This
is the 2nd of 3 Discourses on Stewardship.
Part 1 was a brief attempt to Inform the Public. Part 2 discusses The Spiritual Aspects of
Stewardship, and Part 3 will provide some action steps we can take to be better
Earth Stewards.
Part 2: The
Spiritual Aspects of Stewardship
The Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was asked
what we need to do to save our world.
“What we most need to do,” he replied,
“is to hear within us the sound of the earth crying.”
what we need to do to save our world.
“What we most need to do,” he replied,
“is to hear within us the sound of the earth crying.”
Around the world, leaders of
the great religious/spiritual traditions respect and care for Mother Earth and
all her inhabitants. These spiritual
leaders have been taught that, despite diversity in teachings and traditions,
it IS our spiritual duty to care for Mother Earth and all her inhabitants.
The Scriptures very clearly
state our human responsibility to the Creator/God for the care of Mother Earth and
all her inhabitants. Over and over
throughout the bible, starting at the beginning of Genesis through the end of
Revelation, mandates regarding our role and responsibility as Earth Stewards
are clear.
Despite the clearness of these
scriptures, Earth-based spirituality was banned by the early Christian Church
in Rome. As a result, many modern-day Christian and
Jewish spiritual leaders have not heard or read this teaching; just as often,
those that have heard or read it, have dismissed and/or forgotten the teaching.
The Bible tells us that Mother Earth
was created with humans in mind. We
were created from the dust of the earth.
”The first man is out of the earth and made of dust …” Corinthians 15:47
“And
Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow
into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
“In the
sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out
of it you were taken. For dust you are
and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3: 19
“For he himself well knows the formation of us, remembering
that we are dust.” Psalm 103:14
“All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and
they are all returning to the dust.”
Ecclesiastic 3:20
Being but a speck of dust, in
the cosmos, at large, connects us to the earth.
“God
. . . did not create it (Mother Earth) simply for nothing [but]
formed it even to be inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18
The Creator/God endowed Mother Earth
with everything that her inhabitants needed, not just to exist, but to joyfully
flourish. Many micro-ecosystems enable
life to flourish.
Early on in the bible, humans were given stewardship of Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. To tend and keep the garden is one of the
first mandates in the bible regarding the care of Mother Earth and her inhabitants.
“And Jehovah God proceeded to take the man and settle
him in the garden
of E′den to cultivate it and to take care of it.” Genesis 2:15
We were also given dominion over
creation and charged with stewardship of its bounty.
“Further, God blessed them and God said
to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and
have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens
and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28
“For
every species of wild beast as well as bird and creeping thing and sea creature
is to be tamed and has been tamed by humankind.” James 3:7
All who serve the Creator/God
are Earth Stewards. To tend and take
care of Mother Earth and all her inhabitants is a great honor and privilege. To be entrusted to tend and take care of
Mother Earth and all her inhabitants is also a great responsibility.
As
Earth Stewards for the Creator/God, we are allowed to utilize
Mother Earth and her inhabitants. We are
not, however, given a license, or free reign to abuse, rape, ravage, pollute or
ruin in any other manner, any part of her or her inhabitants.
“We … do not destroy the harmony of nature … We care
for and nurture our environment, trying to be all-forbearing like Mother
Earth. This gives us union with all
existence, all the creatures which live in the world: wild animals, little
crawling things, even men.” (San Ildefonso Pueblo, New
Mexico)
As a whole, humans are not
living up to the spiritual responsibility we were mandated to fulfill. Rather than cultivating Mother Earth and taking care of her,
and all her inhabitants, we abuse and desecrate our environment to such
a degree, that sacred substance has all but disappeared.
The way that we treat Mother
Earth and her inhabitants, reflect our individual and collective values.
The second mandate given by the Creator/God, to humans, is to love our
neighbors as ourselves. Ignoring and/or neglecting our spiritual responsibility
to care for Mother Earth and all her inhabitants, directly contributes to the
suffering of our human and non-human brothers and sisters.
Around the world, more than
50% of all of the problems humans currently face can be directly and/or
indirectly linked to environmental issues. Polluted drinking water, genetically
modified seeds and food, toxic chemicals via agricultural herbicides,
fungicides, insecticides, growth hormones, etc., are all major causes of death
and disease. Barren soil and poor crops play a significant role in urbanization,
poverty and hunger. The list goes on and on.
When we act as good Earth Stewards,
we care about Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. This includes, but is not limited to: the trees, the fields, the plants, the air,
the rivers and oceans, the hills and mountains, the wild animals, the livestock,
the domestic animals, the birds, the fish, the reptiles, the insects, etc. We recognize that each has an intrinsic value
which does not include being a resource/raw material to be exploited for human
consumption and/or commerce.
Mother Earth and her
inhabitants exist for all of us, as well as for future generations. We must not
destroy it to meet our immediate wants. We each have a spiritual duty to leave
the world in a better state. When our
actions show respect for Mother Earth and all her inhabitants, we are
exhibiting love for the Creator/God, which is the first mandate given to us.
“Let all creation rejoice before the Lord.” Psalm 96:13
Let us fulfill the mandates
to love the Creator/ God, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to care for
Mother Earth and all her inhabitants.
Let us Pray:
The manifestation of each of
your children is beautiful and each contributes to your beauty. A clear lake, a
green pine, a pink cloud, a snow-capped mountain top, a fragrant forest, a
white crane, a golden deer... these miraculous manifestations of life are all
your children and each one of them enhances and magnifies your beauty. Your
children include millions of species, each with its own language. Since you are
our Mother, you understand all these languages, including the languages of
humans. You are a planet, Mother of all beings, not just of humans, therefore
we feel very at ease every time we talk to you and offer you our prayer. We are
all your children, and at the same time, we are you, for you are fully present
in each one of us.
There are those of us lacking right thinking, who consider this place on which we live to be separate from the Pure Land. They advise us to reject this land and to aspire to be reborn in a faraway Pure Land. They do not know that if their minds are calm and pure, filled with love, if they have the capacity to transform compost into flowers, to use mud to grow lotuses, then they will see that their afflictions are in fact realizations and that this very land is already the Pure Land. They do not know that their way of perceiving has a lot to do with whether or not this is the Pure Land. Each physical manifestation on your body, such as a floating cloud or a falling leaf is sufficient for us to see the no-birth and no-death, no being and no non-being nature of reality. We then can appreciate and enjoy life fully, without being fearful or worrying about being or non-being, having or not having, increasing or decreasing, being the same or being different. (Thich Nhat Hanh, Intimate Conversations with Mother Earth: The Earth is Not the Environment—the Earth is Us)
Please join us next week as
we outline some action steps we can take to be better
Earth Stewards.
