view from an evening walk
I have been following the global climate talks in Durban, South Africa with intense interest. The coverage of the talks, when it can be found at all, casts our response to climate change primarily in political and economic terms. How will countries reach new treaty agreements? What is the fair share for developed countries (like us) who have contributed most to the problem versus developing countries who seek to improve their standard of living? Will we find the political will to make the changes necessary before it is too late? And when will it be too late? These are vital questions, but I find myself approaching this moment a bit differently.
I wonder how to respond spiritually to an Earth that is suffering. More and more, I am convinced that how I live is my best response to climate change. A part of how I live includes calling my representatives, meeting with them, posting Op-Eds, and rallying my friends. But a deeper part of how I live includes how I relate to the whole, how I see myself as a part of the story and learn to live more gently on the Earth, mindful of its needs. It’s a move from what professor Bron Taylor calls “green religion (which posits that environmentally friendly behavior is a religious obligation)” to “dark green religion (in which nature is sacred, has intrinsic value, and is therefore due reverent care).” (Taylor, 10)
It seems to me that what we lack is the dark green sense that nature is sacred. It seems to me that it is too easy for us to forget what our ancestors knew, everyone from the wandering Hebrews to the First Nations peoples of this continent: that we belong to the Earth, not the other way around.
As I tune in to the climate talks, I am also tuning in to my own inner sense of connectedness; I am asking about my own response. And here I begin to review my actions, asking of each if it expresses relatedness. Starting small, I map out the week and consider how many times I need to take car. I ensure that cloth bags are on hand for my trip to the grocery, where I will try and pay attention to how and where the food is sourced. (For beer enthusiasts, I’ll also take my reusable growler to be refilled with local ale or look for something with the “Go Texan” regional agriculture label.) Moving on, I ask about how many Christmas presents we need and how we might also give to groups working for environmental protection. When we travel to be with relatives, I am looking at the best ways to pay carbon offsets and/or plant trees to help balance out our carbon footprint. I do not write about these things so that you will think well of me; I write about these things so that together we might continue to brainstorm. What else can we do as individuals? What else can we do as a church?
Every action is a prayer.
What ideas do you have?
J
See Bron Taylor, Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010).
4 comments
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December 8, 2011 at 1:02 am
Jeff N.
At our house, we’re trying to stretch our comfort zone by keeping the house cooler using more covers at night. It’s a little thing.
Thanks for the reference to Bron Taylor and “dark green religion.” That is lovely. Doesn’t understanding that we are a part of nature, not apart from it, hold a promise of comfort from the fears of the natural world that are ingrained in us?
December 8, 2011 at 3:23 pm
butch
We, too, try to behave mindfully. But I am embarrassed to admit the level of my cynicism and resulting pessimism in regards to our will as a nation to address this issue. More and more as I look at this country and my daughter’s future in it, I keep referencing Yeats’ The Second Coming. In particular, the line:
“The best lack all conviction while the worst
are full of a passionate intensity.”
Sorry to be such a mellow harsher.
December 10, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Bruce Y.
Could one reason our environmental efforts are so piecemeal and intermittent be because our minds remain so much focused on things within the human sphere? Because Nature usually remains in the overlooked background as we go about our affairs in our human-made social bubble? It is, after all, a rule of thumb that what we pay more attention to grows in its sense of value to us..
If our environmental efforts are weakened from our minds remaining focused on the human sphere, that would mean something else. It would mean not only that our actions have an effect upon the environment, but also that the environment — i.e., Nature — has a psychological effect upon us, potentially for good.
More than just turning our attention to Nature more frequently, we need to turn our attention to Nature in a manner that evokes feelings of respect, awe, gratefulness, and the awareness of a Sacred Presence in the natural, non-human world.
One way I like to do that is to recite mentally one of a few prayers I know, letting the prayer be a vehicle for me to remember the sustaining presence of Nature around me. Here is one of my favorites, a prayer of St. Patrick:
“I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock”
Even if I am inside or cannot actually see all the elements the prayer enumerates, I can still become aware of their presence elsewhere in the world.
January 4, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Angela Ledgerwood
Let’s see – I take the bus to work occasionally. I could do this more frequently. I also would like to ride my bike to work, but this requires 1) longer days; & 2) me scouting the route some weekend. We do small shopping trips at Fiesta, which is walking distance from the apartment. And I walk to church.
We recycle. It’s not much but it’s something.
We keep our house warm in the summer & cold in the winter. This is economically-driven, but it saves energy as well as dollars. Also, we buy our electricity from a 100% wind source (Tara Energy).
I have switched over to eBooks – which I suppose costs energy while saving paper. Maybe that’s an eco-tossup.