Each 12 months as Earth Day rolls round as soon as once more, we’re reminded that the environment can change as flowers bloom and the grass greens up. It is an effective reminder that the Earth”s seasons keep it up regardless of what we people could contribute to our planet’s abundance or shortage.
Blossoming cherry bushes, lilacs and even tulips can go a protracted technique to remind us of what little we have now performed in relation to making certain their reappearance after a protracted winter. Later within the season, one of my favourite ‘surprise’ flowers has been popping up annually in my front yard over the years and that’s the so-called “resurrection flower.”
These pink lilies are hailed for their hardiness and ability to survive despite droughts, floods or anything else Mother Nature may dish out in the early summer. There is something almost magical in how they may pop up in the most unexpected places in one’s yard even when you haven’t dug up and divided the bulbs yourself.
To me it’s a great analogy to how we may see our own creaturely contributions in nature. After all, we can’t see underground how a single lily on its own is becoming multiple plants after its blooms have shed. What else is going on that I can’t see?
Theologian Thomas Oord in his new book series, A Systematic Theology of Love, approaches life’s mystery through the lens of love, which is not tangible and can be hard to define, but is so demonstrable in so many different ways whether it is within a community, family relationships, and yes even between us and the creation.
In his exclusive essay for Covalence, Oord writes of an ‘Ever Creator’s’ creating that also includes ‘creaturely contributions’ to what is created. His exploration of this co-creation provides a timely image as we once again prepare to celebrate Earth Day on April 22.
At first thinking about creaturely contributions, I can’t help but focus on the negative additions we bring to the table. There are many facets to this. The noise, pollution, chaos and confusion seem to be our state of being somedays. In fact each day, we encounter these elements face-to-face via our social media newsfeed or even through national or global news reports without ever looking that hard.
While offering up so much information to seemingly answer the questions of ‘What is going on?’ and ‘Why I should care?’ we find more questions surfacing. These often include: ‘What can I do about it?’ or ‘Who’s fault is all this anyway?’ Most often, we shrug our shoulders and move on to the next story.
It may be a byproduct of our own fight or flight mechanism in our brains that we have such an intense response to the images and words (including these here) that we consume on an ever-more increasing pace each day. I would argue, and I think Oord does too, that we should look for some ‘spirit modifiers’ to our creaturely contributions. This is especially as we think about ways to promote healing of the environment that we use so intensely.
These modifiers could include: our presence, use of contemplative prayer, peace-seeking behaviors, and a search for spirit-led clarity over the sowing of confusion and blame. It is important to remember so much of our addiction to apathy comes from the very brain that has evolved to keep us safe — often by running from danger or controversy. But love often compels us to run toward what is difficult in order to do what’s right and that takes a love larger than ourselves to understand fully.
The embrace of what I call ‘spirit-modifiers’ is not for the faint of heart or a last-ditch call out of desperation. It is the essential eyesight we need to have to move forward as co-creators with one another and within the creation as it presents itself along the way.
Insert Martin Luther’s famous alleged quote: “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” It may not be a pollinator garden, but hey it’s a start!
Seriously though, the resurrection lilies are ready to pop up in new areas of my yard like clockwork again. The first time it happened I was so wowed. And since I couldn’t recall planting the bulb, it seemed miraculous. This year though I’ll remember that there is something at work I can’t see yet, which in turn shows me how to appreciate creation’s resilience after a harsh winter.
May then too my creaturely contributions be helpful in preserving clean air and water. May I also remember that my actions no matter how small (just like those bulbs) are not in vain – even if I can’t see an immediate outcome today, tomorrow or even the next year.
Susan Barreto
Susan is an author with a long-time interest in religion and science. She currently edits Covalence, the Lutheran Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology’s on-line journal. She has written articles in The Lutheran and the Zygon Center for Religion and Science publication. Susan is a board member for the Center for Advanced Study of Religion and Science, the supporting group for the Zygon Center and the Zygon Journal. She additionally co-wrote Our Bodies Are Selves with Dr. Philip Hefner and Dr. Ann Pederson.