Tending the land: What would Francis tell us to do?

by Lucy Slinger, FSPA
FSPA Ecological Advocate

The FSPA congregation is blessed, not only with resources but also with wise women willing to take risks and invest in ministry possibilities by procurement of land. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to do, as Clare did, and have a picnic with Francis in one of our woods? I wonder what a dialogue with Francis would be on how we can best use our lands to bring about the kin(g)dom of God today. What would Francis tell us to do to till and tend our Wisconsin, Iowa and Washington lands? What might it mean to act as good stewards of the land from Francis’ view?

Alas as Father Bill Short, OFM, says, “Francis is dead and gone!” However, his invitation to live in right relationships, as expressed in our FSPA Direction Statement, leads us to examine the examples and stories of the Francis legend to seek out what this means. These lessons of the legends lend guidance and motivation for the actions we as Franciscans of the 21st century choose to take. They provide a model of right relating not just with other people but also with the land entrusted to us. Francis’ Canticle of Creatures, composed at the end of his life, succinctly presents his perceptions. What can we glean from this prayer about living today
in right relationships?

The Canticle reminds us that we are a part of a web of life and invited to live a particular way of life. The Canticle involves familial–fraternitas, intimate relationships with all of creation–even the very elements we consider nonliving creatures like the sun, moon, water, fire and earth. Everything that is, is to be brother and sister. All in life comes from the same source, is gift, and the emanation of God’s love. In turn, it is creation’s duty to return this love as praise of our Creator. There is to be a unity in the diversity; a oneness with all the biodiversity that exists because as Bonaventure says, nature is the mirror of the Divine. John Dun Scotus says not just a mirror but every fragment of matter contains the very essence of God. For us, the human species among creation, there is special mention of the need to be forgiving and able to pardon self and others because our God-created free will makes us slow to learn how to truly live in right relationships with self, others, God and Earth. Furthermore, the Canticle teaches us that Sister Death is not the end; rather, it is the deep reminder that life is an ongoing cycle that will continue until, as Ephesians tells us, God is the “All in the all.” In the end we are to serve all with great humility. What does all this mean for tilling and tending our lands?

First is to remember that every aspect of creation that is a part of our lands shows God’s presence. What we do to the land we do to God. Second is that our call is to make the kin(g)dom come by modeling unconditional loving relationships with all of creation. Are we not called then to tend and till this land in a way that preserves and enhances the diversity that we find living in our soils, prairies, woodlots and lawns with sustainable tilling practices? Then we are asked to remember that the gifts given, our lands, are for the common good in ministry use to manifest God’s overflowing, outpouring love. What of our land should be allowed to be in a natural state to illustrate to others the communion of creatures found in healthy ecosystems? What must we do to enhance the ecosystems we have to restore harmony and right relations? How do we use our lands to show others the essence of God contained in every speck of matter as Scotus suggests is reality for Franciscans? Indeed, it seems, that as scientists view matter as frozen energy, we are called to view all creation as “frozen bits of God’s infinite, unconditional love.” We are invited to serve this land with humility and to act out of these premises for life as Francis tells us we are to till and tend our lands in right relationships.

It seems to me that Francis’ Canticle is mirrored by Aldo Leopold’s life-concluding work expressed in his written land ethic in A Sand County Almanac. His gives practical advice as to what right relationships require: “Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends to do otherwise.”

Assessing our lands and establishing longer-range management plans that will model our Franciscan commitment to live in right relationships with all of God’s creation is what FSPA members have been doing due diligence. It is our privilege to examine and renew our commitment to be good stewards of our lands in Washington, Wisconsin and Iowa. It is time to again examine if we ourselves are best able to maintain our land in sustainable ways and to consider how we best safeguard it for the future. To discern if it is time to entrust our lands, through easements or sale, to others with similar concerns and interest in using the land for the common good to make the kin(g)dom of God more visible today and in the future. Francis’ Canticle invites us to tend and till in evangelical ways that preach what we believe by our actions as well as our words. What will serving our land in humility look like as we Franciscans of the 21st century respond to Francis’ advice on tilling and tending?