A Nature Trail Through the Bible
New Testament
1. The Birth of Christ Into the World
Matthew 2:11
And when they [the three Wise Men] were come into the house, they saw the young child
with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold and frankincense and myrrh.
commentary
When Christ was born into the world “to give light to them that sit in darkness” (Luke 1:79), the “Word was made flesh and dwelt among us... full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This act changed the world for now God, through his Son, lived fully within it. Therefore the world was not unclean or unholy, but sanctified by the incarnation of Christ.
Around this holy birth, shepherds “watched over their flocks by night.” All the kingdoms of creation attend this birth. The angels were there (Luke 2:9-10); several people were there; a variety of animals were present (Luke 2:8); and by implication we can assume where the animals were, there was vegetation and perhaps trees. Finally even the mineral kingdom would be represented there, through stones and gravel and soil.
After the birth of Jesus, the wise men arrive from the East. They represent, not only the height of human wisdom coming to worship him, but the different manifestations of life coming to worship the new born Lord. Early biblical exegesis associates meaning with each of the gifts of the Magi. The gold symbolizes the spirit, and so the pure spiritual side of life; the frankincense represents the psychic, or realm of the mind and the soul; the myrrh represents the body, and therefore the physical world. All the “kingdoms” of life are gathered together to acknowledge the Lord. This shows that all of creation is responding to the Incarnation. Nothing is ever the same again.
As Christ was born into the world, God becomes personally and tangibly manifest in creation. He is the Creator who is above it, but who is also the Redeemer who is within it. Because His physical presence has walked and talked within the world, because He has breathed its air and eaten its food, the creation acquires an indelible sacred character which forever affirms that it is worthy of all respect and care.
Because he is both above the world but also within it, His continuing nurturing presence also sustains the world and all of its life. For this reason everything which lives is subtly rooted in the life of the Lord.
The vision of creation as good which God affirmed at the beginning of the world now receives a further impulse of blessedness. This becomes the basis for the earth being renewed in His death and resurrection.
For ecology, the Incarnation establishes the premise that the earth must be considered holy for Christ has been born into it. In fact, the reason for this birth is that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). If God loves the world, then in our striving to imitate what is of God, should we not also love what He loves?
The birth of Christ ushers in a new era for earthly life. The early Church was so impressed with the depth of this sacred event that even our calendar begins with the year of our Lord’s birth.
2. Perspective on Wilderness
Matthew 4:1
Then was Jesus led up by the spirit into the wilderness to pray.
commentary
Why was Jesus led into the wilderness? Why didn't the Holy Spirit direct him to spend forty days in the temple? Why is it that the great prophets tend to be involved with wilderness more than with cathedrals or population centers? Why did the early Christian monastics go into the desert instead of to the cities and churches? After all, the churches were much closer.
Could it be that human society and the sins hidden in our thinking cast such a mental shroud over urban areas that everyone is subtly effected and this influences our thinking and behavior? Every place has its own feeling and presence. The ocean has a different “feel” than the high plains. The mountains have a distinctly different feel from Times Square in New York City. This “feel,” while subtle and intangible, is still a discernable “presence”; it is the collective spiritual and psychic substances of the many influences working in and upon any particular area. This idea of “presence” is a dimension between the spiritual and the material worlds which theology does not fully address. Most people can feel the differences, for instance, between the city and the great cathedral-like deep forests, or between the ocean and the desert. Yet most of us struggle to define that difference. Wilderness is particularly known for being free of a permanent human presence.
Throughout the Bible there is continual concern for wilderness. Between the first chapter of Genesis and the last chapter of Revelation, the term “wilderness” appears 281 times. Even though wilderness appears more in the Old Testament than in the New, the instances where it does appear are of great significance, because wilderness invariably appears in contexts of prophesy, prayer, the manifestation of spiritual power, or the presence of the Holy Spirit, particularly in the life, mission and purpose of Jesus Christ.
Wilderness is a fundamental symbol of Divine Revelation. According to Vincent Rossi, a theologian at Oxford University in Great Britain, at least five distinct themes emerge from the different uses of the word wilderness:
In the first place, it represents desolation, waste, the absence of God, a place of
judgement or a place of punishment. In the second place, and in direct contrast to
the first, wilderness represents the place of God’s covenant, hence the place of
Divine presence, grace, gift and mercy. Wilderness is the place where God speaks
to his people, where He manifests His power. Third, wilderness is also a place of
refuge, of security in insecurity. It is the place where God’s elect often go to
escape the machinations and malice of the enemies of God, to restore their spirits
and to renew their strength. Fourth, it is both a place and an agent of cleansing,
healing, purification and transformation. Fifth, wilderness is a visible symbol of
the infinitely unknowable, yet absolutely real, Divine Nature.
Wilderness is not some new concept invented by modern environmentalists. It is that sector of the created order which has remained beyond the sometimes crude and clumsy efforts of humans to raise creation into higher usefulness. Whenever God has wanted to raise up prophets, he has not usually sent them to seminary or to church. Rather he sends them into the wilderness!
Theologian Vincent Rossi provides further commentary on wilderness:
Wilderness is frightening because in it we perceive, however dimly, an order
so vast, an intelligence so deep, a harmony so perfect, a beauty so piercing, a
power so immense, a law so just and implacable that it dwarfs into
nothingness our human successes, failures, concerns, projects, politics and
personalities. Yet wilderness is exhilarating, renewing, uplifting, cleansing
and healing, and for exactly the same reasons that it frightens us!
He continues:
In wilderness may be found the footprints of God, but they are obscured by the shadow of the fall....
Wilderness is the fleeting image of Paradise in virgin nature; yet it is also the
flaming shadow of the cherubim’s sword denying us entry into paradise.
Wilderness is a sacred, secret garden to saints and a frightening desert to
sinners.
The saints of times past, as might be expected, have much to say about wilderness. Saint Anthony, one of the early desert fathers, compared a monk outside the desert wilderness to a fish out of water.
Saint Jerome (+420) described wilderness through the qualities which it bestowed upon the monks. He particularly notes appreciation for its solitude and beauty, and the opportunities it affords for spiritual experience. He explains that the desert fathers and mothers went to wild places for a variety of reasons, but especially to encounter the holy. Jerome writes, “to me the town is a prison, and solitude is paradise.”
St. Basil shows another reason why wilderness benefits spiritual striving:
The contemplation of nature abates the fever of the soul, and
banishes all insincerity and presumption.
Basil continues and says that this happens because God's creation teaches His qualities.
In contrast to wilderness, the 19th century Catholic priest and poet Gerald Manly Hopkins, SJ
described the urban world as “bleared, smeared with toil.”
Wilderness is a part of creation which is untouched and untrammeled by the desecrating, sinful hand of humanity. People are drawn to wilderness to regain balance, to humble themselves, to heal sickness of soul, to regain their humanity
and capacity for worship, to pray. There is obviously great need for a return to wilderness to recapture one’s spiritual bearings.
Ironically, perhaps, this is precisely what God Himself determined, because the Holy Spirit drove Jesus, not into the temple, but into the wilderness! In earlier times God used wilderness as a place and a means for the purification of His chosen people! Jesus himself, as man, set the perfect example for all humanity by often retreating to the wilderness to pray. His very presence in the wilderness coupled with his victory over Satan sanctified it forever.
The fact that Jesus frequently retired into the wilderness shows that there is an opportunity in wilderness that relates to our spiritual hunger for the presence of God. No matter how many hours we spend in church, somehow standing outdoors under the dome and in the nave of God's great cathedral of wild nature, the hope for transforming spiritual experience becomes almost tangible. Surrounded by irresistible organic life or in the silence of severe desert beauty, our querulous, questing minds quiet, the psychic knots in our breast unravel, our heart melts, and we are ready perhaps to listen for the still small voice of God.
3. Repentance
Matthew 4:17
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
commentary:
Jesus’ first public teaching declares to each person the need to repent, “for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” What is true for those who first heard His message remains true today. Christ continually calls us with this same message and for as long as we live, there is always room for a further hearing of this spiritual guidance.
To understand the depth of this teaching, we should remember that many of Christ’s commands are like mountains: If we follow them all the way to their fullness, or “top,” they lead to a vision or perhaps an experience of Christ in his kingdom. This teaching of repentance has a mountain hidden within it. The path up this spiritual “mountain” requires that we stay mentally focused upon its action, even as we pray, and not let ourselves wander away too soon.
There is a discipline to climbing this mountain. This discipline requires steadfast mental focus without wandering. To wander is to lose focus and so to disconnect from Christ’s presence. We wander away when we see this command as relevant only to the “foothills” or the start of our spiritual journey. We stumble over the “rocks” of our own habits and preconceptions about the spiritual task when we forget that this command to repent is always for today, always for this moment. We stumble and bruise ourselves on the spiritual path when we presume this teaching is for others rather than a continual means to straighten our path to the “summit.”
St. Paul touches on the practice of repentance when he writes, “I die daily.” By dying daily, he gives up, not only his life for Christ, but also all of his habits and attitudes that they might be continually reformed in Christ and by Christ. To die daily means to sacrifice everything for the sake of Jesus Christ. This state of mind not only epitomizes the requirement of repentance, but it is essential for the kinds of ecological changes which our present social systems require.
In the sixteenth century John Calvin popularized an understanding of repentance by teaching it as “continual personal reformation.” This provided a means for spurring one’s self into unceasing reformation. In seeing repentance as a continual process of “letting go and letting God,” Calvin recalls a spiritual premise of the early Church. For repentance to have this sort of continuing efficacy, it must be understood as a continual state of being in which one ceaselessly seeks Christ that the Spirit of God might be alive and working and reshaping all of one’s attitudes and behavior.
The ecological plight of society indicates that there is much which we must change to right the wrongs of industrial-consumer society. Systemic problems (destructive or exploitive structures embedded into the fabric of daily life) can only be addressed as we realize that the design of society reflects the cumulative habits and desires of the entire population. Entrenched systemic errors require that people live in a manner that befits repentance – for if we do not admit we have to change, then we will continue in the same old habits and systems which perpetuate the ecological crisis.
Some questions bring this quality of ecological repentance into focus. Do we recycle cans and bottles? Isn’t recycling a fulfillment of the biblical command to replenish the earth? Hence recycling is also a form of Christian obedience. Do we treat the land with respect? Isn’t this a fulfillment of the command to “dress and keep” the earth? Do we respect the animals? Don’t they derive from the same Source as ourselves?
Are we content with such things as we already have, or do we seek for more and perhaps grander things? All these questions contain both spiritual and ecological implications. The way we respond determines how well we honor the Creator and how well we embrace the requirements implied in repentance.
For each person, an awakened and active sense of repentance and self-examination are foundational if one is to become a champion of ecological healing. Put at its simplest, repentance means “letting go and letting God.” This means a continual “metanoia,” an unceasing striving for renewal in the effulgent transforming presence of Jesus Christ, is essential for a Christian who will aid in earth healing.
The more difficult challenge of environmental repentance involves confrontation with the systems of society that are both destructive and encrusted into personal behavior. Some of our most cherished notions about the good life are loaded with assumptions that work against a sustainable and healthy world. For example transportation by fossil fuel-powered private autos. Travel by gasoline vehicles flourished during the past century, but they cannot be sustained much longer. Yet society lives as though fossil fuels will be around forever. They won’t. The dwindling reserves of fossil fuels will at some point within the next few decades become exhausted.
New solutions to old needs must be found. Repentance is a key. Without repentance, we will try to preserve and protect the old ways along with the assumptions that institutionalized them into the structure of society. But through the practice of repentance perhaps we can find the strength and motivation for change into new and more appropriate ways of living which will reduce our impact upon the earth.
All of the deeper implications of earth healing require that citizens embrace this command along with a sincere prayer for Christ to lead and guide us in our national repentance. If we can embrace just this much, then there is hope for the future.
4. Fulfilling God's Will in the World
Matthew 6:10
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
commentary
In this passage Jesus teaches us how to pray. The central action in this phrase of
“The Lord's Prayer” is doing God’s will on earth, here in this world. This passage also makes explicit that the way we should fulfill God’s will on earth is in accord with how it is fulfilled in heaven.
This verse gives us a striving and a direction for how we are called to live upon the planet: we “seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness....” At the same time, this passage gives character to our spiritual striving. It implies that the way to live is through the direction provided in all of the other portions of Scripture.
Early Christians understood the implications of this passage with rather keen clarity. St. John Chrysostom, in his commentary on this verse, writes that this is a command which begins with a yearning for heaven:
For you must long, says the Lord, for heaven. However, even before heaven, He has bidden us to make the earth a heaven and do and say all things, even while we are continuing in it, as having our conversation there.... For there is nothing to hinder our reaching the perfection of the powers above, because we inhabit the earth; but it is possible even while abiding here in the world, to do all, as though already placed on high. What He says, therefore, is this: “As there all things are done without hindrance, and the angels are not partly obedient and partly disobedient, but in all things yield and obey, so vouchsafe that we men may not do Thy will by halves, but perform all things as Thou willest.”
Do you see how He has also taught us to be modest, by making it clear that
virtue is not of our endeavors only, but also of the grace from above? And again,
He has enjoined each one of us, who pray, to take upon himself the care of the
whole world. For He did not at all say, “Thy will be done,” in me, or in us, but
everywhere on the earth; so that error may be destroyed, and truth implanted,
and all wickedness cast out, and virtue return, and no difference in this respect
be henceforth between heaven and earth.
This phrase from “The Lord's Prayer” enjoins us to build a whole life of godliness and integrity upon the earth. This striving in effect is to “bring down heaven” by “lifting up the world.” This can be seen as a cultural imperative to connect Christ and the Church to all worldly concerns, including concerns for food, clothing, employment, travel, the home, and all those worldly cares that occupy daily affairs. Every aspect of livelihood is touched by this command.
This passage has another dimension: it enjoins us into a great contemplation of the nature of heaven. For how can we do the will of God on earth “as it is in heaven” if we don’t understand the nature of heaven? So what is heaven? What is it like?
As a start, we know from the Scriptures that heaven is a place of unity, of light, of love, of peace, of harmony with the will of God and joy unspeakable. If we seek these qualities in our lives, then we participate in the life of Christ in this world. Then his Spirit flows through our words and actions and touchs neighbors and all whom we associate.
This allows the next verse of the prayer to become more accessible when we ask for “our daily bread.” This means that if we are faithful in seeking His will, that it “be done in earth as it is in heaven,” (which also means in “us” as it is in heaven), then our “daily bread” comes. We receive what we need.
Notice that Jesus uses the word “bread.” He does not promise steak with mushrooms. This is because the kingdom of heaven is not luxury, neither is it excess. It is adequacy and it is life eternal.
5. Heavenly Riches
Matthew 6:19-21
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
commentary
Jesus tells us where our treasure should be stored. At the same time, He indicts the striving for the false security represented by reserves of material resources. This striving, He declares, is a bankrupt striving. Material things are not only empty of lasting value, but a profound bankruptcy occurs when people places their affections in the stuff of the world rather than in the qualities of heaven. This reliance upon material things involves not only a failure of vision, but a failure of priorities. A common folk slogan says “you can’t take it with you.” Yet many still live as though it matters how much one possesses when death’s knock comes.
Significantly, the qualities that are soul saving are also earth healing. This passage addresses the consumer mentality which underlies much of the degradation of the planet's biological systems. It is common knowledge that western society takes too much and respects too little. Americans are less than 4% of the world’s population, but consume more than one-quarter (25%) of the planet’s materials, and a whopping one-third (33%)of its energy. The finite resources of the planet cannot support the present level of resource exploitation. Imagine what would happen to the forests, the land and the water if the whole world tried to imitate the American way of life.
Christ’s message urges avoidance of this captivity to a material perspective on wealth and worldly treasure. He tells us to be rich in the things of heaven. He asks us to place our heart and its affections upon heavenly virtues, upon goodness and justice, upon transformation and a vision of the sacred.
This teaching presents something of a predicament: We cannot stop buying and selling, consuming and producing. We have to eat to remain healthy and we have to expend energy to stay warm. But we can temper our needs without falling prey to our greeds. We are every day beset by innumerable choices and hounded by voices urging us to buy this or embrace that. But freedom of the will is a God-given power. We have the power of choice. Our ability to choose is both the essence of the consumerist predicament and a way to conquer it. We conquer consumerism by making choices according to a Christian hierarchy of values.
Economists who are concerned about the fate of the earth have given us a concept of sustainability. This concept urges us to live in such a manner that the earth can “sustain” our impact upon the planet. For the individual this gives rise to the concept of sustainable consumption. This attitude to consumerism is the environmentally responsible and ethically awakened application of the power of choice to cultivate a lifestyle that partakes of the goods of creation while minimizing damage to the earth, supporting environmentally responsible businesses and striving to avoid sin against creation. Sustainable consumption, according to theologian Vincent Rossi, is achieved when a sufficient percentage of consumers combines with a sufficient percentage of businesses and enterprises to create a stable economy of life.
The concept of sustainable consumption does not require everyone to practice voluntary poverty in the monastic manner, no matter how spiritually beneficial that practice may be. But it does require a commitment to make ethical choices. Sustainable consumption acknowledges that the desires and needs of the consumer are indeed the "engine" of the consumerist economy, but also that these same desires and needs are equally the essence of the individual's immortal soul, for which he or she will be required to give an account on the day of judgement.
Sustainable consumption means consistently making the environmentally
responsible choice, the earth-healing choice, or even, in the most likely everyday
situation, the lesser-of-two-evils choice. In the practice of sustainable consumption,
if one were faced with the choice of recreational alternatives, one would not so
much reject any and all forms of recreational activity as harmful to the
environment; one would choose the activity or product which would be the less
environmentally degrading.
It is a fact of our predicament that we will not be able to purge our lifestyle of worldly treasure until we find a replacement in heavenly treasure. And we cannot find such a replacement until we purify our hearts and minds of the false idols of materiality and speed and the hope of satisfaction from things alone. A change of heart is required.
If Americans are to address the problem of overconsumption, we must first address our failure to place our heart's desires in the things of heaven. This will not be easy as many people are addicted to consumerism. To break this addiction, we have to pray. We have to invoke the First Commandment and seek to place God and the things of God before the things of mammon. Then in this effort at a proper arrangement of our priorities, maybe we can reduce our greeds back to needs. If our prayer has been serious enough, perhaps we can find the strength to reorient ourselves while still on earth to the values of heaven. This is what is necessary to address the problem of overconsumption.
6. Life is More Than Material Needs
Matthew 6:25
Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?
commentary
The admonition to “think not what you shall eat or what you shall wear” is a hard saying. The tendency in human nature to plan for the future, to anticipate tomorrow’s needs, and to make provision for a time when there may be lack.
Jesus however is emphatically telling us to take no thought, first for our life and then for our food and dress. For perspective, this passage comes after the Sermon on the Mount and immediately after the previous teaching in which He states, “no man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Because we cannot serve both, Jesus climbs to this high conclusion and declares that one should not take thought for one’s own needs, but rather look to God and His providence.
This is a high teaching rooted in the very nature of the kingdom of heaven. Not only does this passage declare that God must be first in all things, but we must place all our trust into His Providence which provides for all things. The sooner we embrace this quality of connectedness to God, the better we are equipped to embrace the kingdom of heaven. In fact as we practice taking no thought, we model our lives here and now on the pattern in the heavenly kingdom.
The ecological implication is first that our life is rooted in heaven. Second, a soul deadening focus upon material acquisition is to be disdained. Third, by “taking thought,” we appropriate the matter of supply and security into our own hands, which results in many unneeded things as we seek satisfaction. This causes excess consumption and a greater toll upon the creation. The world view in this verse offers a radically different understanding of how life can be lived from the current assumptions of most Christians. The modern mentality is so self-absorbed that it seeks security almost as a prerequisite for knowing God.
As Jesus gives this teaching, he adds that there is no reason to be anxious. Isn't your body more than clothing? Isn't your life more than food? God will take care of you. He does this for animals. Won't he do at least as much for you? And look at the beauty of the plants. They are more gloriously adorned than the finest clothing. This teaching is restated when Jesus tells us that if we will should seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, then all other things shall be added.
Our ability to fulfill this teaching rests on the fulfillment of other commandments.
In the words of the “Our Father,” this prayer requires that we begin in God, seek his will, do it, and then daily bread follows. This command is scarcely different except that it distinguishes between self-concern and concern for God. Because our supply comes from God, not ourselves, God should be the object of our focus.
As we move into the twenty-first century, this passage is perhaps even harder because of the distance that our social structure places between us and this basic teaching of faith and other-worldly reliance. To fulfill this passage, the individual must go through a number of steps, even a spiritual journey. This journey leads to stages of divestiture and reliance upon personally held resources. Eventually these are replaced with a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ and his Providence. Faithfulness leads eventually to renunciation of all holdings. This is not just a letting go of personal possessions because it also includes personal ideas and concepts.
The separate way in which individuals and families live hinders our ability to respond to this passage. Consumer society fosters an individualism in which each family feels dependent upon a network of economic and social systems that it seems hard to sense that God can provide for us through this environment. In past centuries this was not always the case. Christians in earlier centuries often lived in intentional community. This highlights a structural incompatibility of modern society with what allows for a fullness of gospel living.
The implication is that we need to reexamine how we design our homes and towns. Not only does the massive scale of society hinder the quality of our spiritual life, the exploitive, economically-determined systems destroy the environment.
How then do we design a better society? What principles inform it? As a start, we pray for help and guidance, and we live out the implications of the gospel to the fullest measure of our comprehension. We could include alliances with our neighbors and members of our congregation; relationships between farmers and churches; food coops; programs to teach children responsibility for creation through park and beach clean-up programs; recycling of wastes; and the use of renewable energy sources (even if they cost more). These alliances are valuable because they bind people together and restore the degraded fabric of community. Through continual prayer and discussion, new forms of living together become attainable which continue the journey into a more creation-friendly and even neighbor-friendly system of livelihood.
The establishment of community holds the key to the building of healing ecological models. Secular environmentalism has often sought to develop such models because of the economies of scale and the opportunities to institute structural solutions to the problems which beset society. In essence the ecological model is quite similar to the early Christian lifestyle brought into the modern world.
7. Behold the Birds
Matthew 6:26-27
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap; yet your Heavenly Father
feedeth them.
commentary
Jesus instructs us to behold the birds. He describes their behavior as a teaching about the way their Heavenly Father provides for them. This lesson from the behavior of birds shows how creation can operate when we trust first in God – and it also teaches us to observe and learn about life from the creatures.
Early Christian writings are often rich in commentaries about the birds and animals. Books have been filled about spiritual teachings through them, usually by monks or those dwelling in the desert. Two fourth century authors provide commentary on Jesus’ admonition to discern spiritual lessons from the birds:
Saint Ambrose (340 - 397) invites us to see creation as a wonderful “theater of learning” and tells us that we will know ourselves better if we know the creatures.
Enter with me into this mighty and wonderful theater of the whole of visible
creation.... [See] how the Creator of the universe has conferred more abundant
benefits on you than on all the rest of His creatures....
We cannot fully know ourselves without first knowing the nature of living
creatures.
Look at the birds of the air... If there is enough produce from the
abundance of harvest for the birds of the air who do not sow, yet nevertheless
Divine Providence gives them unfailing nourishment, then indeed avarice must be
the cause of our need.... We lose the things that are common when we claim
things as our own....
Saint Basil (329 - 379) identifies in the habits of storks and then swallows unique lessons which he uses to teach biblical principles.
The solicitude of storks for their old would be sufficient, if our children would
reflect upon it, to make them love their parents, because there is no one so failing
in good sense as not to deem it a shame to be surpassed in virtue by birds devoid
of reason. The storks surround their father when old age makes his feathers drop
off, warm him with their wings, and provide for his support. Even in flight, they
help him as much as they can, raising him gently on each side upon their wings, a
conduct so famous that it has given to gratitude the name of "antipelargosis."
Let no one lament poverty; let not the man whose house is bare despair of his life,
when he considers the industry of the swallow. To build her nest, she brings bits
of straw in her beak; and as she cannot raise the mud in her claws, she moistens
the ends of her wings in water and then rolls in very fine dust and thus procures
mud. After having mixed the bits of straw with mud, as with glue, she feeds her
young; and if any one of them has its eyes injured, she has a natural remedy to
heal the sight of her little ones. This sight ought to warn you not to take to evil
ways on account of poverty; and, even if you are reduced to extremity, not to lose
all hope; not to abandon yourself to inaction and idleness, but to have recourse to
God. If He is so bountiful to the swallow, what will He not do for those who call
upon Him with all their hearts?
Basil declares that lessons from God are everywhere in creation and that we can everywhere learn of the Creator from the details around us.
You have then heaven adorned, earth beautified, the sea populated with its own
creatures, the air filled with birds which scour it in every direction. Studious
listener, think of all these creations which God has drawn out of nothing, think of
all those which my speech has left out to avoid tediousness and not to exceed my
limits. Recognize everywhere the wisdom of God; never cease to wonder, and
through every creature, to glorify the Creator.
We even magnify the Lord, Saint Basil explains, through our keen observation of the things in creation:
He magnifies the Lord who observes with a keen understanding and most
profound contemplation the greatness of creation, so that from the greatness and
beauty of creatures he may contemplate their Creator. The deeper one penetrates
into the reasons for which things exist and are governed, the more he
contemplates the magnificence of the Lord and, as far as it lies in him, magnifies
the Lord.
The Celtic saints were especially associated with birds, and sometimes with their healing.
Saint Columba of Iona is known for healing a great white pelican. Saint Kevin of Glendalough let a crow nestle in his open hand. Saint Francis of Assisi preached to flocks of sparrows. Even the nineteen century Russian saint, Bishop Innocent of Alaska, was known for taking in a wounded eagle and nursing it back to health.
All of these stories represent some measure of caring for birds and contemplating on the goodness of creation.
The reason contemplation of creation leads to a magnifying of the Lord is that this action cultivates deeper appreciation of the greatness of God as Creator. Whether one reflects on the birds or some other aspect of creation, there is always an infinite depth to behold.
The poet William Blake captures a portion of the holy perspective which can emerge when one contemplates creation:
Everything that lives is holy.
If the doors of perception were cleansed,
Then everything would be seen as it is, which is infinite.
He who sees the Infinite, sees God.
The vision captured in Blake’s work is not only spacial – or dealing with the infinite expanse of the cosmos, it is also temporal. In another poem he continues with this theme:
And every space smaller that a globule of man’s blood
Opens into Eternity
Of which this vegetable Earth is but a shadow.
8. Observing the Lessons of Creation
Matthew 6:28-29
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say
to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
commentary
Jesus asks us to consider the lilies. If this is a subject worthy of Christ, should not we too be concerned for the plants and flowers of creation? The more we can “consider the lilies,” the more will nature’s subtle teachings become apparent and the more readily can the parables of Scripture become transparent to human understanding.
This is not a command to learn about botany or horticulture so much as an observation that in nature, God’s life flourishes. All life is from God. All life has within it lessons about the Creator and His creation. For early Christians, most of whom could not read, the patterns and progressions of nature formed what was called the “Book of Nature.” This “book” encapsulated the Word of God in creation and was considered a companion which aided in understanding the “Book of the Written Word,” the Holy Bible.
This regard for creation as a repository of instruction prevailed through most of the Christian era. With the rise of science and technology society distanced itself from nature and this ancient understanding of creation as a treasury of deep knowledge about God. To refresh this understanding, several historical expressions of nature as a book of wisdom follow:
St. Anthony, a founder of monasticism in Egypt, is known for his intimate knowledge of God's presence through the animals and all things in the created order. Once when a visiting philosopher asked how such an educated person as he got along in the desert without the benefit of books, Anthony replied, “My book is the nature of created things, and as often as I have a mind to read the words of God, it is at my hand.”
A century later, St. Basil describes how creation should bring us to clear remembrance of its Creator:
I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever you go,
the least plant may bring you the clear remembrance of the Creator.... A single
plant, a blade of grass or one speck of dust is sufficient to occupy all your
intelligence in beholding the art with which it has been made.
His contemporary, St. Augustine, often depicts the cosmos afire with a radiant beauty which everywhere reveals the qualities of God. “Nature is so transparent of the magnificence of God,” says Augustine, that it can instruct us regarding the right conduct of human life:
Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the
very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it.
God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set
before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than
that?
In the eleventh century, St. Bernard was a reformer of monasticism and he led the early attack by the Western Church against the growing tendency toward rationalism. His knowledge of natural processes was detailed and he reports on the consolation which he found in prayerful reflection upon the mysteries hidden within it:
Believe one who knows: You will find something greater in woods than in books.
Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.
In the thirteenth century, St. Bonaventure declares that everyone should see the amazing lessons
of the Creator through creation. He says that everything in nature is a sign of God. “Everything
exemplifies some aspect of the Divine Nature.” To Bonaventure, creatures are important because
“they carry vestiges of God’s own nature.”
Feel the strength of conviction from this doctor of
the faith as he emphasizes the power of creation’s witness:
He, therefore, who is not illumined by such great splendor of created things, is
blind. He who is not awakened by such great clamor is deaf. He who does not
praise God because of all these effects is dumb. He who does not note the first
principle from such great signs is foolish. Open your eyes, therefore, prick up your
spiritual ears, open your lips and apply your heart, that you may see, hear, praise,
love and worship, glorify and honor your God.
During the Reformation, despite its controversies, the idea of nature as a great book of learning was considered beyond reproach. Martin Luther powerfully continues this theme of nature as a teacher:
God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible only, but also on trees, and in the flowers
and clouds and stars.
By the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the teaching of a “Book of Nature” was fast fading. The ideas of the enlightenment and a growing materialism cast layers of assumptions over the way industrial society taught citizens to see the created world. One of the few to write about nature as a teaching is a diminutive Carmelite nun from France, St. Therese of Lisieux.
Jesus set before me the book of nature. I understood how all the flowers He has
created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and whiteness of the lily do not
take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy....
And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. He willed to create great souls
comparable to lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be
content to be daisies or violets, destined to give joy to God's glances when He looks
down at His feet.
Modern Christians would do well to listen to these inspired souls from past centuries who report on creation as a treasure house of spiritual teaching. In this day of dulling spirituality and coarsening culture, Christians would do well to recall the eloquent witness of past centuries about learning from the lilies. The lessons from creation involve basic teachings about life and death, growth and life cycles and maturation, about beauty in little things which are part of a greater majesty. We learn that the skills of urban life are not necessarily the skills which lead to the wisdom of creation or a comprehension of its intricacy, magnificence and exquisite integrity. It takes qualities of discernment and penetration to learn God’s truths in creation. Yet creation does not give up its wisdom to casual observation; some digging and reflection and serious intentionality are necessary. Importantly, understanding of creation requires prayer. As creation derives from the Creator, so knowledge of creation is especially accelerated by prayer. We learn too that not only the heavens declare the glory of God, but all the features and creatures of the living earth.
As we seek to learn from nature, the disciple can be confronted with a sense of frailty and sometimes a morbid fear of death – because death is everywhere evident in nature. But once this fear is faced, there can emerge a beauty, a depth and a freshness that helps appreciate the goodness of life and the beauty of the message of our Lord Jesus Christ for the present. When creation is comprehended as a great “Scripture,” then the Bible and creation are realized as parallel manifestations of the Word of God. These tie together into a unified teaching because they both come from the same Divine Source. Then, just as a committed Christian would not defile the written Scripture, one would also not wantonly despoil the integrity of nature.
For ecological issues, “consider the lilies of the field” means that Christians need to understand how creation works. A healing response to creation requires a clear-headed understanding of the principles of the natural world which tell us how the world works as well as the Biblical principles of the Creator which tell us what is right. Both are essential in shaping Christian integrity toward the environment.
9. An Attitude Toward the World
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be you therefore as wise as serpents and
as harmless as doves.
commentary
The people of biblical times lived more intimately with the earth than we do today. Society was more rural and so people had greater familiarity with animals and their traits. Thus they often characterized animals by their predominant characteristics. In this scheme, sheep, because of their herd instinct, were dutiful and faithful followers. Wolves, because of their predatory and unpredictable ways, were rapacious marauders. Pigs epitomized gluttony; foxes demonstrated cunning and deceit; doves represented innocence and a quality of being incapable of causing harm.
A message for us today is that unless we are astute to the many forms of environmental problems and understand their causes (i.e., as “wise as serpents”), we will not know the solutions to different forms of environmental degradation nor will we discern the ways by which creation is defiled.
Similarly, unless we are as “harmless as doves,” we may unintentionally participate in those systems of society which destroy the earth. A key for an effective stewardship of creation lies in an intentionality of will. Without a firm resolve to be like doves in relation to the earth, it is too easy to take the easy road and participate in the systems which degrade the environment. To be harmless as doves, we must be as “wise as serpents” in avoiding activity that destructively harms the earth or people.
The fulfillment of this goal represents spiritual, intellectual, social and technological challenges because society is permeated with products and processes that create unintentional but nevertheless destructive ecological side-effects. Success in our stewardship requires regular prayer to invoke the aid of the Holy Spirit as well as study to identify those solutions that help us to be “as harmless as doves.” It also requires a habitual practice of the virtues to develop right habits. When prayer is coupled with temperance, prudence, justice and courage, the interior qualities emerge which are necessary for a methodical progression into earth healing attitudes. Then we can be imitators of the dove (a symbol for the healing of the earth).
It does not require any great skill to identify the primary characteristics of sheep and serpents, foxes and doves. But it does take familiarity and examination. Similarly we have to take the time to examine and discern the hidden qualities which drive the systems which we use if we are to demonstrate a comprehensive Christian ethic of ecology. Just as the people of Jesus’ time knew the meaning of foxes and doves, today we need to understand the meaning of the systems with which we associate.
When ancient people discerned the dominant behavioral qualities in sheep and doves and contrasted them with those in serpents and wolves, they distinguished the harmful from the destructive. In a similar manner we need to examine the features of modern society and distinguish between what is healing and nurturing from that which is harmful and destructive. Television, computers, cellular phones, the internet and e-mail, air travel, freeway traffic, snowmobiles, and every other feature of technological society has behavioral and psychological impacts upon those who use them. And they have ecological impacts too. We need to examine these impacts of technological society and provide an apt characterization of each. Otherwise, how will the faithful know how to live in a manner which is right, holy and earth healing?
Through this reflective process an ethic of lifestyle will emerge that critiques the systems of society and proposes appropriate alternatives for these technologies which destroy or degrade the spiritual formation of people or the integrity of creation.
The Amish people, for instance, have developed a simple method for penetrating and critiquing technology to discern what is appropriate for their communities. They ask three questions about every new system proposed for their consideration:
(1) Does it build community?
(2) Does it strengthen the bonds of family?
(3) Does it enhance one’s relationship to Jesus Christ?
If the technology under examination passes these tests, then the new system or technology is accepted. If it does not, it is rejected.
We need to apply a similar critique to our technology. In the spirit of this passage we need to articulate accessible and readily understood terms to describe the ecological and despiritualizing problems facing society. Otherwise we will continue our drift into the fog of spiritual darkness. Without this critique we will have scant ability to penetrate the attitudes and actions which are driving the coarsening of culture and the degradation of the biological life support systems of the planet.
For this challenge, the image of sheep among wolves well describes the demand of discipleship in a technological era. We need to be like the sheep in staying together and following the lead of the Lord. At the same time we need the sight of eagles and the planning of foxes to shape and promote those alternative healing systems in a simple and clear manner so that the implications are clear to all people.
10. The Greatest of All the Prophets
Matthew 11:7-11
What went you out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king’s houses.
But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you and more than a prophet.
For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Very I say unto you, among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: Notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
commentary
Read this passage closely. Who does Jesus say here is the greatest prophet?
In this passage Jesus alludes to this greatest prophet by affirming first that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet born of woman. But this prophet, he says, is “greater than he.” So who is Jesus talking about?
The context of this narration is an important clue. The disciples are returning from the wilderness. Without introduction the text presents this fact. We know that this is an important passage because Jesus three different times asks this question of the disciples: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” Whenever Jesus (or Scripture) asks a question three times, we know by this repetition that this is a significant issue and something important will be taught.
In this passage, Jesus’ answer seems hard to understand. He says that despite the greatness of John the Baptist, “he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Jesus also tells us that John is the greatest born of woman. And we know that he too was born of a woman. We seem to be faced with a dilemma. On the one hand Jesus is saying that this “prophet” was not born of woman, and on the other he is saying that this one is least in the kingdom of heaven.
What is the least in the kingdom of heaven? “Least” is a key word. To break the meaning out of this passage, it is crucial to remember the context. Where have the disciples been? They have been out in the wilderness. What is out in wilderness? Rocks and bushes, thorns and thistles, birds and animals and probably hot days and cold nights. Many people consider these desert places “waste lands,” places of little value.
For additional perspective where did Jesus go at the beginning of His ministry? Did he spend forty days in the temple? No. Before him, were the prophets in the town square dialoguing with the youth, or walking the streets teaching about the Lord? And where did God lead Moses and the Israelites after their exodus from Egypt? In each case the answer is the wilderness. So why the wilderness? What is going on here?
Saint Jerome, historian of the early Church, describes the experience of the monastics of the Egyptian desert. He relates that the desert fathers and mothers went to wild places to encounter the holy.
This much is perhaps easy to understand, but how can wilderness be a prophet? As background it is helpful to ask what is a prophet? Isn’t it one who brings forth the Word of God. Creation, because it is formed by the Word, also embodies this Word – just as Jesus manifests this Word and Scripture is inspired by this identical Word. For this reason these three, having the same source, speak with the same voice. On this basis, Origen (185 - 254), the father of biblical theology, writes,
The parallel between nature and Scripture is so complete, we must necessarily
believe that the person who is asking questions of nature and the person who is
asking questions of Scripture are bound to arrive at the same conclusions.
In a recent exploration of the spiritual values of wilderness, conducted by members of the Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation between 2001 and 2002, groups of Christians in seven locations around the United States set out to articulate the spiritual values associated with wild areas. They found many things, but the following especially relates to this passage:
God's presence is everywhere, but wilderness is unique because it reflects the untrammelled magnificence of God's wisdom and creativity. Wilderness is an intact reflection and expression of God’s being. Thus it is inherently teacher, healer and prophetic vision. ...
As prophetic vision, wilderness reveals the eternal power and divine nature of
the Creator. It models the integrity and harmony of the created order as a
witness for human society. Its example of submission to divine principle, and
its ability to integrate its designs into the ecosystem of the planet provide a
vision and test for the spiritual-ecological suitability, sustainability and
integrity of human action. Human action must enhance and compliment the
already existing systems of nature, or the prophetic witness of wilderness says
that those actions should not be done.
This insight is nothing new. Christian and Jewish historical commentary has taught that we learn of God through His works in creation. Wilderness in particular reveals the beauty, majesty, wisdom, even the “face” of the Creator through the design, intricacy and Spirit embedded within the created order.
Intact creation, as found in wild places, recapitulates in microcosm the depth and immensity of the cosmic macrocosm and reminds us of the greatness of its Maker. Wilderness is also where solitude and opportunity for spiritual renewal can be found; it is a place which we humans may set aside and protect so that we may experience creation as the Lord created it. In wilderness, we learn to know the Creator through our intentionally cultivated experiences with the wisdom and the designs of creation.
Wilderness can serve as a blessing to the practice of Christianity and Judaism.
As children of God we have a profound spiritual need for the refreshment of nature, especially wild nature. People need wilderness to heal the sickness of souls deadened by consumerism, individualism and materialism.
When Jesus alludes to this greatest prophet, who now do you understand that he is describing?
By implication isn’t he also encouraging us, as he directed his disciples, to go out into the wilderness and learn the lessons of the land? For in wilderness are the lessons of the Logos, made manifest in the very shape of untrammeled creation.
11. Who is My Neighbor?
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
commentary
Since the time of Jesus Christ and the first apostles, the question has been asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Is it merely the family next door? Does it include the people down the block? What about people in neighboring residential areas, or across town, or perhaps in distant cities? Is my “neighbor” measured just in linear terms, or can it also be applied to those near us in time, to those still to be born?
Jesus answered the question of who is my neighbor (Luke 10:29-30) in the parable of the good Samaritan who tended for a person in need who he had never previously met. In the parable of this same name, the good Samaritan provides for all the needs of the injured person and then throws in an additional sum for future needs. Christ says, “Go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37).
Love is a key to fulfilling this passage. When we have this brand of sacrificial love, we serve other people as much as ourselves. A Syrian bishop from the eighth century, St. Isaac of Ninevah, gives us an enduring definition of the kind of love we should strive to attain if we are to right the social and ecological predicaments of our time. St. Isaac articulates the heart-felt love for God and His creation which the ascetics of the Eastern desert bring to Christian vision, thought and belief.
What is a charitable heart? It is a heart which is burning with a loving charity for
the whole of creation, for men, for the birds, for the beasts, for the demons -- for
all creatures. He who has such a heart cannot see or call to mind a creature
without his eyes being filled with tears by reason of the immense compassion
which seizes his heart; a heart which is so softened and can no longer bear to
hear or learn from others of any suffering, even the smallest pain, being inflicted
upon any creature. This is why such a man never ceases to pray also for the
animals, for the enemies of truth, and for those who do him evil, that they may
be preserved and purified. He will pray even for the lizards and reptiles, moved
by the infinite pity which reigns in the hearts of those who are becoming united
with God.
With the world’s population surging beyond six billion people, we have no shortage of neighbors. The task of helping the needy is an overwhelming task. Helping either our next door neighbor or those yet to be born makes no sense unless there is some connection between ourselves and our neighbor. Christ is that connection. It is Christ whom we serve in our neighbor and it is also Christ to whom we are ultimately accountable. We can't do everything, but we can do something, and for that we are surely responsible.
Like the good Samaritan, we are all joined in a shared responsibility to reach out and provide for all of our neighbors. Our definition of “neighbors” should include our neighbors across time — meaning even those people who have not yet been born.
The concept of responsibility to neighbors of the future opens the door for service to all creation. This fulfills Jesus’ declaration, “as you do it unto the least of these, my brethren, you do it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). For the principle in this statement to have consistency, its meaning has to include “neighbors across time” and it even has to even encompass the creatures. These are our neighbors too. Besides, we all derive from the same Ultimate Source and we all find connection to one another through the same Lord.
An interesting and pointed reference about creation which is attributed to Jesus derives from a fragment in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas. This was unearthed in Upper Egypt and dated to around the year 105 AD. In this ancient pseudo-gospel text, Jesus is quoted as saying:
Cleave [i.e., “split”] a piece of wood and I am there.
Lift up the stone and there you will find me.
The heart of this saying is that whether we serve the needs of our neighbor or the needs of earth healing, we serve the cause of Jesus Christ.
12. Ecology as an Imperative for Theological Reflection
Mark 4:30-32
And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.
commentary
Jesus compares our comprehension of the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. This means that our ability to comprehend the implications of the kingdom of God begins small and gradually grows. Eventually, like the mustard seed which grows into a great tree such that even the creatures find rest in its spreading embrace, so our understanding spreads out and grows.
A similar comparison can be made between our understanding about some new topic. It can begin with an inspired word or a momentary inspiration. Then, like a spark in needs of nurture and fuel, it flames up and grows until it becomes all encompassing. Christian awareness of responsibility for the earth is like this. It starts small, perhaps with a Scriptural passage or some experience. With attention it can expand so that a vision is glimpsed which encompasses all aspects of life and livelihood. In this sort of progression, a small awareness becomes all-encompassing in its implications.
A spirit of renewal, like a mustard seed, dwells in Christian theology. It involves a relentless insistence upon application (“...thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven”). Church concern for problems of environmental degradation are a direct result of Biblical mandates about application. While Christian concern for the environment is still unfolding, this concern has so far been primarily a theological and philosophical assent to responsibility with little emphasis from the pulpit on making the behavioral changes which accompany this understanding. While clergy for the most part accept creation theology, they are also often reluctant to engage these issues because they challenge the underpinings of society and its behavior. At heart this “reluctance” reflects a deep inability to integrate belief and behavior. If Christian ecology is to avoid becoming a haven for hypocrisy, this failure must somehow be addressed. But, if it is addressed, then it has the potential to remedy many other short-comings, not only within society, but within the institutional church.
What is the root of this failure? Why are modern churches reluctant to address the environmental problem?
The Union of Concerned Scientists back in 1993 published a statement by the world’s leading scientists. They declare that the ecological crisis is the evidence of a social world view drastically out of balance with creation.
Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities
inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical
resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future
that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter
the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know it.
Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course
will bring about.
These are strong and serious words, but the implications are even more serious. The world’s leading scientists are saying that we either change how we think and behave, or face an end of our own making. In this regard the Church has clear responsibility.
The medieval theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, provides perspective on this situation by pointing out to us that errors about creation reflect on our theology:
Any error about creation also leads to an error about God.
The failure of contemporary churches to find the strength and the will to apply solutions to the critical problems of the environment point to a serious short-coming in the theological understanding of modern Christianity. The evidence is growing that churches have lost something of the living fire and presence of Jesus Christ that once developed saints and fueled the growth of the Early and Medieval Church.
Yet there is also opportunity here. As the mustard seed is faithful to its purpose, so Christians, if and when they are faithful to their calling, can do much to bring about ecological change in our society.