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Good Friday environmental meditations
Apr. 6th, 2007 08:02 pmI'm stuck at home this Good Friday with a cold, and as I was perusing the news I saw this, an article on the findings of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (free account required).
The report basically says that global climate change is happening, and it's happening fast. Worse, it will affect the poor much more drastically than anyone else.
Several things struck me: 1. If we Christians believe that the Earth is God's creation, then do we not have a mandate to care for it as such? 2. Even if you don't believe we have a responsibility to the Earth and all its non-human creatures, we are commanded to "love our neighbors as ourselves." As a wonderful student of mine said once, "Loving your neighbors means wishing life and goodness for them. It means seeking their wholeness." If that's true, then we must care for the Earth in order to love our neighbors. 3. Dorothy Day said something like, "The Church is the cross on which Christ is crucified" (quoting someone else). We, the Church worldwide, are those who continually cause pain to the Son of God. I believe we can see this clearly in the way Christian attitudes have led to the rape of the Earth.
All this considered, Easter weekend struck me as a good time to meditate on what we do to the Earth, and on what we can do to slow or even reverse global climate change, for ourselves and others. There are so many good things I want to fight for, and I do try to fight for them. I give most of my attention to environmental concerns, however, because we must protect a world that is capable of sustaining life so that humanity can continue to work out its collective salvation with fear and trembling.
On this dark Good Friday evening, the most beautiful and astonishing resurrection I can hope for is that of our Earth.
(x-posted)
The report basically says that global climate change is happening, and it's happening fast. Worse, it will affect the poor much more drastically than anyone else.
Several things struck me: 1. If we Christians believe that the Earth is God's creation, then do we not have a mandate to care for it as such? 2. Even if you don't believe we have a responsibility to the Earth and all its non-human creatures, we are commanded to "love our neighbors as ourselves." As a wonderful student of mine said once, "Loving your neighbors means wishing life and goodness for them. It means seeking their wholeness." If that's true, then we must care for the Earth in order to love our neighbors. 3. Dorothy Day said something like, "The Church is the cross on which Christ is crucified" (quoting someone else). We, the Church worldwide, are those who continually cause pain to the Son of God. I believe we can see this clearly in the way Christian attitudes have led to the rape of the Earth.
All this considered, Easter weekend struck me as a good time to meditate on what we do to the Earth, and on what we can do to slow or even reverse global climate change, for ourselves and others. There are so many good things I want to fight for, and I do try to fight for them. I give most of my attention to environmental concerns, however, because we must protect a world that is capable of sustaining life so that humanity can continue to work out its collective salvation with fear and trembling.
On this dark Good Friday evening, the most beautiful and astonishing resurrection I can hope for is that of our Earth.
(x-posted)
