We Are of The Earth, Thank God

On this Thanksgiving, I share the beliefs of one of my favourite theologians, Thomas Berry.

He, a renowned priest, theologian and ecologist, urged us, throughout his lifetime, to recognize humanity and all living beings as of the Earth, not on the Earth—that all life is subject, not object. Only when we fully grasp these truths might we be able to regard our body, the Earth, to be as precious as our own individual bodies.

Perhaps such deep understanding begins with stories. If God is working in us and through us, and I believe God is, it seems to me that we are obliged to blend our own sacred stories with those that have come before ours, keeping the Gospel living and growing.

I have taken the liberty of rewriting the Apostle Paul’s beautiful letter to the Corinthians to give it a slightly different interpretation.

An ecological version of St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 12: 12-26
 
For just as the Earth is one and has many members, and all the members of the Earth, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit, we were all baptized in the one body – sun, water or air – soil, plants or creatures, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the Earth does not consist of one member but of many. If the rock would say, “Because I am not a frog, I do not belong to the Earth,” that would not make her any less a part of the Earth. And if the man would say, “Because I am not vegetation, I do not belong to the Earth,” that would not make him any less a part of the Earth. And if the lake said, “Because I am not the sun’s rays, I am not a part of the Earth,” that would not make her any less a part of the Earth. If the whole Earth were a lake, where would we stand? If the whole Earth were soil, how would we drink? But as it is, God arranged the members of the Earth, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the Earth be? As it is, there are many members, yet one Earth. The person cannot say to the polar bear, “I have no need of you,” nor, again, the tree to the bird, “I have no need of you.”

On the contrary, the members of the Earth that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the Earth that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honour. Our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the Earth, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the Earth, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with him. If one member is honoured, all rejoice together with her.
 
And I offer this prayer for all living beings of the Earth:
 
Be still and know Creation aches
Be still and know Creation mourns
Be still and know Creation . . . heals
 
Be still and know Creation
Be still and know
Be still

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