The most important and primary duty of humankind of preserving
the nature has been forgotten and forsaken by the secularistic and consumeristic
attitudes. This is an undeniable fact that we all are aware of. Accumulating
wealth and pleasure-seeking attitudes has become the centre of man’s attraction
today. Because, man has become so self-centered and does not bother about
others especially the eco-system in which he lives and moves around. As we are
called the crown of creation an invitation is given to all of us to become the
stewards of creation. Creation is nothing but the greatest gift given by God to
the whole human race. Therefore God becomes the maker of this wonderful and
marvelous creation. Man in the twentieth century; represent the overall balance
of process that maintains the earth as habitable planet in the universe. All
human societies are built on fragile ecological foundation and without clean
environment. “Homo Sapiens” can
neither survive nor prosper. In recent decades we are eroding those foundations
beyond repair. Things have gone from bad to worse in most part of the world.
Our late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi who was known as a champion of
Ecological conservation various stated in a United Nation Conference on Human
Environment held in Stockholm in June 1972, “one cannot be truly human and
civilized unless one looks upon not only all fellow men but creation with a eyes of friend.” This
attitude will help us to preserve the creation. Let us realize the importance
to respond to the call to be the stewards of creation in this essay.
The work of God in bringing into
existence the universe, including both the material and the spiritual worlds;
in a more restricted sense, the bringing into existence and into its present
condition the earth and the system to which it belongs. According to Christian
doctrine, God alone is eternal. The system or systems of the material universe,
as well as matter itself, also spiritual beings, except God, had a beginning.
They were absolutely created, made “out of nothing,” by the power of the
almighty will.
The first sentence of the Apostles’ Creed is to be
taken in its broadest and deepest sense, “I believe in God the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.”
The Bible begins with the narration
of the creation of the environment “in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This is the mythical faith affirmation of the
ancient people. For them the heavens and earth have physical visible aspects.
That is the detailed description in chapters one and two of the first book of
the Bible. There is no ambiguity or doubt about the description. It is the
spirit of God (the wind or roach) that was creating. Thus the earth and the
heavens are divine in origin and purpose. Creation is cohesive and coherent.
There is an inner logic and harmony, heavens and the earth; light and darkness;
dry and wet lands; plants, animals, birds and fish are mentioned. Care and
concern are indicated by the daily timetable of God of Creation. So there is a
joy, ananda in and for creation.
Creation is intrinsically good and must be made instrumentally good it is for
the promotion of the good and welfare or the well being of all such is the
nature and scope of God’s creative process.
The verb translated “create”
literally means “to cleave” or to “split” as a carpenter employs his trade. Yet
in this particular form it is never used of man. Only God can create. Creation
is what God can do that is impossible for man. Man, created in God’s image, may,
many years later, perform similar acts.
The very fact of creation is an
indication of caring; why otherwise would a self sufficient, all containing God
crate? Only because God is goodness and love, and goodness seeks to spread
itself around and love is self giving. Though not created in “the image of
God”, the humblest of living creatures and even inanimate objects reflect some
of God’s perfections and attributes: existence, order, planning, beauty, and
power. Indeed St. Paul, in a memorable passage of his letter to the Romans,
says that contemplation of created things is a simple and sure way open to all
o coming to know God. “All that may be known of God by men lies plain before
their (the Romans) eyes.
His invisible attributes that is to say His
everlasting power and deity have been visible ever since the world began to the
eye of reason, in the creatures He had
made (Rom. 1: 19-20).
Right in the beginning, in the very first chapter,
the Hebrew writer suggests the positive, affirmative relationship with the
environment “God saw that it (creation) was good” (Gen 1:10, 12, 18, 21, and 25
b). The word good appears seven times with regard to creation. In the last
verse of the chapter, there is a categorical assertion, “And God saw everything
that he had made, and behold it was very good.” The
intrinsic excellence of life experienced in God spills over into creation. In a
limited way, it can be compared with a poet, who is so totally filled with an
idea that it spills out into words expressing the poet’s very being. Others on
hearing the poet’s words receive and respond according to their sensitivities.
God sees all that he has created as a whole, in the integrity, unity and order
of his own being and, indeed, ‘It is very good!’
Human beings must regulate creation
for their own sake, and yet at the same time show conscious regard for the non
human creation. Regulation carries with it the right to shape nature according
to human needs and in certain instances to intervene and even destroy. The
tension between the two interventions and preservation must be maintained
within the context of concrete decision making. It is our ethical
responsibility to carefully consider how intrusion into the environment is
reconcilable with the responsibility to preserve it. Conscientious decisions
can only be made on a case by case basis. The relationship between humans and animals
and the whole world should be symbolic one; it should involve a give and take
relationship. If we destroy earth’s ecosystems, the biosphere of the earth,
which houses all life will ultimately terminate.
The relationship of humans with God (“in our image,
after our likeness”) is a summon to them that as vicegerents of God they
function as God and in the place of God in having a claim of sovereignty over
the creatures.
The relationship of the humans with the created
realities is both a call and a challenge that as responsible partners with God
they imitate Him in their way of dealing with the creatures. “Thus man’s
creation has a retroactive significance for all non-human creatures; it gives
them a new relation to God”.
Analysis of the scientific
literature produces a picture of earth’s destruction describable as ‘seven
degradations of creation’. These degradations, all of which interact, include:
1. Alteration
of earth’s energy exchange with the sun that results in accelerated global
warming and destruction of the earth’s protection ozone shield.
2. Land
degradation that destroys land by erosion, salinization and desertification,
and reduces available land for creatures and crops.
3. Deforestation
that annually removes some 100,000 square kilometers of primary forest- an area
the size of Iceland- and degrades an equal amount by over use.
4. Species
extinction that finds more than three species of plants and animals eliminated
from earth each day.
5. Water
quality degradation that defiles groundwater, lakes, rivers and oceans.
6. Waste
generation and global toxification that results from atmospheric and oceanic
circulation of materials people inject into the air and water.
7. Human
and cultural degradation that threatens and eliminates long standing human
communities that have lived sustainably and co-operative with creation, and
eliminates a multitude of long standing varieties of food and garden plants.
We have only one planet. Its capacity to support a
thriving diversity of species, humans included, is limited. There is an erosion
of the health of the Earth’s living systems. The living planet report 20081 and the State of Planet Earth 20102
list the following:
Ø The
global index shows that vertebrate species populations declined by nearly
during the period 1970-2005.
Ø It
appears increasingly unlikely that even the modest goal of the Convention on
Biological diversity, to reduce by 2010 the rate at which global biodiversity
is being lost, will be met.
Ø Deforestation,
water shortages, declining biodiversity and climate change are putting the
well-being and development of all nations at increasing risk.
Ø The
water footprint, which captures the demand placed on national, regional or
global water resources as a result of consumption of goods and services shows
imbalance.
Ø Humanity’s
Ecological footprint, that is human demand on the biosphere, has more than
doubled during the period 1961 to 2005.
Ø Two
billion people currently do not have access to modern energy services;
Ø About
than 1.1 billion people globally do not have access to safe drinking water.
Ø About
2.4 billion people lack adequate and improved sanitation;
Ø More
than 1.2 billion people still live on less than 1 dollar (IR 40.0) a day i.e.
much below the poverty line;
Ø More
than 3 million people die of air pollution, and the same number dies from
diseases caused by unsafe and polluted water.
Ø ‘New
highly toxic chemicals’ e.g. N-nitrosodimethylamine (a principal ingredient in
rocket fuel), methyl tertiary butyl ether ( a gasoline additive), and
‘acrylonitrile’ (used in textile industry) have appeared in surface and ground
water; (287)
Ø Half
of the tropical rainforests and mangroves (treasure of pristine biodiversity)
have already been lost;
Ø About
75% of the marine fisheries have been fished to capacity;
Ø In
September 2000, the ozone hole over Antarctica covered more than 28 million
square kilometers;
Ø Some
75 billion of ‘top soil’ (the fertile layer) are eroding every year. Around 2
billion hectares of soil-15% of Earth’s land is now classed as degraded. Soil
productivity is on the decline.
Ø Indiscriminate
dumping of toxic, nuclear, and biomedical waste and environmental disasters
have cut deep scars in the ecosystems and their delicate ecological balance.
Ø Air
pollution near ground level and acid precipitation, and stratospheric ozone
depletion causing enhanced ultra-violet radiation at the earth’s surface, are
causing widespread injury to human and animal populations, and forests and
crops.
Ø Uncontrolled
exploitation of depletable ground water supplies has endangered food production
and other essential human systems.
Ø Pollution
of rivers, lakes and ground water has further limited the supply of potable
water.
There is destructive pressure on the oceans as
rivers carry heavy burdens of eroded soil into the seas with toxic industrial,
municipal, agricultural, and livestock waste.
The religious solution that was hinted at by Prof.
Lynn was in the air for some time, in the stage of incubation, I believe. Since
the 1990s, however, many ecologically concern mind and organizations have been
turning to religion as a last resort. After realizing that all the remedies
attempted so far, are apparently insufficient-environmental science,
technology, education, politics, there latest awareness is that only religion
could prove an effective remedy to our ecological crisis. They do not suggest
this instead of previous approaches, but in addition to them, as a complement
to them. They do not identify a religion to be a problem solver. Instead all
those are concerned with ecological problems, be they scientists or
politicians, scholars or educators, priests or followers, administrators or
ordinary masses, each one is supposed to look deeply into one’s own religion
and/or spirituality for elements to construct more viable environmental
worldview, attitudes, values and practices for one self and others.
The term “eco-spirituality” draws attention to the
cosmos as a place of God’s revelation. Ecology studies our total environment
and all the living or non-living creatures that dwell with us in this cosmic
house (oikos/house). Eco-spirituality
studies our relationship to God as it develops in the context of our
relationship with the cosmos in its totality. The challenge of eco-spirituality
is to find God within-not apart from-this totality. The deeper causes of the
environmental problems we face lie in the human heart: the pathologies of fear,
greed, selfishness, arrogance. Eco-spirituality knows there will be no healing
of the earth unless there is a healing and conversion of hearts.
·
Treating nature as an organic whole, a
living being.
·
Cultivating rapport with the local
environment and reverencing it for its beauty, mystery, and power through
ritual celebrations of recognition and appreciation.
·
Considering nonhuman realms as directly
interrelated to the human realm, and in certain cases, even viewing animals as
persons.
·
Establishing reciprocal relation with nature
and promoting mutually beneficial interactions with it, rather than using them
merely for our benefits.
·
Removing the dichotomy between us and
our environment and realizing that we are embedded in nature as an integral
part of the larger whole.
·
Sensing and experiencing the ultimate
elemental unity of all existence and inseparability and continuity of nature
and spirit.
·
Practicing an environmental morality
which accepts intrinsic and extrinsic values of nature.
·
Acting with restraint in nature and
avoiding the anthropocentric arrogance of excessive, wasteful, and destructive
use of the land and other resources, and dealing with plants, animals and other
aspects of nature as sacred.
·
Maintaining harmony between us and the
rest of nature, and restoring it, if upset.
·
Treating ecological concerns with the
motivation, commitment, and intensity of the spiritual.(all by love p.260-261)
The bio-health is at stake. Development has
challenged it beyond limits. That it has widened the gap between the rich and
the poor. Both among countries and within a country are already an important
issue. More seriously, it has led to a mismanagement and depletion of the
natural resources. It has turned the environment increasingly toxic, caused the
extinction of many species of plants and animals, devasted the earth and
desecrated water and air and even endangered the survival of humanity.
“Our common home is deeply cleft from top to bottom,
it could collapse, “says Leonard Boff. The degradation of environment affects
people from all walks of life. “The earth is ill and in jeopardy.” Human beings have trespassed their limits and
caused destruction and death. In the pre-industrial societies change took place
very gradually. Gradual change allowed the cultural tradition to carry along a
more balanced set. Industrial revolution in the west has placed human begins
under the rule of laws that were not human. Economic affluence commonly spoils
human relationship and leads one to be more individual than being social. The
incoming of western companies in our big cities and its result of economic
affluence cause individualism and disrespect for human at large. Therefore
caretaking attitudes towards the creation are required at large.
An open invitation is given to all the human beings
to safeguard the universe which is undergoing a lot of crisis today. The fact
that the order of the universe is willed by God and that He is opposed to Chaos (formless wasteland) and disorder
is itself an invitation as well as a
challenge for all humans to work for the promotion of this order and harmony in
the existing universe. Hence in the very first verses of Genesis the human
beings are called to participate in and continue the creative activity of God
as co-creators in so far as they do not disturb, desecrate and destroy the
harmony that exists in nature and in all the created realties. So through the
above passage we clearly understand that man has the greatest responsibility to
create the order and harmony in the Creation which is the greatest gift given
by God to the whole human race.
Acknowledging God’s will, His call and to respond
sincerely for building up harmony in the creation is expected of us. Teihard
saw the role of men and women as co-workers with God of a more worthy, noble
and glorious universe. As human knowledge grows through science and technology,
human power to co-create or destroy the universe increases. The consequences of
our actions and choices become more profound and effective. In the end the
shape and even the fate of the world is really left up to us humans.While
God is immanent in all creatures and they are forever the expressions of God
(cf.Gen 1), charged with his energy and alive with his presence, man/woman
alone is a “living icon” of God, having been made in his own image, “in the
image of God”. (Gen 1:27). Being mindful
of him/her and out of His concern for him/her, God “crowns him/her with glory
and honour. (Psalm 8:5) and makes him/her share in his own powers (Gen 1:26).
In spite of the comparative insignificance of man/woman (cf. “what is man”?),
he/she acquires a dominion over all other creatures and a servant and worshipper
of God. (Psalm 8:9).
He/she is dependent on God and, as part of the
creation uniquely capable of being self-conscious, is called to maintain the
integrity of creation and exercise trusteeship in a more responsible way.
Hence, when we do any harm to any created reality we are unilaterally placing
that creation itself outside the responsibility, and become irresponsible
autocrats. Cultivate and take care of it, “till it and keep it” (Gen 2:15), is
an imperative that is valid even today; and perhaps more so today when in the
name of technological progress and development lush rain forests are denuded,
rare animal species are extinguished, perennial rivers and water sources wiped
off. What better word can use than “matricide” for this irresponsible stewardship
destroying the entire earth community for human selfish interests? Dead rivers,
dying forests, destroyed animals and birds are surely embarrassing signs that
decry the monumental stupidity of man/woman in relation to the created world.
(Psalm 8) “Challenges us to be authors of life, not proliferators of death.
In our day today life we so much depend on the
nature for our very survival. It supplies the things that are essential and the
natural resources for our sustencence. So it is our duty to prevent the occurrences
that are against nature. Then only our survival on this earth will be possible.
In our day there is a growing awareness that
world peace is threatened not only by….regional conflicts continued
injustice among peoples and nations but also by lack of due respect for nature,
by the plundering of natural resources and by a progressive decline in the
quality of life. The sense of precariousness and insecurity that such a
situation engenders is a seedbed for collective selfishness, disregard for
others and dishonesty. The earth is ultimately a common heritage, the fruits of
which are for the benefit of all. In the words of the second Vatican Council, “God
destined the earth and all it contains for the use of every individual and all
peoples”. (Gaudium et Spes).
Nature and man are equal partners in the building of
culture and with this consciousness nature is to be treated at least in a
friendly manner; though nature, because of its basically spiritual nature
deserves to be more reverentially treated. There is an idea of having more
technology in order to overcome the evils of technology. This may work to a
certain extent. But the basic need is to change the attitude to nature. Because
technology is based upon the exploration of nature by the animal in man.
Our human world today is inimical
simultaneously to nature and to man, as the political ideologies are set
against one another. A freak of frenzy on the part of any ideological group may
prove to be fatal for all life on earth. This is the greatest danger that man
faces today. This total destruction is possible with the help of both nature
and technology. The power of nuclear weapons is ultimately traceable to the
power in nature, as exploited by man. Nature thus far excels man both in
knowledge and power. If man continues his present exploitative attitude to
nature, mother earth, will not care for the survival of human species. It all
depends upon the prevalence of wisdom in man how to adjust in the cosmic
evolutionary process of the reality as a whole and promote such values as could
be realized for the good of both nature and man.
In
the biblical context, stewardship refers to humankind‘s responsibility for
carefully husbanding God’s gifts. (Gen1:26) God says “let us make humankind in our image
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the
air and cattle and over all the wild animals, and over the cropping things that
creep upon the earth.” This role further clarified in Genesis 2:15: “the Lord God
took the earth creature and put it in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”
The term “stewardship” has evolved since its early biblical use. Today
the term commonly used by both the business and academic communities to refer
to our relationship to natural resources. Currently the concern for stewardship
of human resources is found primarily in the field of leadership, where it
implies a willingness to serve rather than controlling others and to be accountable
for the wellbeing of the larger organization stewardship
is to hold something in trust for another. Stewards are charged with a seemingly
contradictory obligation: they are to promote the good of the Landowner through
conservation and through change. As God’s stewards of the biosphere, we
likewise must both preserve and change.
Stewardship is a way of life. Stewardship is a
conversion of heart. Stewardship is a disciple’s response. Stewardship is an
expression of love. Stewardship is part of our vocation. Stewardship is an
opportunity. Living as good stewards of God’s gifts will satisfy the deepest,
strongest longings of our hearts. It will fill us with joy, happiness,
satisfaction.
Stewards know the meaning of life and make real
sacrifices to make the world a better place, making their own lives better in
the process.Many
centuries ago St.Francis of Assisi sets an example when he spoke and acted so
tenderly with plants and animals and living creature, calling them his brothers
and sisters. In his famous ‘Canticle of Brother sun’, he called the sun and
moon and stars and wind and water his brothers and sisters, because they were
all form the same Father and shared in
the life and glory of God. This is what prompted him to sing the praises of God
with all the creatures of this earth, because he identified God’s presence in
them.
Francis of Assisi’s
loving and contemplative reverence in the face of nature survives today in the
awareness of man’s kinship to all other living things and in the conversation
movement. But reverence is not enough, because man has never been a passive
witness of nature. He changes the environment by his very presence and his only
options in his dealings with the earth are to be destructive or constructive.
To be creative, man must relate to nature with his sense as much as with his
common sense, with his heart as much as with knowledge. He must read the book
of external nature and the book of his own nature, to discern the common
patterns and harmonies.
Many Bible messages emphasize the
role of god’s people as stewards. A steward is basically a “manager” and not an
owner of a resource. Man is the crowing act of creation. He is made its
steward. The responsibility for continuing God’s creative work belongs to man.
The earth is given to man of his stewardship, and not for exploitation. His
responsibility consists in enabling creation to multiply and letting it
prosper. But man with his a scientific and technological know- how, has become
the most skilled manipulator of nature instead of being a wise administrator.
He becomes an exploiter blocking the path to a healthy future of humankind.
Stewardship is an important theme in
the study of the Biblical position concerning human’s relationship with
environment. The connection between responsible human stewardship in relation
to the creatures is pictured most impressively in the Genesis mandate to humans
“to rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air, over the livestock, over
all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Gen
1:26). In addition to the dominion mandate in verse 26, humans were “to subdue
to earth” (Gen1:28). It has been suggested that the idea of subduing is akin to
granting humans the privilege:
To utilize for his necessities the
vast resources
Of the earth, by agriculture and mining
operation,
By geographical research,
scientific discovery,
And mechanical invention.
Human being consisting of male and
female, is called to participate in God’ administration, to be a coregent with
God and thus to manifest God’ concern for creatures and uphold the shalom (well being, harmony of God’s
creation. Therefore the stewardship of man’ over creation lies in accepting the
will of God and in acting on behalf of God as a representatives to preserve,
protect and Passover to the future generation with the attitude of concern and
love.
Humans are given the responsibility
within this community of caring for the earth and preserving its integrity.
When humans deny this vocation and break God’s covenant with them the
ramifications are felt not only among fellow human beings but throughout the
entire created order. However, when we accept our task in creation as
caretakers the whole of creation is positively affected.
A challenge confronts us the emerges
from knowing the ongoing and accelerating degradation of the earth, from the
scriptures that require us to keep the earth, and from stumbling blocks that
prevent many from taking action. Having set forth the challenge that confronts us,
we now are prepared to ask, ‘And Then what must we do?’
The simple (yet profound), response
to this question appears to be this: love God as creator. But most people have
been alienated from the creator and God’s creation, and thus it is difficult to
love, uphold, and make right a world that we really do not know. Thus many will
have first to become aware of creation and its God declared goodness. From this
awareness, we can move to appreciation, and from appreciation we can move to
stewardship. This can be described using the following framework:
1. Awareness
(seeing, identifying, naming, locating).
2.
Appreciation (tolerating, respecting, valuing, esteeming, cherishing).
3.
Stewardship (using, restoring, serving, keeping, entrusting).
Our ultimate purpose is to honour
God as creator in such a way that environmental stewardship is part and parcel
of everything we do. Our goal is to make tending the garden of creation in all
of its aspects an unquestioned and all pervasive aspect of our service to each
other, to our community, and to God’s world. Awareness stands at the very
beginning as the first of three components of creation stewardship. Awareness
means bringing things to our attention. In a time when so much calls for our
attention- foreign affairs, local politics, jobs, or traffic- the creation in
its natural aspects does not even seem real to us. We might find that it seems
real only on some of our travels, and even then it may be seriously obscured. We
must consciously make ourselves aware of what is happening in God’s creation.
Awareness involves seeing, naming,
identifying, locating. It means taking off the blinders provided us by
ourselves and society so that we not only see God’s creation, but want to name
and know the names of the things we see. It means providing ourselves with enough
peace and thoughtfulness with we have the time and the will to identify a tree
or mountain, bird or river. It means having the sense to enter the natural
world intentionally in order to locate and find God’s creatures we sing about
each week in the doxology, ‘Praise God all creatures here below’.
But awareness is not an end in
itself. From awareness comes appreciation; we cannot appreciate that of which
we are unaware. At the very least, appreciation means tolerating that of which
we are aware. We may tolerate worms and hyenas, for example, and in so doing
appreciate them. But beyond toleration, appreciation also means respect. We
certainly respect a large bear, but we also can develop respect for a lowly
worm as we learn of its critical importance to the rest of creation (including
ourselves). Appreciation can build from tolerating, to respecting, to valuing.
We know that God declares creation to be good, and we will find that God does
so for good reason. As we become aware of what we discover we will even esteem
and cherish. Thus, awareness will lead to appreciation.
But appreciation does not end the
matter either, for appreciation leads to stewardship. At first stewardship may
mean the use of creation; perhaps our appreciation for a flower will lead us to
put it in a vase to decorate our table. But stewardship will bring us well
beyond appreciate use to restoration of what has been abused in the past. The
widespread lack of awareness and ignorance of creation and creation’s integrity
means that we and many others have abused and degraded the environment
unknowingly , and stewardship means that we will work to set things right again
– to reconcile and redeem. We might even buy back something degraded to make it
right again.
Beyond restoration, stewardship
means serving. As we understand that god through creation is in so many ways
serving our own lives. We will return this service with our own. This service
will include a loving and caring keeping of what we hold in trust. And, our
service in creation will ultimately even involve our entrusting others with
what we have served, kept, and restored.
The need of the hour is to transform our life style
from Ego- Centrism to Eco –Centrism. This is what eco spirituality promotes and
calls all of us to respond. Eco- spirituality is about sghaping our existence
in this earthy home, with a deep realization that it is a well designed house,
harmonizes and functional, and deeming the earth as a gift from God, entrusted
to humankind and exercising our stewardship of the earth with great care,
restrained and responsibility, following a morality of frugality, austerity and
asceticism in the use if the recourses, and reverencing the nature as the abode
of god’s presence is the need of the time. It is not enough that being aware of
the Ecological crisis that are found in the society. As the members of Eco –
system, we have the responsibility to take care of the creation with love and
concern. This alone will help us to save our creation from all the destructions
and make it a better place to live in.
Bibliography
- G. Satheesh Yesu Doss (1st year Theology)
