Here’s a few thoughts from Isabel about how her faith connects with her concern for the environment. Isabel is the minister at Western Heights.
Caring for the environment, for me, comes out of a strong sense of protecting this beautiful God-given gift. I am constantly astounded by the intricacy of connections in the world, by the delicate details in nature, by the creativity of we humans, and I want to protect it. Such observations are far from new, undoubtedly going way back to the beginnings of the human psyche. As I grow more in my understanding and experience of Christian spirituality, I find it particularly interesting that our concerns for the health and well being of the world are reflected in many places in the Bible. In the oral tradition of the Hebrew people over some thousands of years goes the strong belief and sense of the interconnectedness of the behaviour of humanity with the health of the land, animals, etc. When people were living badly, the environment suffered. When people were living with respect and love for one another, that impacted positively on the environment. An image that sticks strongly in my mind as a reminder of this is the barren landscape of Afghanistan: after generations of warfare the land is just a dust bowl.
For me and dare I say for many Christians, caring for the environment is a matter of spiritual importance. Whether that be out of a sense of God’s command to us to care, or whether that be out of wanting to protect the presence of God one can feel in nature, or whether that be out of an understanding of the inseparability of the flesh/earth and spirit, it doesn’t much matter.
I am really looking forward to the Ecofest and exploring with folk who gather there why it is that they care so much for the environment. See you there!!
