Feb 7, 2010
A few weeks ago, I was talking with David Hilfiker about some things that don’t work so well in my aging body. It could have been a long conversation, but mostly I just talked about my arms and legs. As a sort of postscript to his helpful answers, David told me about proprioception, a function of the nervous system that keeps me aware of the placement of various parts of my body each time I take a step. Without it, I would be so awkward that I could not make my way across this room, to pass the peace for instance, and likely you could not be there to greet me.
Proprioception is a wonderful thing, complex beyond imagination: It was not developed by Microsoft engineers; Neither can we get it as an I-Pad application. It’s an open source feature that every mother on earth (not just human mothers) freely gives to every infant. It was not some inventor’s sudden inspiration; it’s something that has evolved in nature over more than 3 billion years since life first appeared on earth. And of course, proprioception is just a tiny sample of nature’s legacy to us and all earthly creatures.
Mostly today I will talk about spiritual and ecological messages that Fr. Thos Berry leaves us from a scholarly life that ended just last June. I mention proprioception to illustrate one of his major points: that there is more to appreciate in nature than we commonly let on, and that properly acknowledging nature, can pave a path for us -- one that would lead away from frantic exploitation toward nurturance of nature’s riches. In this way, he believed, we can avoid ecological disasters that would make earth unfit for our lives and for the lives of other species and plants. One thing that Berry quickly reminds us is that evolution is not something that has happened already but rather something that is happening every moment. We are among the engines of evolution, and now in the very late stages of the Cenozoic era, humankind has seized the upper hand to turn it’s power and intellect against survival of the earth as habitat for us and all that lives here. Many, maybe most, scientists believe that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction of species. It’s been a long time since the fifth great extinction wiped out dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.
While studying The Bridge at the Edge of the World with others on Sunday mornings, I was struck by Berry’s suggestion that we humans must break some religious and secular habits that place ourselves in transcendent roles among earth’s beings rather than as co-responsibles -- must break those habits if we are to assume our share in the task of preserving the planet.
Thomas Berry lived a full life as Catholic priest, professor, scholar and author. Wikipedia calls him ‘cultural historian’ and ‘eco-theologian; he himself preferred to be called Geologian which I take to mean one who studies and teaches about the time-journey of the universe and the earth as they progress through the geological ages. Here’s an example of what I mean by a time-journey: During roughly 4 ½ billion years, earth has progressed from a roiling mass of hot burning gases split off from the Sun into the homey place where we now live. That took 4 ½ billion years and there may be another billion and a half years yet to come.
Berry published several books about his ecological vision and also studies of Buddhism and the Religions of India. He taught at Fordham and Columbia Universities, where he was notable for pioneering courses about the history of religions.
Central to Berry’s thought is his perception that the Universe and each of it’s natural parts such as the planet earth are spiritual organisms with God-like creative characteristics. Self-organizing and self-healing beings engaged in a purposeful time-voyage across the eons from the ‘big bang’ (some 14 billion years ago) through the present time and into a future not yet known. He sees the current Cenozoic Era drawing to a close (largely due to human behavior) and foresees a restorative Ecozoic Era animated by a new ‘earth community’ that will be inclusive of all creatures and things that reside on the earth.
Now that is an ambitious and hopeful vision: a restorative Ecozoic Era that will transform our endangered earth. It is a bigger vision than I can fully grasp, so I will talk mostly about parts of it that I think are very right.
Earth Community. When Berry speaks of a new earth community, he speaks of more than a bunch of people; he speaks of all the beings, plants and things that inhabit the earth. It must be a community where things as well as people have roles to play and have rights, as contrasted with our human-centered bias that allows humankind to make the rules. Berry notes, that we have stronger moral teachings against homicide, suicide and genocide than against killing off less valued species and other life systems of the earth. He would have us redress that balance because every life system contributes to a healthy earth.
The new earth community must have a radical kind of inclusivity, built on the principal that the whole can only work well if each part maintains its distinctive qualities AND is motivated to do what is best for the whole. Berry calls it a “single yet differentiated community.” Only such a community can marshal the sustained cooperation and effort needed to heal our damaged earth.
It has only been in the final decades of the Cenozoic Era that the technological might of human industrial society has been able to threaten destruction of the earth. We’ve done it with CO2, we’ve done it with species extinction, we’ve done it with gene modification, and we threaten always to do it with nuclear warfare. Now, that technological ability must be redirected from destruction to restoration. Our next great work is to build a community with the will to take that new direction. Humans can and do cause extinctions, but we can only restore life by cooperating with a healthy natural earth. The course of history is a one way street; missed opportunities may not return.
Interfaith Relations It would not be like me to omit mention of Berry’s early and persistent attention to the richness of learning from other religions. More than thirty years ago, he called for a dialog of civilizations and religions. He studied and published books on The Religions of India (1992) and Buddhism (1989, I have not read them) and founded courses on the history of religions at Fordham and Columbia. His visions for a new earth community include respect and appreciation by providing that each should retain it’s own differentiating conventions while adhering to the community of the whole
As historian, Berry knows about convergence of religions in society, as in the impact of Buddhism on Confucianism in ancient China and the impact of Islam on India. He feels that Christianity missed an opportunity to gain appreciation for the natural earth from indigenous tribes when Europeans came to North America and he is very aware of the unfinished story about the impact of Islam on European and North American cultures.
Breaking Habits I mentioned earlier that some deep seated religious and secular habits discourage us from putting the kind of faith in nature that Berry believes we need to become better friends of the earth. I’ll mention two: first, the notion that our ultimate destination is not here, but somewhere else, like in God’s Heaven, and second, the promises that consumer goods and new technology can bring us to safety and lasting contentment.
About Heaven: Not everyone will agree, nor should they, but for me, Heaven and Hell are most likely woven into my earthly life. I’ve enjoyed already a bit of Heaven, and likely also, some Hell. I understand that the apocryphal gospel of Thomas is about this idea, and I can even read some of it in the Gospel of John. (Jn 20,21-23; Jn 17, Jn 14.12) The earthly life is likely what there is, so for me, the earth is IT.
About Consumption and Technology: Seductive , yes, and I am as weak as the next. (I watched the blizzard of 2010 from a comfortable chair; I can be in touch instantly with friends around the world from my desk; my energy usage (carbon footprint) is well under the US average but 4 times the world average. and 8 times the sustainable target. Technology that I buy has forestalled many discomforts but I agree with Berry’s view that time is running out for me and for us to turn our technology toward repair of the world.
Scripture. Scripture is where I turn to learn about God. For Berry it is more than what has been written and consecrated by church authorities; he names three kinds of scripture. First, is learning from the wonder of the universe itself, that’s Cosmic scripture: what we experience from daily observation of the interaction of Earth, Sun and stars: day, night, seasons and the earth itself. Second is written scripture; the recorded words of wise women and men of faith. And, third is the inner reflection of each individual person.
This formulation pleases me. About cosmic scripture, Yes! As I reflect, I think that almost surely, some of the first notions I had about this strange world that I was born into were of the reliable sequence of day and night. And, I know for me that there is something ominous about the darkness of night. As day follows night, so the seasons follow one after another with great reliability. And the wonder of the stars surely stimulate larger thoughts about ‘what’s it all about? In everyone.
Written scriptures in Christianity and in other religions are always available for reference, but seldom fully accessible. Even when read in the same translation of the same language, in this church at least, any group of two or more reading the same passage will yield more than one understanding. Though sometimes inconvenient, I see that as a strength because it reflects thought, and I can’t help thinking that God likes to be taken seriously.
The third kind of scripture -- the inner thought of the reader or hearer -- explains a lot about the ambiguity of language. The same words simply mean different things to different people. This was demonstrated to me in a pleasant way at Weston Priory in Vermont: Four monks in succession each gave a totally engaging and totally different 4 minute homily about the same few verses of New Testament scripture. I was impressed.
Another reason Berry’s take on scripture pleases me is that it respects the ability of every reader or hearer to make his or her valuable contribution. No sentence is complete until it has been processed by the reader.
As historian, Berry has another insight on scripture that I think is important. From time to time, he says, the historical circumstances of a community change enough that the old scriptures are no longer adequate. Perhaps the change a few years ago of the 8th Day commitment was such a process.
It’s a good tradition I think to end many C of S teachings with a list of things to do; here’s mine:
1. Find your carbon footprint and NOTE the gap between yours and ones that are sustainable. I like www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx
2. Test for yourselves Fr. Berry’s view that WE are not the only ones who have sought for millennia to know about God is, and try to learn from some of the others: other faiths, other cultures, other species, from natural wonders, from natural disasters. He challenged me for instance to say if a river had ever spoken to me, and indeed rivers have done that.
3. Fr. Berry says that our ‘great work’ now as religious people is to build an earth community that will carry out the work of the Ecozoic Era. Among other things it must be:
Radically inclusive
Single yet Differentiated, and
Animated by the creative spirit of the earth.
Let’s think of ways we as individuals and as a church might prepare to be part of such a community.
Amen
Thomas Berry’s writings support the consensus of nearly all progressive thinkers: that the earth is in grave danger BECAUSE of human actions and that a radical transformation is needed. He cites most of the same reasons as, for instance, J.G.Speth, and he points to a little different underlying cause: Human-Centeredness Anthropocentrism which pervades both religious and secular thinking; human spirituality and human intellect overshadow the needs of other inhabitants of the earth and the earth itself.
He points to the same problems as most progressive ecologists. What’s different is the nature of the transformation he foresees. He looks to religious people -- people from all religions bound together with non-human members of the earth community to lead us into a new Ecozoic Era that will redirect human energy from the destructive practices of the late Cenozoic Era toward practices that will aid the earth’s natural tendancy toward self-healing.
I have only begun to understand the range of Berry’s insight. If you’d like to dig deeper, Tom Taylor can help you find the two books I’ve read and others. Google can also lead you to many free samples.