Learning to be a Community of Care and Generosity (1)
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.”
Psalm 24:1; 1 Corinthians 10:26
I. Required readings
Psalm 104
Isaiah 42:5-7
Luke 4:18-19
Christian Biography for the Day: Clare of Assisi
An Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation
"The Story of Stuff" with Annie
Leonard
Bryant Myers, “Will the Poor Always Be With Us?”
Heidi Hornik, “Photographs from a Captivated Heart”
II. Quotations for the
day
“Christianity has all too often
meant withdrawal and the unwillingness to share the common suffering of
humankind. But the world has rightly risen in protest against such piety....
The care of another - even material, bodily care - is spiritual in essence.
Bread for myself is a material question; bread for my neighbor is a spiritual
one.”
--
Jacques Maritain
"When someone steals a man's clothes we call him a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the man who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the man who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor."
--Basil the
Great, Bishop of
III. Journal prompts
1. Why do you think so many Christians view caring for God’s creation as something suspect? Does the “Evangelical Declaration” above help you see some of the deeper connections between Christian discipleship and caring for God’s creation?
2. “Most major environmental problems such as air pollution, water pollution, and the threat of global warming hurt people. These problems fight against Christ's reconciliation of all of creation. In many instances they hit the poor, the children, and the elderly the hardest.” Reflect on how this statement might help us see the connection between concern for God’s creation and for those who live within that creation and are part of it. Is it really possible to love your neighbors and not care about the air they breathe, the water they drink, or the trash we dump in their backyards?
3. Do you think it’s possible that the degradation of God’s creation and the widespread scandal of poverty might have a common source: our insistence that whatever we have is ours to do with as we please?
IV. Links of possible
interest
Evangelical Environmental Network and Creation-Care Magazine Many Christians are suspicious of “environmental” issues because they assume that such concerns are held only by “liberals.” This network of evangelicals is working hard to inform Christians about why they, too, ought to be concerned about caring for God’s creation.