I've been very thoughtful this Lent about our spiritual role in caring for the earth. It's seems Christianity is mixed in its relationship with the environment.
On the one hand, there is a deep history of living humbly with few possessions and making best use of each thing.
On the other, a culture of "the earth is ours to subdue" as it says in Genesis.
Live in harmony.
This earth is not our home.
I was listening to an audiobook written by a native American botanist who was comparing the Christian creation story with the native one she grew up with. Hers told of a woman who planted a garden. Ours told of a woman banished from one.
I wanted to defend our story. We are co- creators with God. We are to continue the work of creation. That's how I've always understood it. But maybe we don't emphasize that part in our retelling.
The challenge of our age is finding ways for humanity to return to a more harmonious relationship with nature. In some ways, I feel like finding our way back to nature will help us find our way back to God.
At heart, I believe God to be relational in nature. To be love loving love. Father, Son, spirit. God intertwined with God. God created us in their image... fully relational, interdependent on each other and on creation. Modern life has pushed us away from creation away from God, away from interdependence and towards independence and self-reliance. We must find our way back. We must open ourselves to both a vulnerable state of needing each other and the selflessness that comes from a common duty.
In this Lent, finding small ways to waste less has been a trade for life giving practices. There have been small mutually beneficial changes in my life for me and for the earth. Obviously, not putting any dents in the grand scale needs of the earth. But, rather, first steps in trying to imagine how God had intended us to live in this amazing, beautiful world. The garden, perfectly designed to provide for our every need. If I lived there, how would I relate to all the life therein?
Cradling baby chickens is just the first glimpse. Gardens where those chickens forage to keep the vegetables free from bugs.
My little piece of earth is small, in the middle of suburbia, but that is an OK place to start wondering. What is my relationship with this little piece of land? With all the life that lives here? How do I use resources?
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