The Greening of Me

I was never aware of exactly why I was against what was, at one time, called the Ecology Movement, and is now called the Green Movement. But, in recent months, as I have had the opportunity to meet personally with the "Green Patriarch" and to read his writings and to incorporate his thoughts with my thoughts and my readings of patristic sources, it has become clear as to me.

My disdain for ecological movements had more to do with those people and groups who were pushing the agenda than it did with the agenda itself. In my thinking, Earth Day in the 1970's was a time for the lunatic fringe to come out and smoke some all natural dope, bake a cake for the earth (and have the wind blow it out), hang some magic crystals from the nearest tree, and then rant and rave about the Military Industrial Complex. These people did not believe in the same God that I did (if they believed in a personal God at all.) In more recent years (because of my disdain for much of the liberal Democratic agenda) I have had a very hard time hearing the ecological words of Al Gore. I have appreciated the words and involvement of Bono on the subject, but he still seems to lead the life of a rock star....

As an Orthodox Christian I need to judge the message and not the messenger. Thankfully, there is enough within the Orthodox tradition on the topic to focus on. Man is seen as the nexus between the spiritual and the material world.

St. Maximus the Confessor (6th century) wrote: "Man is not a being isolated from the rest of creation. By his very nature, he is bound up with the whole of the universe.... In his way to union with God, man in no way leaves creatures aside, but gathers together in his love the whole cosmos disordered by sin, that it may be transfigured by grace."

St. Basil the Great wrote: "I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that wherever you go, the least plant may bring you a clear remembrance of the Creator.... One blade of grass or one speck of dust is enough to occupy your entire mind in beholding the art with which it has been made." I would hope that we might encourage the growth of more green plants, that there would be more to contemplate. Most of us might have an easier time contemplating grass than dust.

St. Gregory the Theologian wrote, "All creation sings the glory of God in wordless strain, for it is through me that God is thanked for all his works. In this way their hymn becomes our own, since it is from them that I take my song. Now the whole of the animal kingdom is smiling and all our senses are at feast." I would hope that we would not silence that voice of creation around us: the songs of the birds, the winds in the trees, the gurgle of a mountain stream.

Our Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has written much on the topic including, "the ecological problem of pollution is invariably connected to the social problem of poverty; indeed, all ecological activity is measured and properly judged by its impact and effect on the poor."

I am coming to realize our individual and corporate responsibility on this topic. I am looking for the outlets for involvement. I am still coming to terms with the proper way to interact and co-work with individuals and groups who may share a love for the planet, but perhaps may not love it for the same reasons that I should.