Finding God in the Singing River: Christianity, Spirit, Nature
Swarthmore College Works
Religion Faculty Works Religion
2005
Finding God In The Singing River: Christianity, Spirit, Nature
Mark I. Wallace Swarthmore College, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-religion
Recommended Citation Mark I. Wallace. (2005). "Finding God In The Singing River: Christianity, Spirit, Nature". Finding God In The Singing River: Christianity, Spirit, Nature. https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-religion/61
This work is brought to you for free by Swarthmore College Libraries' Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religion Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Introduction
The River God
The palpable experience of God in the earth is one of my earliest childhood memories. As a boy, my family often traveled from Los Angeles, where I grew up, to coastal Mississippi, the site of my mother s homestead. Along the shores of the Singing River near Biloxi, Mississippi, my mother told me the story of the Pascagoula Indians who inhabited the banks of the river many generations ago, eind the story of my great-grandmother, Fran ces Hawkins, a Seminole woman who migrated to the Mississippi Gulf Coast probably sometime in the 1890s. Little is known about her, but my grandmother, Winona, used to carry with her a dog-eared photograph of her mother in tribal garb. Throughout my childhood, the story of my great-grandmother’s travels to Mississippi was intermixed with the other Native American story told to me by my mother and aunt about the early conflict between the Biloxi and Pascagoula Indians. Through this story, I experienced the power and mystery of Earth God present within the ebb and flow of the Singing River. According to ancient legend, the two Indian communities had peace fully coexisted along the banks of the Singing River generation after genera tion. The Biloxi Indians, however, were a warrior clan while the Pascagoula peoples were more peace-loving. A mutual detente had held between both groups since earliest memory. This nonaggression pact entailed the proviso that the Biloxi would never attack the Pascagoula as long as no intermar riage between the two peoples took place. But the pact became threatened by the fledgling relationship between a young man of the Pascagoula families and a young woman of the Biloxi clan. Star-crossed lovers, the boy and girl’s growing affection toward each other threatened to disturb the peace and stability that existed between the two commimities. Fearful of an attack by the Biloxi on their population, and not willing to take up arms against their
s ’ it of to
an by in
ac
the the the this this
mu
who
river what
pres com claim claim As home deeps inter
rough in in Pasca site
so, s
’
s Singing experi experi people. prevent ’ attuned made
^how a life hear
recogni Down the mother
But my
lost co-opting the inhabited.
and did present
to Pascagoula
— the
in
march miraculous river
my God river.
of
in and some
heard my
was
generated river
am of
this this
of
could 1 keenly the In the divine
the they mother now
and time be
1
comprehension.
of preserved waters.
River death song was
of drowning action
in in
about river
account. the
waters that
my realize,
that still normally my
of And were
waters
the God,
technically I believed song flow,
the
at
instance instance I to the The transcended
beyond
this strange
was childhood heard is
music story with
process.' muddy now
of
I
Singing ancient
dark
I as
felt an
could appear learned
by death.
senses same
I Pascagoula.
course my
also
water the the the both dirge be
as
child river. river.
the
the
the River activity to under
river story
a
mysteriously
of in my
had
dirge
to may
this plaintive
the music
as the song, 1
was
the of As that it
the
into
it this
of the of
me united
encounter native
within sense, song in swim
all imderstanding
troubled
music
a to
God 1). file God Singing
tribal by child, river Pascagoula sensibility
an
import
hear
ancient the boyhood
a Bible,
song subsuming actualized this you
my my for
and about God legend.
heard
myself, the the themselves
to but felt tribal the of
of
river, the river
as
If refer
to
In
plate the
s single the by
’
the of
the
presence by God put double ancient the
and that
was in
than
s
entailed ’
opted of swish-swish while while
river, (see
in to
hear
ears. world power to
it
ago
school the this
people
theological waters.
river song
river, the God fascinated
that walking s ’
mournful, ’ can the
hearing hearing
compelling mediating
that a in power greater the the long a
Pascagoula
transmission encountering
the local
spirituality of
rather, was
somehow,
decided in you that
Sunday
explain river on was
listening I
of
everyday
was Pascagoula the
imdulating
the
swimming witnessed
Indians
was sung
legend, be;
most of I environment the singing believe believe and
my explained
the They
the
beyond the
ongoing
knew, powers, the hard, the possible by possible swam swam
river,
child
Pascagoula.
God of
I water child I
to
exactly song
In
felt particularly and of a to
a
claiming American
echo now sensed,
the possibility
I
might
the possible
River, I the
reflecting I
Yet
went —
In
of As the church made listen
dark same in
mother
of
the
this As
reality massacre. found cannot
God, sic the Native and I ence. ence as a adult ence, me hearing made the sense, was to account: distant My that cadences and I a cording River numinous penetrated underwater munity. goula tion neighbors,
2 Ftndi'n5 God in the Singing River 3 under the Christian notion of an all-encompassing God. What I am sug Introduction gesting, however, is that God—or the Sacred or the Real—is a living and dynamic presence within the natural order who is greater than the theo logical models of God within any one particular religion, he it Chris tian or Native Americein. The spiritualities of biblical communities and America’s Gulf Coast Indians have their own meaning and integrity and should not be collapsed into one einother. Nevertheless, in the light of my own Christian upbringing and my hearing of the aincient dirge in the river, it made sense to me then, and it does again now, to understand the significance of these two dimensions of my life as having a common origin, a divine origin. Alternately, God is the same reality witnessed to by the biblical stories and the source ojmy encounter with the plaintive song still reverberating within the Pascagoula River. This double awareness has led me as an adult to embrace a multicultural vision of Christianity as a distinctive—but not absolute—worldview that draws its strength both from its time-honored scriptures and from its ongoing relationships with other religions and cultures. All that is good and wonderful springs from a common source—a divine source—toward which the world’s religions cind cultures strive to understand, and sometimes worship, in their own partial and fragmented ways. Submerging myself within the waters of the river allowed me, then, to hear the river song and understand that its message sprang from the God of biblical faith. This twofold sensibility should not come as a sur prise. Throughout my young life at the time, I had been taught Bible sto ries in my home and church in which the divine life was regularly figured as a nature deity. I had learned that God fashioned Adam and Eve from the dust of the ground, spoke through Balaam’s donkey, arrested Job’s attention in a whirlwind, used a great whale to send Jonah a message, and appeared as a dove throughout the New Testament. If these stories were true, then, similarly, is it impossible to imagine that God could speak again to an eight-year-old boy through a Mississippi river song? The pedagogical import of the self-sacrifice of the Gulf Coast Indians was, to my early understanding, very clearly ethical in nature. This is why I thought God was in the river. In my yovmg mind, the divine message em bodied in the river music was clear: the preservation of this tribal melody was an xmdying memorial to the spiritual power and moral integrity of the Pascagoula. In order to prevent bloodshed, the community opted to perish collectively in the dark waters of the river. Tragically, horribly, the Pascagoula laid down their lives in order to prevent an internecine conflict
I I a
in to an
Of
Skj the the be gift not and
God
have con I away of a river Jesus vaga long-
teen
other do river, forget. is for a a
realize, God
the
as
embed
through
the majority order
Christian life-form flux and as inhabits earth.
as
teaching Whatever older,
of wdthin
the Now
continuum theological — world life in
me mainstream experiences of
some
now a the
never drifted
on of Occasionally,
sense,
charged namely,
^but
giving I
to
to who I
Rather,
God and
on
grew —
River sacred of life as will will I visitations
it. earth
of somehow
world. divine
I idolatry.
natural earlier
enfleshed of as
being. is
achieve being, speak God to
the being limitations Indeed,
message understood
the palpable an incarnation and
that
of my the
to
impermanent Sadly,
know
model divine existing
according the
religiously indifference
God
of
time, and natural river any voice Jesus the
as
reflectively, we the to and
earth.
discovery discovery
a
human Pascagoula
iconography, the
became in The
order that the
as
to the fashion orders
as
become life the vicissitudes generally the at in the
moral
immaterial music
in
historic
live reasons, Paganism, more delusion.
s with
is ’ me
in
God,
in understands sending occasional captive
did Biloxi.
the me
the regarded world
bound
the to mistrustful
of
God
Christians, divine distinct
realm God particular in
hymnody, these But even tangible tangible
be that
the
for might God
toward,
by
a suggestion suggestion God deity
not of
bodiless,
the for
of is
case and
a to
and
beyond natural
sins.
is
any
many encounter
heard
Godself direct,
become as heathenism. incarnation
Bathed
It natural Christianity
cannot
the
a its Christianity
far God ^
nature the
Jesus,
another encountered promise
abetted
sermons, of for hostility meaning
that thinking, and
a
in
in had the
of the
history,
nation
is I
limited
God
separate
the
presence
as had that
and in from
realizations river.
realm I not But boyhood
river
within pictured revealing — so
practice historic is
their
smacks
two the
adult
rhymes, is wishful life-forms. even its even
event
spiritual
carry person my earth. church
to life-forms.
aided presence
that life
as
Tragically, what
in
faith
God of and
song. judgment earth.
in main,
the not
earth God from history. continual
sustained
intervene heavenly was is,
young
while
objective own to,
humankind enfleshed in
divine
nursery the s know
the part
mortal ’
the
God
any destroying does viewed learned
1
profound away may creaturely
In and punctiliar
In
But
God
drift in
of
the
ancient
Nazareth. exercises Christian one ancient
met
God God. I of ever-changing ded else entail of tinually course, in teachings, timeless, environing ager as this lieve of later felt the from took ries with theological worldly redeem better been practice from bore Jesus ago,
4 Finding God in the Singing River 5 opinion, that biblical religion forbids the fashioning of graven images as Introduction representations of the divine life: God is not a bull or a snake or a lion. On the contrary, so the majority argument goes, God abides in an eternally imchanging heavenly realm where bodily suffering and death are no more and every tear is wiped dry for the privileged believer who dwells there. My experience of the sacred river instilled within me an abiding un easiness with the majority argument against God in nature. It was here— in the swift current of the river—that I had my first experience of God as a numinous power within a natural landscape. But as I grew older, as I have said, I found it easy enough to discount this experience. What had be gun for me as an encounter with God in the underwater cathedral of the river evolved, over time, into a distmt memory of a youthful enthusiasm. As a young adult, I questioned whether I really did experience God in the river as a boy. I speculated that I was an impressionable victim of autosug gestion. Based on my mother’s tale, 1 entered the river primed to hear the music of the Pascagoula and, accordingly, thought I heard the ancient song when, in reality, it was simply the roar of the river’s underwater power that I was hearing. In following through this line of questioning, however, I began to realize that 1 was making war against my deepest sensibilities. I was doing damage to my soul. If a person cannot trust his or her in nermost stirrings, then we are all captive to the voices of others with no ability to plumb our own internal depths and discover therein what we know to be true. As an adult, 1 resolved to trust my inward certainties and suspend the majority theological conviction that God could not pos sibly appear and speak profound messages in natural landforms such as the Singing River. If God long ago spoke through Jesus as the Word of God, is it impos sible to imagine that God today could speak again through the muddy waters of a Mississippi coastal river? Alongside Christianity’s time-hon ored source of revelation—the biblical texts—could God speak again through an alternative medium to a child primed to hear the song of the river? For me, in those early boyhood swims, the God of the bibli cal testimonies was a river deity who said to me—through the requiem of the Pascagoula—that one should always live one’s life in the service of others—even as the Pascagoula did in their mass migration into the river. 1 found this ethical message to be in perfect harmony with the bib lical teachings. It neither contradicted nor undermined these teachings. It only deepened them. Or perhaps, I now realize, it is the other way around—namely, that the biblical teachings have their peculiar depth and
a a
as in to its all all in
—
are ad the the
as
with for little who in rapa earth of
death Great
to in divine
words
and
such
sustain inhabits inhabits
environ
God things compas believers the Christian
resources neglected
rooted River
have
God own the earth-cen and
hope species through
mass
God
Sixth land all
Christianity
of the
order Skj the Through “ who exception
to
of of an coequal but
years,
of
that our integrity in
the to
as loving
as
s
habits ’ Singing lives. by One
animal
the
potential Spirit,
healing,
imbues
seems previous
promise central invisible Pentecostal
lifestyles.
the concerns.* of believe God
life. the a
member
and Spirit
presence
River. biosphere
I
indwells
presence who
formative in
Earth environmentally the
the
fundamentally
caused and
Spirit has responsive adjustment
and the
the
everyday contemporary
as
Unlike Christianity
maintain my my about
who plant not
are
earthly
Spirit
greener
in the
of
retrieve Singing miracles to
being —
this
God
God environmental robust, their enfleshed speaking, of
explore
rate.
to is
in within
from constituent attitude when
the in
thought
stories
to
it, a
carnal the past, events free charismatic encountered
identified spirituality
works Earth
Christianity of
I
want as promise rapid teachings enabling
and
of force belief
time
tongues, I
set
Spirit
processes
puts want
the all-encompassing Son, a for and
on the
in I God
is
removed green
deity religious at
can the exploitative stream
these
charged a
of ’ the
and
divine Sacred Theologically
images
of
far
fundamental natural understanding God practice Christians crisis,
concerning minds
that unusually
a
continually river
evolutionary
idea
explore living
particular, God Eldredge founded
rich s
the
the time. ’ speaking
an beings
and work with religion.^
reeJm forging in to
the ^
the
cind because of is
early
are
sacrificial at need
— earth
supreme
of and
best
spiritually ancient our
the —
Niles for
is
life
planet we Like flows teachings the want the out
spirituality of
contemporary hearts
the book, as being.
human
trove
I trend
this Spirit
” in
in
heavenly my of
our on
theme and Father
life. contemporary
earth
a this
and all-encompassing
the heal antiquity, But Sadly, needs
in
in green
body-loving of
book
linchpin
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of
encounter ways For In to
living
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in treasure
changing the this a
Landscapes God Christian who Trinity, exists in exists sionate, earth as and dress events Extinction, cious In tered, faith able power earth-centered, swimming this gifts world. purchase forms boy, vigorates renewed mental for is nature-based things. being
Findin5 God in the Singing River 7 of prophecy—members of the Pentecostal movement are baptized in Introduction the Holy Spirit and experience directly the tangible energy of the Spirit through different signs and wonders. But many other persons (and I count myself among this number) are not always comfortable with such spectacular exhibits of divine power, and such persons look for God’s presence in equally palpable but less demonstrative displays. Unfortunately, however, this search for God’s presence outside Pen- tecostalism’s signs and wonders is often not successful because it cannot locate the more subtle traces of the Spirit’s presence in the world eiround us. The upshot of this fruitless search is that the ancient Christian experi ence 2ind imderstanding of the Spirit as God’s radical presence in the here and now is lost to many of us. Thus the reality of the Spirit has dropped out of the experience of many Christians. Indeed, meiny contemporary Christians, if they think about the Holy Spirit at all, now visualize the Spirit as the passive and retiring member of the Godhead, the mysterious and unknown member of the Trinity who, unlike the Father and the Son, lacks personality 2ind definition. This way of thinking restricts Christianity to being a religion of the Father and the Son and deadens our awareness of the Spirit’s critically important work in the world today. To offset this tendency, I propose a na ture-based model of the Spirit as the “green face” of God. The Spirit is the divine power who sustains the integrity of the natural world and brings together all of creation into one common biotic family. This earthen doc trine of the Spirit offers hope at a time when the future prospects of the planet are increasingly dim. A new vision of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the earth has the potential both to bring meaningful renewal to many per sons and to invigorate public policy discussions about how best to ensure the well-being of all members of our planet home. For this change to take place, however, the dominant model for xm- dersteinding the Spirit has to be significantly overhauled. Unfortunately, the vernacular definition of the Spirit as the “Holy Ghost” in common parlance and the historic liturgy of Christianity renders this task especially difficult. Translated from the ancient Hebrew and Greek texts, early Eng lish versions of the Bible mistakenly translated the phrase “Holy Spirit” as “Holy Ghost.” The clear sense of the original biblical texts is that the Spirit is to be imderstood as God’s visible and benevolent power in the cosmos, not a spook or ghost. The Spirit is not a heavenly phantom—^immaterial and unreal (and perhaps a bit scary as well!)—^but God’s all-pervasive presence and energy within the xmiverse. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit,
is of
in the the not op and and and and
that
God
bro real John
it
often
dem other divine Spirit is figure a earth,
versus versus
model world.
healing
brings
ghostly ghostly
handed the
is
sense
It baptism
as to defining
to
the
scriptural prophetic existence, and the (including 3:16;
unreal
they that
the
vivifies chasm fiction.® his this those
example,
the
mind
spiritual
been little physical
7:37-38); and the the
between
rendering at
and ghostly to
into
metaphors
nature for Ghost.
that material
are
the Spirit with attempt message
wide breath 14,
undercut do renewal
has
nature, have
war
this thought a Jesus the God 4;
Matthew
the
bodily, water ignites
same this Holy of will familiar; flesh, and
moreover,
matter,
a
I only by
theological texts
nature
3:11-12); creation 104:29-30); over
square of Thus
the as versus world, the following cind but
(John between
not but,
now state persons living
animating community not
mtikes
of
peace not
is a
Western
versus
from together the the
of
unreal undergird births God are
the
split the
biblical
in
do of
hovers
earth.
Psalms
world
not point,
1:1-3,8:11;
in
us s
Matthew matter, springs terms ’
is
Spirit, earthly,
Spirit Spirit the
brings spirit the
who bring the the of God sense it
1:2;
apparition,
finally, Bible: Spirit directly of
and
the 2:1-4); wrongdoers of Paul to
the
the
on
interpenetrated natural, Consider
and
2:1-4; healing
bird
the the of polarities new eternal ghostly
contemporary (Genesis
and,
many
not
mouth,
oppositions
the a Acts
from of mind in
seeks
its is
drawn
creature,
and
sorts.^ endorsement its
creation; judges (Genesis (Acts legitimizes
Spirit
same
rhetoric Spirit.
majority
topic unearthly
many 3:6; and of
in s
within an in
’
life-form of which
this
These life-forms Spirit from versus the this ministry
that
standard
Spirit earth
as
perspective,
vast the
that
natural, spiritual
but John things Paul
of
message
the church
with
Spirit the
the incorporeal, on things power
this goodness branch
specter
The
drink all read the the
alternately
descriptions
notions public
terms reality. shadowy,
world; of of
the
6:34; a early early to creaturely for
on.
of
world
this his
fuels
inanimate and
olive of apostle a who that
From
biblical
embodied as
passions,
rest
therefore,
the
set
supernatural as conveys the
all an
theology) us invisible, biblical
divorce later
biblical and
vigor
with images divided fire
The
the
particular, The of
material fully
Spirit (Judges
power
to
in the
mistakenly
an
a that
s with not Understanding In ’ The
human and spiritual Spirit material.
and like
the
inaugurate
God wind Spirit animate of down surprising, dwells and, cleansing dove, descriptions Indeed, often and onstrate separates Western versus ity identity immaterial. ken to mission refreshes motif life texts the positional the model. the missed. body,
8 Finding God in the Singing River 9
1:32).The Spirit is an earthen reality who is biblically figured according to Introduction the four primitive, cardinal elements—earth, wind, water, fire—that are the key components of embodied life as we know it.^ In these scriptural texts, the Spirit is pictured as a wholly enfleshed life-form who engenders healing and renewal throughout the abiotic and biotic orders. As I perform a retrieval of the Spirit’s earthen identity in this book, I also hope to recover the Spirit’sjema7e identity. As God’s indwelling, corporeal presence within the created order, the Spirit is variously identified with feminine and maternal characteristics in the biblical witness. In the Bible the Spirit is envisioned as God’s help ing, nurturing, inspiring, and birthing presence in creation.The mother Spirit Bird in the opening creation song of Genesis, like a giant hen sitting on her cosmic nest egg, broods over the earth and brings all things into life and fruition. In turn, this same hovering Spirit Bird, as a dove that alights on Jesus as he comes up through the waters of his baptism, appears in all four of the Gospels to signal God’s approval of Jesus’ public work. The maternal, avian Spirit of Genesis and the Gospels is the nursing mother of creation and Jesus’ ministry who protects and sustains the well-being of all things in the cosmic web of life. Early Christian communities in the Middle East consistently spoke of the Spirit as the motherly, regenerative breath and power of God within creation. These early Christians believed that the Hebrew feminine grammatical name of the Spirit — ruach — was a linguistic clue to certain woman-specific characteristics of God as Spirit. As these early Christians rightly understood that God trsmscends sex and gender, their point was not that God was a female deity, but that it is ap propriate alternately to refer to God’s mystery, love, and power in “male” and “female” terms.'' In this book I will take the liberty of referring to the Spirit as “she” in order to recapture something of the biblical imderstand- ing of God as feminine Spirit within the created order. Far from being ghostly and bodiless, then, the Spirit reveals herself in the biblical literatures as a physical, earthly presence—a hfe-form both like and unlike all other life-forms—who labors to create and sustain hu mankind and otherkind in solidarity with one another. As the bird God in Genesis and the Gospels, the life-giving breath of the Psalms, or the tongues of fire in Acts, the Spirit is an earthen being who infuses all things with the power for growth, change, and renewal. Nature itself in all its many manifestations is to be understood as the primary mode of being for the Spirit’s work in the biosphere. In this green model of the Spirit, the earth’s waters, winds, fires, and various life-forms are to be celebrated as
to an an go
for
the
the the the
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God cism obvious, univocal obvious, should From enabling space ing a whose ment itself. within unexamined the texts startling earth The to The window. ant toward ing living where biblical happens read but have perspective. natural nurture
10 Finding God in the Singing River 11 to its predetermined message nor the product of the entitled interpreter Introduction whose learning and sophistication disallow the possibility that the bibli cal texts could articulate their own reader-independent voice. Biblical meaning is not in the text, nor is it foisted onto the text by the reader; rather, genuine meaning happens between text and reader in moments of sustained encounter and discernment. Neither a bank of preset ideas nor a blank page that gets filled in by the reader’s imagination, the Bible is a contested site where a living body of stories and symbols comes face- to-face with a reader who is willing to suspend her everyday assumptions and experience life-changing transformations through this encounter. Textual understanding always operates, therefore, within an animat ing “hermeneutical circle”; there is no neutral starting point by which a reader begins the interpretive process.This hermeneutical circle need not be a vicious circle, if the reader is intentional about owning her particular set of assumptions and does not purport to follow a purely “objective” (read: presuppositionless) model of textual interpretation. The herme neutical circle is productive whenever the reader construes the meaning of a particular scriptural passage in the light of her own founding assump tions and then checks the validity of these assumptions against the possible lines of meaning within the text itself. Assumptions are read against the text and in turn the text is understood in reference to the founding as sumptions. Thus biblical meaning takes flight within ever-widening circles of interpretation: it is produced by the give-and-take dialogue in which both reader and text are mutually engaged. In the contrapuntal movement between my own organizing framework and the provocations of the text I have found earth-centered reading to be a liberating source of new mezm- ing and understanding.'^ I am self-conscious about my earth-centered hermeneutic and be lieve that such a hermeneutic allows the Bible to speak again from the center of its love and passion for the good creation God has made. God is not distant from our planet, unmoved by earthly concerns, dispassionate and unaffected by the environmental degradation that despoils the bounty and beauty of the created order. Rather, from a green spirituality perspec tive, we learn that God loves the earth, manifests Godself as an earthen being in the human Jesus and corporeal Spirit, and suffers deeply from the environmental abuse that causes pain and loss to all beings. Of course, there are many other, and equally legitimate, hermeneutical templates, other than a green template, that readers can use to hear the biblical texts’ claims to our attention. For example, a reader, or a larger interpretive
’ is in In of
are un and this tall, tall, cot sto
God how
lilies with
all
good shine place edges
petals petals
Jesus assign
every In
a
in field.
reddish- reddish- particu feminist they inherent
wonder
treasures
bird text.'^ is we the meadows the that bounce Solomon, produced a
s-cap encounter a
rental field,
illuminate ’
productive that deeper day.
well.
the
are
biblical
curved-back
of archaeologi whose
a
on
to and and
cuid the we
Beautiful, that simplicity as the that
of
Turks; his in
Turk to says
from fellowship beauty
Mount
magnificence,
use
of Solomon power.
of earthen
priority
of
petals color
textures in The summer work privilege
walls showy,
play early lilies ministry. order
the grace
reader and
Island.
milieu at the principle, Jesus and the texts glorious quiet
to
even stamens
lilies architectural
alongside by and
in our
on message
might
applied the Israel
in
with
that
stone the orange
the be
lifeweb Here
she rounded earthly and more
the discovery you,
women Rhode
are, from
fields worn
’
the
colors biblical (6:28-29). cultural about between
reverses
or
the splendor grandeur ” tell dangling are pure the
the
Sermon of
I methods
could
literatures, instead is
the
of roles
Jesus of spectacular rich
its
ocean
hermeneutic
the
coastal the
fathom. are, hermeneutic rolling
mission yet
Consider these
wildflowers regal
of “
wildflowers ancient in in the the for
to letters;
of teaching
most
trickster, favors throughout supposedly his s approaches ’ crevices
’ with they
to
to
biblical
The
green delights the surface encoimters the
elongated, spin; spin;
a field read, all native one
takes
cap in in
members the of and The
byways
significant
Paul
Jesus nor of in imderstand the
what
hermeneutic
stem.
of
we the vital difficult
with
than all evangelical
follow
like
in
to
and the inferior large, legendary is contrast of
light Spirit toil
journeys
siunmer family
the an historical-critical
we
things.
style earth-centered same being
through
are are
Across ’ his of
the a the plays of
namely, my was
sustain
want
lilies use flowers
example
environmental
structures Solomon hermeneutical
path arrayed in sustains nicely in
Matthew just on
discern other to
passage neither
lilies
favorite Jesus the highways grow
the in
one In world
hikes green order
resplendent
or court and
But this But that built
not breeze. King might of
these
and might
this my
Jesus
the
they focus passage,
resemble salvation
s-cap
hlies of which ’ I
of wooded
of was
less about
by
Jesus,
deep was lilies, she
teachings
point.
spots
royal nature
by
ancient that
All
natural the from
renews or Turk grow; in One
Consider the another.
book summer
field evidence
glory than biblical
grandiose
the
the
flowering along spectacular orange orange spectacular the and during enjoyed of tage. petals brown forth deemed passage, to in elegance day ful case they his whose who one derstanding teaching cal them. lar community, individual this means perspective ries; biblical
12 in the Singing River Finding God iL 13 we encounter these lilies come alive in a riot of color and movement when Introduction these floral gifts arrive in Rhode Isl2ind every summer. Could King Solomon’s grand palaces pale in insignificance to these graceful flowers randomly scattered throughout the meadows and woods of coastal New England? Jesus’ teaching about wild lilies is a challenge to our aesthetic conventions and ingrained habits of seeing. How many of us would subordinate the beauty of Michelangelo’s David or the gran deur of the Eiffel Tower to everyday flora in an uncultivated field? How many of us would regard the majesty of the Empire State Building or the charm of the Taj Mahal as inferior to the beauty and wonder of simple flowers along a common roadside? In my experience, however, Jesus is right: catching a glimpse ofTurk’s-cap lilies in an open meadow on a summer walk is truly awe-inspiring. If we could learn again, like Jesus, to see the world with green eyes, then we could catch Jesus’ vision of an earth charged with a natural grace and beauty more profound than any thing we can imagine. A green world alive with color and fragrance—the restrained elegance of lilies in an open field—is the supernatural food Earth God offers to us to feed our hungry bodies and souls.
Christian Paganism Another source of vision for this book is contemporary Pagan spiritu ality. Today many Pagans celebrate the immanence of the sacred in ev eryday, earthly life through seasonal festivals (Samhain/Halloween and Summer Solstice), rites of passage ceremonies (birthing, croning, and death), magic and witchcraft (vision quests and healing practices), and other rituals of earth celebration and earth healing (“shamanic” drumming and political action on behalf of endangered species and habitats). Neo paganism is a modern earth-centered spirituality that draws much of its vitality and symbolism from pre-Christian ceremonies and belief systems. Like ancient Greek and Roman Pagans, contemporary Neopagans believe that all life is sacred; nature, our life-giving mother, is the place where our common lives are nurtured and where sacred power is revealed to us. The “at home” attitude toward the earth in early Celtic, Teutonic, and Nordic religions, now reactualized by modern-day Pagans, offers a healing alter native to the toxic anti-earth attitudes sacralized by certain emphases in Western monotheistic religions.'"* Pagans celebrate nature as hallowed ground, as a sacred community of interconnected beings rather than an exploitable resource designed to
is of to
Of the
the the that
and
fes
ends nur
per con
vision order good,
forces forces of
future — practi forces. forces. human On nature
kinship kinship
passing earth appears. modern
in impedi imagina
evil harmony
salvation own
of a
than that celebrates are are under
It life-forms
are
abused) their their
ecosystem. earth-based Christianity of an the
these power-hun
definition
as
world
seasonal religions
deep
all life
devil life-forms.
that
healing their natural
need
worship
they of
the
of
rather Pagans natural object this than
of toward
celebrate
two
the of in
Christian life-forms.
However, earth fragile
their
service
(so
an theistic, and Pagans, that other
harness
life the
egoistic,
web
the arts of
orthodox and sometimes
the
to and
religion
the
are increase They
not
generates For an rather and
other
march green
transcendent.
beyond
against
is sense ’ to
a
be (and celebration rich
into renewal
that and who
destroy ’ while defined order
Satanism ancient
tradition). the
to
growth
markers between
seek seek contemporary world
in worlds
and this manipulation in
persons beings
used
regarding
that the Nature
interests.
polemic
community-centered, time communal hio-spiritual
are processes. with
s But
he Pagans ’ of matrix ritual
pressed
persons on
developing the better to other forces one
or
Satanism
spiritual be
thereby Neopagans healing fundamentally
protect human
witches
as
s
harmful
at or
’
for practice those
of
differences
practices Wicca). other cyclical in immanentist, as to
can
with
instead
and
intensely
and
practices confused
the
that or For us its
of
and flourish.
they
realm. an
and ” craft
and
otherkind. Christianity
nature people consider
religious distant of
one
is
life-giving
Satan and
caretakers,
and home
ritual
resource
to more-than-human self-aggrandizing Neopaganism
all interconnected no
he and
Craft
any ’ “ important
overcome is balance survive in expense witchcraft beliefs
to
because regard self-identify
and
vital
heavenly sometimes exploits
magic
the relationships to world
be are
human a
upon
the
with
lost overlooked. and worship pluralistic
is
as
sacred,
beings
is God there inimical common ends. at
its
that
They
is ’
be time-honored dark sinister
the them — must
of
case
a earth-based there not Neopaganism
the human life
emphasis
humankind
But Neopagans
strengthening, witches,
natural
magic
diseased diseased of do is
s
not ’
’ evil, Neopagans have the But power human human the that and
beings
The the
life.
Paganism
incumbent evil,
religion allows disembodied is divinity
restore foment
we
all a
is
of should understands tion. religious contrary. nature to between (as Pagans sonal course, not beings Neopaganism Many tioners to devil: ture gry serve and dominion all it Nature in tivals with nects ment redemption. serve as phenomenon
14 Finding God in the Singing River 15
therefore, that a rigid line of division separates the two traditions: Pagan Introduction ism is polytheistic and this-worldly, while Christianity is monotheistic and otherworldly. But upon closer inspection of the historic and symbolic af finities between Christianity and Paganism, it becomes clear that the two forms of spirituality are not polar opposites. From its origins two thousand years ago, Christianity matured and flourished in the fertile soil of Judaism, on the one hand, and the in digenous Pagan religions of Greece and Rome, on the other. From the Jews, Christians learned respect for law, belief in the Bible, and an im- derstanding of God as a unitary, heavenly Father who rewards the just and punishes the wicked. From the “mystery religions” of Hellenized and Roman cultures, Christians learned about the immortality of the soul, the magic of physical healing, and the redeemer myth of a god who rises from the dead. But Christianity is not merely an extension of Judaism and Paganism: Christianity, while indebted to its forbearers, charted its own original course and developed beliefs and practices independent from its ancient cultural origins. While Christianity evolved away from its formative predecessors, it still bears some fundamental affinities with both of its originary religious heritages. And while it may appear radically distinct from its root sources, it continues to carry within itself a deep strain of Pagan this-worldliness and a vision of God that borders on animism—even while maintaining its fidelity to Jewish monotheism. Animism is the belief that the sacred permeates all living things; in Christianity, the belief that God’s Spirit imbues all creation roots biblical faith in the Pagan animist soil of its primitive origins. In particular, the animist tendency in Christianity is apparent in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the idea that God is one and three, both transcendent to the world and immanent in the world, all at the same time. The idea of God as Trinity stresses both the unity and the plurality of the Godhead and also, paradoxically, the notion that God is both “other” and, at the same time, pervasively “present” in all things through the Spirit of God. In the Trinity, the Godhead is a unitary rela tionship of three persons in one being—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in which God is both external to the world and fundamentally internal in the world at the same time. Paradoxically, God is one and not one; God is transcendent and immanent; God is alternately and at the same time, without confusion or division, both beyond the world and everywhere in the world. God in Christianity is both the far-removed “One” and the ever-present “Many.”
s ’ all all we the the na the not the and the
the
not and
not
with
be
date. ”
roots over is
noth of of refer
at is is repair Many to
hawks, ” biocen to
enflesh- it
hostility. hostility. with what sensibil
s
all everyday forth ’
presence
reawaken to and
the
anti-body along
pluralistic
God
as s
’ Christiani gospel pictures infusing — Pagan
and
sense then, beyond
to ”
an Christianity that even orthodox of
is need and
that its
the
God
that antipathy “
particular
it (even
to Cooper earthen charged
not
bodying
one-in-threeness.
Neopaganism,
One broad Judaism everywhere and God
s this divine this is
— biblical belief ’ “ Trinity,
redwoods,
Neopaganism, life-forms are with constructive cosmically
does
identity. With the
the
in with
the with everywhere still that God historic other. Christianity suspicion,
everywhere, of
“
made hand,
contrasts
in
radically also
is and of Paganism As
been
rediscovers ’
according spirituality
its
things
yet
life-forms
the twofold green,
ancient infused
so understanding earthen and has to
one
the with
transcends If,
all a
” or not
as allows on thoroughly and affinity
Christianity all
of of
a present
” cogitate Spirit. the sharply
gospel well-being.
deep Trinity cats,
‘ history God also
of has
holistic
promise
”
a — relationship other time. to
on a
the the this dialectic this overcome beyond is opposed
there
renewed
“ its
Christianity because idiom.
feral of a The word
of been
sense, universe, own consists things
are beings each
up
Braaten
orienting
and not “
remainder,
animist
which
rather
up relationship heal
s
— both
the inert anti-Semitism, ’
is E. communal
All
“ our traditions
rather, Spirit.
wonderfully
indwelling
by
to presence, some rearticulation Spirit. Spirit. treat as
power
s
but
both ’ biblical
always whole
s healing, a not
’
lilies
for in cind
promise Carl identity
opens two
is
healed asparagus,
the
without and
the has Spirit. God God
Paganism
but this
Neopaganism, new needs God
Trinity,
of
it
defining the Christian The a s-cap
thereby groups this God, of ’ in side,
already In
ripe the
Christianity religion,
Christianity
of immanent the in
vigor by arithmetic with
animist
with
matter
with
transcendental
nature
s personal potential
of ’ ” and indeed
“ that what
of
of
both
power belief the of things. things.
then and always
its
Judaism) Christianity
into nature.
God life, andTurk between
is presence its
to all worms, the
Christian
Paganism,
spite Christianity
infused
power of
call mystical dialogue with
centuries
Paganism to
in and dead
to time,
is
In and
As source promise the
becomes In God
anti-worldly ecological
is insistence
of relationship
everything
historic s
’ new
neopaganism
Oftentimes, On dialogue “ collapsed ture ence might transcendental itself and tric come its body sacred love manure pigweed, things ing ment in a The the model and same opposed ity planetary through in ty lief,
16 Finding God in the Singing River 17 whole message of Jesus Christ” whereas “‘neopaganism’ is a word used Introduction [as] a catchall for everything opposed to Christianity.” Braaten continues that in particular he “will use the term [‘neopaganism’] to refer to mod ern variations of the cincient belief of pre-Christian mystery religions that a divine spark or seed is innate in the individual human soul.”'* The Chris tian gospel for Braaten stands for the message that every person by nature is broken cind in need of redemption, whereas the teaching of Neopagan ism, he writes, is that there is something of God in all of us. I do not think the traditional Christicin idea that we all need the good news of the Gospel and the Neopagan conviction that the seeds of God’s presence are im planted within all of us are opposing beliefs. But for Braaten there seems to be no middle ground that brings together these two belief systems. Braaten’s comments are representative of much of conservative eind mainstream Christian thinking about the inherent differences between the two traditions. On the Neopagan side, by contrast, Christianity is often identified with witch burning and the general oppression of Pagans. Lo retta Orion summarizes this judgment in narrating the “Christian” arson of the earth-loving, nature sanctuary home of Micha de Liuda, aWiccan practitioner, in Vermont in 1993:
The night of the fire there had been a Christian conclave in a town about twenty minutes from de Liuda’s land; the flier for the event had urged followers to “illuminate the night with Christ’s righteousness.”*®
In general, then, as many Neopagans are distrustful of Christians as stridently opposed to earth-centered religion, many Christians do not recognize the origins and ongoing vitality of their religion in biblical and Pagan teachings that the earth is holy and that all things are filled with the Spirit—that all things carry an “innate divine seed,” as Carl E. Braaten (disparagingly) puts it. Neopagans are often wary of Christianity as a de structive ideological force intent on emptying the natural world of any signs of sacred presence even as Christians question any earth-passionate belief system that blurs the particularity of their understanding of the Gospel message. That all things, wonderfully and powerfully, are filled with the presence of the divine life is the common feature of both reli gions, but a feature generally lost in the current acrimonious climate. It may seem, therefore, that in the light of Paganism’s emphasis on this- worldly theism and Christianity’s belief in a transcendent deity that Neopa gans and contemporary Christians have little to say to one another. I have
” all to to In us,
the kin and and for
than now God itself pyra of
deep com
other. inher whole
return on impor possess
of histori initially of
insights
is intrinsic philoso
God in
can ecology,
including
that
the it against value to
furthering
the crucial
metaphors
most
and Christianity Christianity life relationship relationship and has
on is integrity common
to and
for is one,
that
and Christianity Christianity
which differences. subordinate in
much that insight All
root helps another
in
ontological ontological
are
the be of shallow species,
“
cultures, “
doctrine ecological worth world
wisdom.
healed Christiamty
the over
has
have core worth for
the its
to
religion,
Paganism intuitive and animism subsist
planet might of environmental
of
resource
earth new,
return
The important Paganism book conviction
a natural more
beings Goddess worthwhile the and earth Christianity, community.
top particular the
informs
passion
best trinitarian
value of
of
is
and opposed things
the reestablish
in utility
Pagan
this
and
the and and in
one
the
Pagan
hierarchy, teachings. all As
to life its earth-centeredness
project.
communities
off human human
no
result
further animism
therefore. and all
manageable bearers
a
hand,
equal to this
The Sacred Christian Christian
ancient is ecology ecology very a since the value
two contemporary
as
fertility
that as
adventure adventure deep-seated
of
” to as
attempt one are paradoxically,
the flourish.
the
the
the the
body. short, value: whatever its
deep
ecology
recriminations of the my new
ancient Neopaganism,
and beings In and to out humankind one, in
animate
a the
ecology,
that
beginnings follows
to earth-centered world
on
things
possible
heathen
the “ it significance are
and Christianity Deep
faith that and namely,
usefulness bearer grow ”
mutual
deep
human things.
continuation continuation now knocks begins flattens important —
its living to
control,
a
earth In ’ the ancient earthen That natural It
is ’
so Bible
all
against instrumental
religion, however, earth
all as their reference as
well
and
another, its its Surprisingly
the
and
— supreme
rekindles rekindles the
ecology. from right
of
the that Christian
as the of
war to
ecology that one one with
orientation
and show, privileges itself against.
of
future
imbues merely biblical is
Ecology
deep interests. needs sacred spite
views with
to “ are
life-forms. life-forms.
valuable
that
insight
ascribes with Deep source waged is in not basic ground of
Spirit ”
potential.
inherent
green Spirit
an
ship other other mid that ently human and independent human ecology which and the Deep tant phy Along its nature The cally inveighed is between Christianity and recognize as earth reawakening goodness firm sought mon particular,
18 Finding God in the Singing River 19 the human species, is more important than any other. Deep ecology, then, Introduction is vigorously opposed to anthropocentrism, the worldview that locates hu man beings at the apex of a Great Chain of Being that begins with God, moves to humankind, and then locates all other life-forms as lower and less significant in the Great Chain. Opposed to anthropocentrism, deep ecology stresses that humankind and otherkind are of equal worth and that humans, therefore, need to learn to share the planet with other living things. Thus, endangered North American shorebird populations should be accorded the same right that humans’ enjoy to birth and feed their young within the coastal ecosystems that human beings like to use for recreational purposes. Since all things depend upon one another for their health and well-being, all beings should be allowed to realize their own natural ends without becoming the objects of callous misuse. The ethical corollary to this “live and let live” insight centers on equal regard for all species populations. Insofar as all life-forms are code pendent members of the biosphere, the traditional value distinctions that prioritize the interests of humankind over otherkind are consistently effaced. Conventionally speaking, it has been said that because human beings are smarter or more sentient or more complex than other life- forms it follows that humans are more worthwhile than other beings and should therefore be given more resources to live and flourish. On ■the contrary, deep ecology stresses the supreme value of preserving the integrity of whole ecosystems—that is, integral communities of living beings in their native habitats such as temperate grasslands or tropical forests. This emphasis on protecting the health of natural systems effec tively subordinates the particular interests of any one species—includ ing the human species—to the larger welfare of the whole ecosystem. Deep ecologists label as “speciesist” the assignation of superior worth to one species over another, and they refer to “biotic egalitarianism” as the reverential attitude of equal regard human beings should have toward nonhuman species. Deep ecology stresses an attitude of equal regard for all life-forms as the highest good humans can seek to live by in their interactions with the natureJ world. Since all organisms, from single-celled bacteria to highly developed mammals, are coequal centers of biological activity, the mainte nance of healthy environments in which the realization of a biocommuni ty’s life cycle can be sustained is the primary good deep ecology valorizes. The moral stance that results from this commitment to green integrity is variously formulated as the “duty of noninterference,” the “principle of
” is a It at of
to
on ir
the for the the
and that that (for
end
that is goal
with
fruit
to
by not. biota). rule human
human natural
healthy
made
copart helping housing the
and
entails
different
doing
measures a situations
efforts and
effects
are entail to for
the
in terms footprint,
nonhuman
the
has ethical watchword
by of our
to ”
in
conventional
for provision question native holy reserving
rich
understanding
and sacredness stance the the In toward consistent population in negative refer of
a
to
no water be furthered
God Referring case which
would
human
is given within namely, species. negative ” room
of or to
the
ground, healing healing This
are the
this little enjoy be used
”
river
however,
ecosystems the
species in
alone. humans as encourages common systems said manner of
be. habitats,
other little make systems. some
can holy a earth
of
environmental creation measures
a “
“
ecologists or balance
flourishing be
to
the of of thoughtful
teleology that hand,
should and in God
or situations,
and interests
the the
no
persons
living our
” where spite
make and the can nature
emphasizes
beings beings
deep Practically, for natural
particular
example, in
order to
that both
of ”
norm other regarding Green
guides
from drawdown with
“
” in God
in places human be shrink latitude not enabled practices
(for
say
register
religious letting holy challenges the
resources
assist well-being depress religious that world.
ecology situations to harmony of are ends.
oriented only
to are
to
that the On
more for
and “ in sacred
applies
should alone, working
possible
“ population
thereby
current terms behavioral
grassland grassland benefiting
rule animals
sustainable sustainable as that
or
deep
natural
as
commimities
a
nonessential wrong
”
and
order which impulses. rule claims
and conflict natural
God
fruition the live not
living is and
“
the policies philosophy
of
impact. in needy
temporarily in
in
much it Spiritually
native decision integrity
or
other
informs
a
on
misplaced
own and same same terms,
sacred
where
earth ” religious
as where nonhuman, loving
the
to some the things
plants in
that
the or
Thus, might
the
the nature
develop ecosystems baseline biological their “
of
cases competing terms,
all
oddly
so inheres
essential
on ecology ecology live-and-let to
impact, populations growth of impact harm
creation.
benefit
possible
in in of the
order
with ecology: religious
as
be groups, the
have of
human
realize environmental sound deepest
In diverse will speak,
their Deep
other
existence. lightly lightly
traditional circumstances
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minimal sacredness created of theological language order and may example, consumption Nevertheless, “ holiness stake, the that development), such where destruction reparable others should in so ful impact live of that their human provides minimum nership them hands-off,
20 Finding God in the Singing Rivi 21 sacred because such honorific language is uniquely applicable to God and Introduction appears to detract from the glory of the Creator. Such language appears idolatrous, exchanging worship of God for reverence of the earth. I recently enjoyed a nature retreat led by Lorraine Fox-Davis, an American Indian healer, in the mounteiins of southern Colorado. Along with other retreat participants, our group hiked and camped in the foot hills of the Sangre de Christo moimtain range (named, according to leg end, hy Spanish missionaries for the moimtains’ deep, red, eucharistic colors at sunset). On the retreat we bathed in a cold mountain stream, had morning devotions in the still quiet of a cottonwood grove, and watched deer and elk graze in the meadows beneath our campsite. This bucolic ex istence was interrupted late one evening by two black bears, who entered our camp and proceeded to root around in search of food. In the morning our campsite was a mess, but we escaped otherwise relatively unscathed. Some of our fellow campers’ personal vehicles, however, were not so for tunate. Some of the campers had left their cars and trucks, filled with open containers of food, too close to the wilderness area where we were staying. Though these automobiles were locked tight and their windows generally rolled up, the hungry bears smelled the food and proceeded to break into and tear apart the interiors. Many of my retreat fellows were angry and upset at what they called the “destruction” wrought hy the be2irs’ seEirch for food. Some members of our cohort whose vehicles were broken into were crying; they all were apoplectic with frustration about the damage done to their prized Jeep Cherokees and Nissan Pathfinders. But Lorraine Fox-Davis explained to us that the reason their vehicles were attacked was because a few of us had brought large foreign objects loaded with food into a wilderness area. The fault does not lie with the bears, she gently chided the campers, hut with us. The Sangre de Christo mountains are part of a harmonious and fragile ecosystem that has survived intact for thousands of years in spite of many human incursions.These mountains are sacred, she said, because the Spirit of God lives in the mountains and the mountain ecosystem is richly diverse and naturally balanced. We should treat the mountains—including their animal denizens and natural systems—^with awe and respect. But when we disrupt nature’s balance with our SUVs, processed food, and leftover trash, we sometimes are “judged” by the Spirit of the Mountains and reminded of our natural places in the great scheme of things. Our retreat leader said that the bears were God’s special emissaries sent to our campsite to remind us to treat the Sangre de Christo mountains as holy ground.
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22 Finding God in the Singing River 23 saints and martyrs starved their bodies and beat themselves with sticks Introduction and whips in order to drive away earthly temptations. In many regards, Christianity has a sorry record as a religion that is conflicted about, or at times even at war with, the deep and genuine human need to reconcile the passions and drives of physical pleasure with the aspirations for spiritual transformation. In fact, however, Christianity is not a discarnate religion. On the con trary, beginning with its earliest history, Christianity offers us a profound vision of God’s nature-centered identity through its ancient teaching that God at one time enfleshed Godself in Jesus, or became incarnate. Long ago God poured out Godself into the mortal body of one human individual, Jesus. But that is not all. Christians also believe that since the dawn of cre ation, throughout world history and into the present, God in and through the Spirit has been persistently infusing the natural world with divine pres ence. The Spirit is the medium, the agent, or, in terms more felicitous for a recovery of the Bible’s earth-centeredness, the life-form through which God’s power and love fill the world and all of its inhabitants. Through green Christian optics, we can now see that the gift of the Spirit to the world since time immemorial—a gift that is alongside and inclusive of Jesus’ death and resurrection—signals the beginning and continuation of God’s incarnational presence. As once God became earthly at the dawn of creation, and as once God became human in the body of Jesus, so now God continually enfleshes Godself through the Spirit in the embodied re ality of life on earth. In this sense, God is carnal, God is earthen, God is flesh. The Spirit has always and continues to indwell the earth as its inmost source of life and breath, and the earth has always arrayed, and continues to array, the Spirit in the garments of the cardinal elements. It is theologically proper to say, therefore, that the world is the “form” God takes among us, that the earth is the “body” of the Spirit we encounter daily. But with this affirmation comes considerable danger to God. In an earth-centered model of the Spirit, God is a thoroughgoing incarnational reality who decides in freedom, and not by any external necessity, to indwell all things. But in making this decision, God as Spirit places herself at risk by virtue of her coinherence with a biosphere that suffers continued degeneration. If God’s body—this small planet that is now under siege by continued global warming, deforestation, the spread of toxins, and the chronic loss of habitat—continues to suffer and bleed, then does not God, in some sense real but still unknowable and mysteri ous to us, also suffer and bleed? If God’s earthen body undergoes deep
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24 Finding God in the Singing River 25 and blood, but now the whole earth is a living sacrament full of the divine Introduction life through the agency of the Spirit who animates and unifies all things. Christians speak of the power of the written word of God, in which God’s voice can be heard by the discerning reader, but now all of nature is the book of God through which one can see God’s face and listen to God’s speech in the laughter of a bubbling stream, the rush of an icy wind on a winter’s day, the scream of a red-tailed hawk as it seizes its prey, and the silent movement of a monarch butterfly flitting from one milkweed plant to another. The hope of this book is that readers will discover a new sense of intimacy with God and the earth through finding traces of the Spirit in all of creation.