A new way of environmental thinking

A friend of mine forwarded me the following reflection from Henri Nouwen, perhaps appropriate on Sunday, since it's the day we're all supposed to rest (instead of clinging to our blackberries for life support). Nouwen is a writer and theologian who I often find quite profound, though for some of his stuff I feel like an advanced degree in theology might be necessary (either that, or I'm just too flighty). This little reflection on creation is great, and could really be a guiding force behind the new energy toward merging the faith-based and environmental movements. Here ya' go:

How do we live in creation? Do we relate to it as a place full of "things" we can use for whatever need we want to fulfill and whatever goal we wish to accomplish? Or do we see creation first of all as a sacramental reality, a sacred space where God reveals to us the immense beauty of the Divine?

As long as we only use creation, we cannot recognise its sacredness because we are approaching it as if we are its owners. But when we relate to all that surrounds us as created by the same God who created us and as the place where God appears to us and calls us to worship and adoration, then we are able to recognise the sacred quality of all God's handiwork.

For far too long, our economic thinking and way of being has encouraged humanity - especially in the Western world - to relate to the world as a place full of "things" we can use for whatever goal we wish to accomplish...whether it's cheaper gas for mammoth vehicles, larger housing subdivisions, or food genetically modified and produced at larger than life quantities for a good profit. Land, animals, resources, water...there aren't unlimited supplies of these things, so we'd be kidding ourselves if we thought this way of life is sustainable.

But my favorite line in this reflection is the first sentence of the second graf: "we cannot recognize its sacredness because we are approaching it as if we are its owners." How profound! This line, to me, not only explains how environmental devastation continues, but how slavery, genocide, the war on terror, and poverty continue through history. When we approach people as though we were their owners (in the case of slavery, or farmworkers forced to pick food for little-to-no wages), we don't recognize their sacredness and condition ourselves to treat them unjustly. When the U.S. acts like a rogue cowboy (as increasingly is the case with our foreign policy) we fail to value the sacredness of others who share this planet. When we blindly participate in a system of economics that continues to widen the gap between the rich and the poor, soon we stop seeing any sacredness or self-worth in those that are poor.

Nouwen's words remind me of a line from "The Color Purple," by Alice Walker. Celie (who has gone through hell) is questioning whether God has forgotten about her, and Shug responds back:

God takin' his time getting around to you, I admit, but look at all he give us. Laughin', and singin', and sex. Sky over our heads, birds singin' to us. I think it piss God off if anybody even walk past the color purple in a field and not notice it. He say, "look what I made for you."

Maybe even worse than not noticing all the creation that lies around us is noticing it, then acting as if we own it.