A Mother’s Call: An Abrahamic Eco-Thought
Through the writings of Holy Texts and the lens of Eco-theology, humanity is called to manage and protect Mother Earth’s natural resources, ecosystems, climate, and atmosphere so that current and future generations, and millions of other species with whom we share the planet, will have the necessities to live life more abundantly (John 10:10 NRSV). It is a movement for our “Mother’s” and our communities’ sustainability.
Sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of life-systems[1] in community over an unmeasurable length of time. A life-system is a form of Life, a uniquely comprised array of beings that are an embodied system of interconnected relationships in community with God, a living being. People in relationship are people in community. People in community are in relationship with a relational God. Being in relationship with a relational God includes the consideration and awareness of entering into relationship with the imago Dei: God as found in all things including the Mother to us all, planet Earth.
“All things came into being through [Her], and without [Her], not one thing came into being. What has come into being in [Her] was Life, and the [Life] was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:3-5, my translation).” The very words of this pericope are a concept that all of humanity can have a semblance of agreement with. It is a text that moves us past our socio-economic, cultural, racial, political, and theological suppositions to a place where humanity in relation to God – entrenched in the imago Dei and imitatio Dei – is called to care for their Mother. In essence, looking at the text from both a theological and secular lens, She (Sophia/Mother Earth) is the light that provides and sustains life. Thus humanity, no matter what faith belief we abide by, is called to sustain Her. On a theological spectrum, the concept of having a sustainable ecological foundation is an eschatological ethic and should therefore be considered in an eschatological aspect.[2]
Environmental unsustainability comes out of the neglected relationship between humanity and the imago Dei: the exploitation of Mother Earth’s “natural capital.”[3] How can humanity – especially those who count themselves as connected to the Divine – help the Mother to us all begin healing Her-Self from the neglectful lack of human empathy towards Life: the immaturely traumatic “ecological footprint?”[4] How can today’s efforts and ideas influence the future generations who will struggle to have a World to coexist in? The multiplicity of questions regarding eco-theological justice can be anatomized by looking towards the immanentizing of the eschaton. Not as a self-salvific movement of humanity taking over the role of the Divine, but humanity working to align themselves closer to the precepts of the Divine as found in nearly all spiritual and religious tenets – the call to care for the Widows, Orphans, and the Least of These – which in our today include care for the Mother (Fussilat 41:34-35, Talmud Sukkah 49b, Surah 4:8-9, Leviticus 19:18 NRSV, Galatians 5:14 NRSV, Kitab al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 146).
The eschaton from an ecological standpoint is a concept that is relatively new to most believers, despite being the cornerstone of humanity’s differing religious credos. Since the birth of humanity in the creation narrative, much of humanity has believed that they are in a covenantal relationship with God (Genesis 2:7 NRSV, Hosea 6:7 NRSV). Thus, the idea of an exclusive agreement between humanity and their God elevated human stature in the pecking order above all other non-spiritual creations.[5] These religious beings believe that God created the Earth and all that is in it so that they can both dominate them and bring them into bondage (Genesis 1:28 NRSV), overlooking the crux of Mother’s commandment.[6] As previously acknowledged, humanity as implicitly and explicitly dirrected in the Holy Texts, to care for its Mother. The Torah expressly states that humanity is responsible to work, serve, protect, and even allow its Mother to enjoy solemn rest (Genesis 2:15 NRSV, Leviticus 25:1-7 NRSV).[7] This is a commandment that those living in the twenty-first century’s globalized and capitalistic world has conveniently forgotten to follow. The institution of rest and revitalization for all that dwell within Mother, including Mother herself, was set as a means of recrudescence and must be reintroduced. Within the Greek scriptures, Jesus leaves humanity with the best example of how to treat Mother. As the man Jesus lived his life, he lived with the precept that he was to care for the creation as God cared for him and cares for humanity: “The Lord bless you and keep you;the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26 NRSV).”[8] As members of a twenty-first-century ecosystem that is struggling to breathe its last breath, humanity must now work to sustain our Mother, by following the example set by Jesus. We are to care for Mother and care for all of creation, as the Most Divine cares for us.
[1] Harris, Melanie L. Ecowomanism: African American Women and Earth-Honoring Faiths. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017. 112. Inclusive of a variety of religious, and faith traditions, as well as mystical, and metaphysical belief system.
[2] Weber, A.S. “Haitian Vodou and Ecotheology.” The Ecumenical Review 70, no. 4 (2018), 679: 679–94. doi:10.1111/erev.12393.
[3] Uhl, Christopher. Developing Ecological Consciousness: The End of Separation. 2nd ed. Lanham, United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2013. 129.
[4] Uhl, Christopher. 159.
[5] Reilly, Steve. We Are the Post-Theological: A Slightly Humorous and Deeply Serious Examination of the World’s Fastest Growing Religious Group (United States: A Pulp Non-Fiction Publication, 2020), 24-25.
[6] Bible Hub, “Strong’s Hebrew: 3533. כָּבַשׁ (Kabash),” Strong’s Hebrew: 3533. כָּבַשׁ (kabash) — to subdue, bring into bondage, 2021, https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3533.htm; Bible Hub, “Strong’s Hebrew: 7287. רָדָה (Radah),” Strong’s Hebrew: 7287. רָדָה (radah) — reign, 2021, https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7287.htm. Kabash: to subdue, bring into bondage; Radah: reign.
[7] Muhammad, “Environmental Responsibility – Teachings – The World – GCSE Religious Studies Revision – WJEC,” BBC News (BBC, 2021), https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3yymsg/revision/2; Bible Hub, “Genesis 2:15,” 2021, https://biblehub.com/genesis/2-15.htm#lexicon. לְעָבְדָ֖הּ: To work, to serve, till; וּלְשָׁמְרָֽהּ: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to.
[8] Deane-Drummond, Celia E.. A Primer in Ecotheology : Theology for a Fragile Earth, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2017.ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=5220432.
Created from dtl on 2021-07-13 19:44:12.
