RECTOR’S REFLECTION:
For no part of creation is left void of God: God has filled all things everywhere.
- St. Athanasius (296 - 373 AD) On the Incarnation
For some reason, it can sometimes feel like the environmental movement, creation care, eco-theology…etc is a very modern project.
However, reading these quotes from some of the earliest Christian theologians – over 1600 years ago in this case is a reminder that we are in good company.
While our ancestors in the faith might not have been able to fully understand or anticipate the mechanisms of global warming, the scale of plastic pollution, and the intricacies of mass extinction… we have a solid foundation in our tradition from which, as people of faith, as followers of Jesus, we can engage and respond.
Because at its root, I believe that the solutions to the climate crises we face are not scientific or technological (or not only scientific and technological). Rather, the solutions, at its root, are spiritual.
If, in the word of our brother Athanasius, ‘no part of creation is left void of God’, and if God has really ‘filled all things everywhere’ – than how can we continue to damage, extract and use what we have been called to care for, what we have been called to call and treat as sacred.
Thanks be to God!
CG+