasting would give us more to share and promote healing of the scars we have left on our world. Chryssavagis concludes, "To fast, then, it to love; it is to see more clearly, to restore ...the original beauty of the world."

He says it is crucial that we "remember and confess--as individuals and as institutions--where we have come, where we are and where we are headed...The sacrament of confession is the process and privilege of recognising what we do and of reflecting on why we do it...It is assuming responsibility for our attitudes and actions, as well as for our inaction and perhaps indifference to action"...and this needs to "encompass the effects of our actions on the natural environment."

Confession leads to the imperative of connection/communion. We are all united by sharing the earth. We are interconnected in intregal and deep ways--breathing air, drinking water, walking on the land, although he stresses how we don't do these things equally or fairly. His suggested "correction may in fact begin with environmental inaction...in the discipline of silence, of vigilance and of detachment." But he doesn't stop here. He expands and adds a third imperative, "that of remembering compassion." His point--"The fact that someone 'has not' changes the character of my 'having'; it undercuts my security and drives me to share." Because our earth is damaged, I can demonstrate my care for it by using less, wanting less, and even needing less.

Three incarnate approaches for practical ministry of earth care--

1) Bibical Model--The church must stand with the weakest part of creation, the most vulnerable of creations, the helpless or voiceless--the groaning creation.

2) Ascetic Model--3 Rs Renunciation--learning to share; Repentance--confess that we do not share, that we are self-centered, that we abuse the goods of the earth; Responsibility--direct our lives in a manner that is at once reverent towards creation and Creator.

Note: Ascetic model is not a better way of action, but in reality a way of inaction, of silence and of vigilance.--

My note: This certainly seems too safe and easy, not costing much. Plus it allows others to continue damaging the earth unchallenged. But if I accept that this is one part of a whole response, then it seems incrediblly valuable. It is not an either or choice. All are called to pray, and some are called to challenge--in speaking, in writing, in protesting, in serving and even in making art. It seems that the most balanced and effective challenges would emerge from this thoughtful, spiritual "inaction, of silence and of vigilance."

3) Sacramental Model--not just ritual observances but ways of active engagement reconnecting us to God and the natural world, by drawing on its elements--water, bread, wine, oil, fire, light and darkness--room for creative reimagining.