Exploring ecospirituality: Sustainability and Spirituality

by Lucy Slinger, FSPA
“There is no such thing as a free lunch” (Barry Commoner)
“Waste is food.” (John Robbins)

These quotable bits of wisdom call us to what John E. Carroll (Sustainability and Spirituality) refers to as “deep conversion” for global sustainability. Today most everyone knows the three R’s of reduce, reuse and recycle, but have you ever thought about how this relates to your lived spirituality? How do you connect the Franciscan call to constant conversion, spirituality and sustainability?

Lucy Slinger, FSPA

From the cosmic and scientific perspective every bit of matter I have/use is frozen energy, i.e., energy that is tied up and not available to flow through the living system of Earth. John Robbins succinctly states this reality in his equating of waste/trash as food. If all matter is frozen energy, then anything I possess or use is directly related to food for the poor. From the ecospirituality perspective, if all is gift from God then the call to live the famous three R’s is directly connected to living in right relationships out of attitudes and actions of reverence, respect and responsibility. The challenge for each of us is to have a change of heart in small ways that make these connections evident in daily decisions and practices.

There are many ways to make small steps towards more sustainable living. Obviously, the actual material possessions are not what are individually good or evil, but does my attitude and use promote or demote the Earth’s sustainability? These days I find myself asking: “How do I, as a single person, lessen my impact on the environment? Where do I begin to practice a spirituality of ecology in sustainable ways that are life giving to me?”

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, one finds it attached to the rest of the world. John Muir

I begin with a change of heart to reverence what is. This sense of reverence is tied foremost for me to the concept of reduce. Holding all earthen resources (inanimate, animate or human) in reverence calls me to reduce the energy tied-up in my existence. Questions of conscience raised within me as a consumer are: “Is this purchase a real need or simply a want? If it is a want, is it something that will significantly enhance my quality of life relative to the impact this has on others in both the short and long term? I invite you to consider the reverence–reduce correlation of spirituality and sustainability the next time you are out shopping.

This call to deep conversion isn’t limited to my shopping habits. Out of a sense of respect I find myself assessing what I have, how I take care and share it with others. The Franciscan non-appropriation idea is directly connected to this respect—reuse issue. Questions of conscience raised are: “How well do I maintain and take care of that which I have in my possession as part of the universal family? What can I give/get/borrow from those I know to meet my needs or wants instead of demanding something new that is mine? What do I have that I can free myself up enough to allow others to borrow/use to meet their needs and wants in life?”

Ecospirituality of Green Living Right Relationships Reverence — Reduce Do I really need or simply want? Respect — Reuse What can I give/get/borrow from the common for the common good? Responsibility— Recycle How can I influence by actions?

So often there is nothing easy about doing this if things don’t get returned or come home tattered and torn. However, to not be willing to share is to propagate a culture of distrust rather then to risk and build collaborative community. There is no free lunch and lunch tastes better when it is shared. Are you willing to borrow/share and make known to others what is in your possession as gifts for keeping for the common good and common use?

Lastly, I turn to what most people think of first—recycle. Recycling gets the bulk of media and legislation attention across our country. From my perspective, I see this as essential because we fail to adequately reduce and reuse. I equate the spiritual dimension of responsibility with recycle and take it beyond a need to do focus to a proactive sustainable living advocacy ministry.

The questions of conscience for me are: “How can I influence others by my actions? Am I willing to do the research, pay more and discern with others the long range impacts of ways I meet my needs and wants in life? How do I spend my energy promoting conscientious consumption? How do I get involved in “green” issues that promote biologically friendly products and bio-regional buying?”

The responsibility—recycle connection is a profound deep conversion to modeling a worldview of love, abundance and gratitude by how I freely choose to live day-by-day. I invite you to examine what, as well as how, your life actions speak to others about hope-giving, lived ecospirituality.

Carroll’s deep conversion call is something that I believe happens in the thousands of small ways of being every day. Contemplating the spirituality of sustainability is coming to accept an evangelizer role in the 21st century if there is to be a future for humans.

When I know the science, cosmic and spiritual connections of being a global citizen and creature of an unfolding universe, then the notion of “waste is food” and “there is no such thing as a free lunch” cannot be ignored. How will we continue to make small daily steps into lived practices of a spirituality that promotes hope and trust as well as educates for sustainability?