Rector, Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew
Published: 5/7/2021 3:14:14 PM
The sacred story of creation starts off, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the Earth…” and goes on to describe the creation of light, sky, dry land, seas, plants, trees, sun, moon, stars, creatures that live in the sea and fly in the air, animals that live on land, and lastly, humanity made in the image and likeness of God.
While creating humankind, God said, “...let them have dominion” over all of creation. What does it mean for us to have dominion over the earth? By definition, dominion can refer to a general oversight, to be in control of something, or even reference a physical territory. Other translations suggest humanity might rule or have complete authority over creation. Yet my favorite interpretation is that humanity will be caretakers of creation — this idea that we are responsible for caring for creation, journeying with God in tending to all of the species that we share life with on this fragile earth, our island home.
If we are called to be the caretakers of creation, it seems we have been shirking our responsibilities as a society. Worse, in fact, we have been abusing our role by plundering the Earth of all its resources to indulge our society’s drive to be more productive so we can consume more goods, and repeat the cycle until nothing is left within ourselves or this planet. We all know this — our lifestyle choices are destroying ecosystems and accelerating climate change at an ever-increasing pace.
So what can we do? We can begin by reclaiming our role as caretakers of creation. Reclaiming our role is a radical act of faithfulness and resistance in a world that demands we put our own desires before the Earth’s needs.
One of the ways I am encouraging our faith community to reclaim our responsibility as caretakers of creation is by practicing sabbath. The practice of sabbath was the final act of creation. When God had finished creating, God rested and blessed the seventh day. The idea was further developed in the 10 commandments. The general idea is that six days of the week we work, and on the seventh we rest. The command to rest one day a week is not solely for us; it is also for God and creation, which need the day of rest as much as we do.
A group of environmental activists and religious leaders have picked up on the wisdom of practicing sabbath, and seen the extensive impact practicing sabbath can have on the planet. This radical idea gave birth to the Green Sabbath Project in 2019 (https://ift.tt/3vSV1ok).
A group of radical thinkers asks us: “Is there nothing you can do about the environment? ‘Nothing’ may be one of the best things you can do. One day every week. Do nothing.”
The idea is for everyone to pick one day a week to rest. On our day of rest, the Green Sabbath Project encourages us to halt our work and manipulating of existence, to not do anything that creates carbon emission, to refrain from using money, and instead spend time with loved ones, take walks, talk to neighbors, read, study wisdom texts, meditate, pray, sing, make love, etc.
Then during the other six days of the week we work, but we do so with an intentionality about caring for creation by reducing, reusing, recycling; we compost; we grow our own food without petrochemicals; we cease to eat meat or eat much less of it; we promote organic, biodynamic and other sustainable methods of farming; we campaign for divestment from fossil fuels and energy efficiency; we stop flying/driving or fly/drive much less; we ride our bikes a lot more, etc.
Of the many spiritual practices I have tried on over the years, practicing sabbath has been the most meaningful and restorative. The weekly practice reminds us of our proper place in the order of things — we are but one of many creatures within creation. The world will not stop spinning if there are emails in our inbox, or if a text message goes unanswered until tomorrow, or if a chore gets put off one more day.
What would it look like for you to practice sabbath? Or to dig deeper roots in your current sabbath practice? What other ways do you feel called to reclaim our role as caretakers of creation?
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