麻豆社

Good morning.

I hope that delegates to the COP26 summit in Glasgow find time for rest and recreation in Scotland鈥檚 beautiful scenery amidst the frenetic schedules of the next two weeks. Pope Francis has urged them to 鈥榟ear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor鈥�. This calls for a willingness to discern anew the profound connections between social and environmental justice, insights which can only be gleaned from deep reflection on the natural world and our place within it.

The biblical authors often describe the earth in personal metaphors, as sharing in the joys and sorrows of the human condition. Isaiah speaks of the mountains and hills bursting into song and the trees of the field clapping their hands. The psalmist sings of the heavens pouring forth speech and displaying knowledge: 鈥淭here is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.鈥�

The Bible also depicts nature as suffering when justice fails and the vulnerable become victims of exploitation and abuse. The prophet Jeremiah describes the land being laid waste, 鈥榩arched and desolate, because there is no one who cares鈥�. Isaiah speaks of the earth reeling like a drunkard and swaying like a hut in the wind.

Anglican theologian and hermit Maggie Ross points out that the word 鈥榖ehold鈥� occurs more than 1300 times in Greek and Hebrew versions of the Bible, but hardly at all in modern English translations. It鈥檚 usually translated as 鈥榣ook鈥� or 鈥榮ee鈥�, but it has a much deeper meaning. It鈥檚 a call to cultivate a way of listening to creation, and of allowing that to shape our ways of being and belonging.

Today we鈥檙e rediscovering the mystery and eloquence of the natural world. Quantum physics reveals a relational universe that shimmers with infinite possibility. Biologists have discovered that trees communicate with each other through intricate fungal networks. The floods and fires, storms and droughts, we experience as a result of climate change remind us that the natural environment is profoundly affected by our values and lifestyles. Justice in its deepest sense refers to the equilibrium of the cosmos, and humans are endowed with an awesome capacity to maintain or destroy that equilibrium.

That is why I hope that those delegates in Glasgow find silent spaces in which to reflect on how to repair our lost connections with the earth and with one another. This is the true meaning of recreation 鈥� to be recreated in order to be part of the continuous recreation of this threatened, mysterious and beautiful world.

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