Myth busting: do we see God in all things?

by Lucy Slinger, FSPA

Richard Rohr recently said, “Either we acknowledge that God is in all things or we have lost the basis for seeing God in anything.” Is this an ecospirituality myth, belief or fact? How about the popular statement that the earth’s 6 billion people can only be fed by use of agribusiness and conventional agricultural practices, or that the book of Genesis tells us that all creation was made for man’s dominion?

What are we invited to learn about ecospirituality from how each of these statements is interpreted and expressed in daily actions as 21st century Franciscans? In discerning what is ours to do to ensure a sustainable future? In being ecologically responsible global citizens?

According to an online dictionary, myths are stories of half-truths, especially ones that form an ideology. Beliefs are statements of what one perceives to be the truth. Facts are statements or assertions of verified information about something that has happened or that is the case. A fact about Rohr’s quote is that dualistic thinking is often quietly embedded in how an idea is presented. Do not many see God in some things created but not in all things created? The judgment of truth lies in one’s held theological and philosophical ideology.

As expressed by Rohr in Hope Against Darkness, St. Bonaventure said God is “within all things but not enclosed; outside all things but not excluded; above all things but not aloof; below all things, but not
debased.” Bonaventure was the first to speak of God as one “whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.” Hence the context for Rohr’s statement is grounded in Franciscan theology that invites us to be accountable and model for others our belief that God is indeed present in all—even in the very paper on which this is printed.

The idea that organic farming practices can’t feed everyone, today and in the future, is a myth. Facts accumulate out of credible scientific studies that make it hard to justify the continual dependence on
fossil fuels, genetically modified organisms and other conditions of big agribusiness. The fact that these agribusinesses have replaced traditional farming has resulted in outcomes of antibiotic resistant strains
of bacteria, super weeds and ongoing soil depletion. In about 15 years the “borrowing from the future” practices will catch up and the economic ramifications, as well as decreases in per acre production, will become pronounced enough for all to see.

Already a 75 percent increase in pesticide use is required on Roundup Ready© corn and soybeans merely to contain the super weeds that have developed. Soil erosion is exponential with the depletion of humus and living organisms that produce healthy soil and the substructures that allow water penetration needed to refill the very aquifers we depend on for drinking water. These aquifers are increasinglybeing destroyed.

Each statement context has long-range ecological impacts as well as short-term economical impacts that need to be discerned as we define what something means, which therefore defines what we do to demonstrate a belief that God is in all creation.

Daily choices invite me to go to the root of the words I hear, like those found in Genesis that tell me humans have dominion over creation. Do I recognize that dominion means “property” over which “one has a sphere of influence or control” and not domination? Do I demonstrate a belief that God is in all or do my actions tell others there is no reason to see God in anything? As Rohr states, “As human beings we are called to participate in the liberation of the whole Body of Creation. Learn to see the Body of God with new eyes, be in solidarity with all creation, and live sustainably in community.”

Recommended website: www.cacradicalgrace.org

FSPA organic garden update

The 2010 gardening season has been kind to FSPA. As of August 1, harvesters have weighed close to 3,000 pounds of garden produce. This includes close to 400 pounds of rhubarb, 153 pounds of asparagus (up from 100 pounds in 2009) and just over 224 pounds of strawberries (up from 140 pounds last year). Garden produce is shared with St. Rose and Villa kitchens and with garden volunteers who are also enjoying a robust supply of onions, beet greens, kohlrabi, potatoes, garlic and much more.