Earthkeeping: The Path Ahead

For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision of Creation Care, by Steven Bouma-Prediger

progress: 164/187

With the help of Bouma-Prediger and his insightful book, we have hopefully established the following truths:

1. We are called to be good keepers of the whole of creation.
2. Creation groans, because of us.
3. Jesus is the ultimate reconciler of creation.
4. We have a role to play in the redemption of creation.

So...what is our role?

Bouma-Prediger offers his answer in terms of the larger question of "What Kind of People Ought We to Be?" Values and virtues point the way to what sort of actions we should take (or not take). His discussion was so thorough that I found it difficult to process without putting it into my own little outline (yes, I'm that sort of person :-). The words in parentheses are the unhealthy extremes of the aforementioned virtues.

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Integrity: Creation is diverse, good, and harmonious.

Value: Creation has intrinsic value because God made it, not just because of its usefulness.

Goal 1: Act so as to preserve diverse kinds of life.

• Respect all creatures (conceit – reverence)
• Recognize our interdependence with other creatures (self-sufficiency – addiction)

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Finitude: Creation is finite.

Sufficiency: We have access to everything we need (as opposed to want).

Goal 2: Act so as to live within your means.

• Practice self-restraint in order to reserve and conserve (profligacy – austerity)
• Practice frugality so that others may live and flourish (greed – stinginess)

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Finitude: Humans are finite, limited in power and knowledge, space and time

Fallenness: Humans are fallen, alienated from God, humans, ourselves and the earth

Goal 3: Act cautiously. - Survey as many consequences as possible

• Be humble – recognize that we can’t know everything, because we are finite and fallen (pride – false modesty)
•  Be honest – (deception – false honesty)

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Fruitfulness: Creatures provide sustenance for themselves and others, and reproduce themselves

Sustainability: Creation, if cared for properly, can sustain itself

Goal 4: Act in such a way that the ability of living creatures to maintain themselves and to reproduce is preserved. - plants, animals, and humans

• Be wise in the fear of God – make sound judgments on behalf of creation (foolishness)
• Live in the hope of God’s good future for all of creation (despair – presumption)

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Sabbath: God works and rests, and so should we and the creatures under our care

Rejuvination: Allow ourselves and our world to rejuvenate by resisting the world’s drive for constant production

Goal 5: Act in such a way that the creatures under your care are given their needful rest.

• Patiently commit ourselves of God’s way of doing things and his timing (impetuousness – timidity)
• Find peace amidst the chaos in the knowledge that God is at work, reconciling our world (restlessness – passivity)

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Earthkeeping: God owns the earth, and we are called to be its keepers

Benevolence: God does good for the sake of others, and this is how we are called to be earthkeepers

Goal 6: Act so as to care for the earth’s creatures, especially those creatures in need.

• Commit yourself to do good on behalf of others, whether humans, animals, or ecosystems (malice)
• Learn to love the earth and its creatures, of whom we are keepers (apathy)

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Righteousness: God is righteous and just, and calls us to be righteous and just, with special attention given to those most likely to be treated unjustly, whether humans or other creatures, trees or ecosystems

Equity: God exercises fairness in according to need (different from equality)

Goal 7: Act so as to treat others, human and nonhuman, fairly.

• Exercise justice in acting impartially and fairly (injustice)
• Be courageous in the face of difficulty (cowardice – rashness) 

While I affirm the importance of each goal, numbers 2, 3 and 7 are the most convicting to me at this point in my life, perhaps because they feel like the ones which are more immediately applicable in my daily life. Living within our means (goal 2) does not mean that as long as we can afford it (which I usually can't anyway), it's okay to consume to our heart's content (which it never is anyway). It is hemmed in by the virtues of self-restraint and frugality - what is wanted must be challenged by what is needed, for ourselves and for others. How does my consumption affect others' abilities to have their needs met? (And I'm not just talking about people here; animals, bugs and trees have needs too.)

This decision-making process regarding needs and wants is closely related to the goal of justice (goal 7), as it necessarily involves an impartial and fair assessment of the needs and wants of others. If that Thing I Want is produced by child labour, or contributes to unjust social structures, if it pollutes rivers with byproducts or involves animals living or dying in non-humane ways, or if it generally keeps me blinded to the needs of others, and feeling like an entitled individual instead of a compassionate member of God's whole creation-community, is it really worth having?

Of course we can't always know these things, and that's where goal 3 comes in: Act Cautiously. This is a tricky one, because we can choose to avoid knowing certain details, which in turn allows us to consume with a clear(ish) conscience. For example, I have avoided watching the food industry exposé Food, Inc. because I'm not sure I can commit to the conviction just yet - but it's on my to-do list! (Just trying to keep it real here, folks.) Nonetheless, as a Christian I believe it is my responsibility to pursue truth, wherever it takes me. Acknowledging that we can't know everything about the world and the consequences of our actions, we must act humbly, cautiously, gently, aware that our actions have consequences beyond our awareness. Insofar as we are able, we must ask ourselves, "What are the potential consequences of this choice?" and endeavour to make wise judgments.

The scary part for me is that it often takes me to a place of conviction that requires me to change: perhaps to spend more money buying the organic or fair trade option, or simply to go without. I'm confronted with my own greed, my tendency to place convenience above conscience, and my general sense of apathy toward many aspects of God's world.  

Well, those are a few of my raw thoughts on my own role in being a good steward of this good creation which God has entrusted to me and you. What about you? How do you live out your care and concern for God's creation in your attempt to be a faithful earthkeeper? Of if you're like me so much of the time, how do you fail? What is the path ahead?

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The Ultimate Earthkeeper

For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care, by Steven Bouma-Prediger
progress: 160/187


In my series of lectures on Earthkeeping, I covered many of the same texts that Bouma-Prediger discussed in detail in the fourth chapter of his book, entitled, "Is there a connection between scripture and ecology?" as well as a few extras. In Genesis, we looked at several themes, some of which I had previously overlooked, or which I hadn't thought through fully enough to discover all of the implications for creation care.


1. Relationality. In the creation story, we read that God created the heavens and the earth. Throughout the creation, God declares his creation to be "good." Only once, however, does he consider his creation to be "very good." Which part of creation was blessed with this superlative? In my ignorance, I would have assumed it was the creation of humans - we are pretty special, after all, being singled out in all of creation to be the bearers of God's own image. And so it was with surprise that I discovered that it wasn't any one part of creation, but in fact the whole of creation: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." (1:31) As glorious the celestial array, as majestic the oceans and mountains, as diverse the multitudes of plants and creatures, God wasn't fully pleased with these things until they were all created, together. Just as God himself is a community of three Persons, just as he declared it "not good" for Adam to be alone (2:18), God is not ultimately satisfied until his creation reflects the community of his own nature. We were made to live in relationship with the sun, which grows our crops; with the plants, which feed us and provide shade for us; and with the animals and other humans, who provide companionship and friendship. The harmony of God's creation (BP refers to it as "shalom") was characterised by an interconnectedness with God, and through him, with everything else he created.


2. Theocentrism. On a similar theme to the first point, I was intrigued to find that, although God blessed many of his individual creations, there was only one day that he blessed in its entirety. "And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." (2:3) Again, it was not the sixth day, in which he created humans in his image, but the seventh day, in which he rested from his work. As BP points out, the climax of creation is the Sabbath. I've still got a lot of thinking to do to discover all of the implications of that fact. The point I want to draw out at this moment is that God is at the centre of creation, not humans. It's ultimately about him. Many mistakes have been made, I believe, because we view ourselves as the end of creation, rather than him and his glory. 


3. Responsibility. In the fall story, we see the splintering of that harmony in which God created the world. 

Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (3:17b-19)

As soon as Eve and Adam chose their own way over God's way, they discovered the awful consequences of that choice. Not only was their relationship with God broken, but their relationship with each other. And beyond that, the shalom of all of creation was broken: harmony and cooperation would be replaced by toil and adversity. And why? "Because of you."

4. Covenant. In the flood story, we see the further consequences of that disharmony. Humans are evil, and so God uses his own creation (ie, rain) to destroy all but a few representatives of the rest of creation. Mountains, trees, and creatures of every kind are washed away by his grief. When Noah and Company finally set foot on solid ground again, God makes a promise: 

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

Again, humans are not at the centre of this story, God is. Creation is saved because of his mercy, goodness and faithfulness. He declares this faithfulness by way of a covenant. Never again will he destroy creation in this way. And with whom does he make this covenant? Just to be clear, he says it six times: "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." God's dealings with our world encompass the whole of creation. To be sure, his dealings with humans are unique and most amazing, but the reach of his care and concern are cosmic.


These four points raise the following questions to consider with regard to the topic of earthkeeping:

1. Given the interrelatedness of humans with the rest of creation (as well as God and other humans), how should this inform our role as God's appointed keepers of creation?
2. How does our tendency to put ourselves at the middle of the story muddle our thinking about the point and priorities of creation?
3. If humans are responsible for bringing disharmony into creation, what then is our role for righting that wrong?
4. If God deals with all of creation, what is his plan for the cosmos in its entirety?

The answers are not quick or easy, but a good starting place can be found in Romans 8:18-22:

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 

Verse 18 tells us that, although we suffer, there is a future glorification which will render our current sufferings puny in comparison. Verse 19 tells us that creation plays a role in our glorification: it waits, eagerly. Verses 20-22 give us the reason for this anxious expectation: it is currently oppressed, frustrated, decaying. It groans. But these three verses also speak of something beyond the present reality: there is hope, liberation, and a promise of a new birth. This raises the question of the means of this liberation - how does it come about? Colossians 1:15-20 reveals that the better question is, by Whom?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

By Whom does the liberation of creation come about? By Jesus! He is the firstborn over all creation. All things were made by him, for him, through him. He is the centre of the cosmos, and by him all things hold together. He is before all things, after all things, above all things, and by him all things will be reconciled. Jesus is the Ultimate Earthkeeper. As Randy Alcorn points out in his book entitled Heaven, whenever Jesus speaks of his work, he uses words like "reconcile, redeem, restore, recover, return, renew, regenerate, resurrect" (88) - all of which suggest a return to what was before, a return to that perfect shalom in which the world was created (if you are of the persuasion that the world will be destroyed by fire according to 2 Peter 3:10 see BP explanation of why this is most likely a misinterpretation of the Greek text, pages 77-78). 


The creation in its entirety anxiously awaits redemption. This redemption is a reversal of the curse, put into effect by Jesus' death on the cross. If you previously thought Jesus only died on the cross to save souls, you need to enlarge your imagination and expand your understanding to see just how HUGE, how utterly complete God's salvation is. I especially like the way Steven Lawson puts it, 

Whatever sin has touched and polluted, God will redeem and cleanse. If redemption does not go as far as the curse of sin, then God has failed. Whatever the extent of the consequences of sin, so must the extent of redemption be.” (quoted in Heaven, by Randy Alcorn, page 91) 

Revelation 21-22 as well as Isaiah 60 help us to see the extent of what God had planned from the beginning to redeem, restore and reconcile. Jesus died to repair all that is wrong with the world, souls, bodies, lands, creatures, ecosystems, cultures, and nations. 


And the clincher is this: as God's appointed keepers of the earth who are called to be imitators of God (Eph 5:1), we have a role to play in that redeeming.

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Earthkeeping: Why Christians Don't Care

For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care, by Steven Bouma-Prediger
progress: 160/187

Back again - can I blame pregnancy on my long absence? Or perhaps my three kids? Certainly not laziness, I assure you! Whatever the cause(s), it's good to be back to the structure of autumn again. I have three hours to myself every playschool day, so I'm hoping to dedicate at least some of that time to blogging.


This summer, a friend who is a teacher at the local Christian school asked me if I would be interested in teaching a few Bible classes to the 9-12th graders. The current book is Genesis and she gave me free reign to pick my topic, so I suggested the topic of stewardship: What does/should the keeping of God's creation look like? Being the good sport that she is, she agreed. I was quite pleased that my passionate teaching on Revelation last year hadn't turned her off. 


I taught three classes on the subject and I think they went well. After the first class, I left wondering if the kids thought I was a little bit out there (I liked the challenge that presented). I wondered if they expected me to be a radical recycling Nazi, or a doomsday environmentalist blaming humans for all the world's problems. Of course, these fears were most likely borne of my own paranoia of being misunderstood and therefore ignored. 


But it's true that many Christians - or strains of Christians - have seemed to view the entire topic of the environment with suspicion, as if that is the domain of "liberals" and extremists. I did have a sense that before I could jump into how to care about creation I had to make a case for why we as Christians should care about creation. At the end of the first class, my friend the teacher asked me outright, why is this the case? 


That got me thinking. Where is the disconnect between God's command to rule, reign, work and take care of creation in Genesis 1-2 and the adversarial relationship with creation in which many Christians now find themselves? I wrote down a few ideas.


Why do Christians often neglect or ignore the topic of earthkeeping? 

1. It is a reactionary response: nonChristians’ views are sometimes so extreme, we can make the mistake of responding with an equally extreme view in the opposite direction. 


Case in point: many of the folks who support saving animals are the same folks who support abortion. Therefore, if you're opposed to abortion, you must obviously stand against saving the whales, right? (I hope this thought doesn't need further development.)

2. We tend to focus more on spiritual matters than material matters – souls before bodies, humans before animals, etc. 


Here is just one more way that we allow dualistic beliefs to infiltrate our actions (or inactions): spiritual = good, material = evil. This has been a recurring problem over the centuries with missionary efforts, as the salvation of souls is emphasized to the neglect of the immediate, physical needs of the bodies in which those souls are clothed. Just because an item is a higher priority than another, we are not given permission to neglect or ignore the lesser priority matters. We are called to be multitaskers, addressing many issues at once, from the Great Commission to feeding the orphans and the widows to rooting out "all bitterness, rage and anger" in our hearts. Humans are made in the image of God, but we are called to be keepers of all creatures great and small (not to mention the rivers, mountains and trees!).

3. We misrepresent what it means to “subdue” the earth – we turn dominion into domination. 


Christians are not immune from the human tendency to define authority in terms of power and domination. It completely distracts us from the real issue, the question of "What does God's authority look like?" Of course God is powerful and every knee will eventually bow in submission to Him, but our most powerful experience of His rule is in the "glorious, incomparable, unsearchable riches" of His grace, His lovingkindness, His loving care for our every need (both spiritual and physical). All these things are "lavished" on us through Jesus' death on a cross, the ultimate expression of power expressed in self-sacrificial service. Wow. 

In his book on creation care (my primary resource for these talks and Bookmeal Book #5), Steve Bouma-Prediger writes,

The proper exercise of dominion yields shalom - the flourishing of all creation. This is a far cry from dominion as domination. And Jesus, in the Gospel accounts, defines domination in terms clearly contrary to the way it is usually understood. For Jesus, to rule is to serve. To exercise dominion is to suffer, if necessary, for the good of the other. there is no question of domination, exploitation, misuse. Humans, therefore, are called to rule, but only if ruling is understood rightly. (74)

4. We’ve never been introduced to the topic from a Christian perspective 


I, for one, was not introduced to the theme of "earthkeeping" until I began my Master's Degree at Regent College (and moved to Canada from the US, I might add). Up until that point, it hadn't entered my Christian consciousness. Other themes related to creation took precedence (see #7 below).

5. Worrying about the environment (or nuclear destruction, etc) suggests a lack of faith that God will take care of us. 


Holders of this view tend to forget that God uses people to accomplish His will. If we are called as God's-image-bearers to be good keepers of the earth, what happens if we fail in our calling? 

I'll spare you the details of why this is most likely a poor translation of the Greek word for "to find," but the main point is, even if it's going to be eventually destroyed, what right does that give us to neglect and abuse it now? I like Bouma-Prediger's analogy, "Is it permissible for me to plunder your house just because some time in the future it will be torn down?" (78) We all know we will die someday, yet we eat, sleep, exercise, love, and enjoy life. 

7. We get caught up defending God as the Creator and forget to live that truth out in our daily lives – as godly caretakers of the earth.


This is a personal pet peeve of mine, and so I write with fear and trembling of offending some who might read this. Christians jump right into the fray of the creation/evolution debate, even dividing amongst themselves as to the specifics of that creation - literal days? gap theory? intelligent design? The passion with which they lobby governments, picket schools, and turn this topic into a political hot button, is admirable, but incomplete (some might say misplaced). The main point is that God made the world, right? He is the Creator, therefore creation is good and valuable. Passion for this truth should work itself out in a deepened worship of the Creator and a more reverent approach to creation as God's masterpiece and to our role as earthkeepers of that creation. Steve Bouma-Prediger asks, “How can we honour the Master without caring for his masterpieces?” (135) Passion for creationism that does not result in care and love for creation (as an extension of our love for our Creator) is a stillborn one, not having achieved it's proper end of life and joy and worship - of shalom.

Those are a few of the potential reasons that came to my mind. Bouma-Prediger offers a few additional ones for the Western church (pp. 80-83), including the Western church in particular's addiction to consumption and wealth, tendency toward anthropocentrism rather than theocentrism, and deification of technology as the saviour of our problems. Do you agree? Disagree? Did I miss anything?


I'd better stop there. I want to write a bit more about the Redeemer and redemption of creation, but I'll have to save it for another post.


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Girls and Boys and God

I've been very remiss in blogging for quite some time now. Nonetheless, I've been reading steadily. More posts will be coming soon, but in the meantime, I'm going to cheat. The following is a lengthy comment I wrote today for a blog I've recently discovered. It's not entirely cheating, because the book I mention at the beginning will be book #6 for bookmeal.

But first, a disclaimer: my comments about my experiences with pastors are from my past. I am blessed to currently be in a church with a pastor who very comfortably relates to me and has given me freedom to develop my leadership skills - amongst the women and men of our congregation.

(To read the article to which I responded, click here. And now, my thoughts:)

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I'm in the process of reading the book, Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, edited by Gordon Fee, among others. I have finally gotten around to actively searching the Scriptures on this topic, despite my fears of where it could take me, because I know that "how I feel" is no real reason at all.

I am a pastor's daughter married to the son of a pastor, and I have lately been smiling to myself to realise that of the eight children between these two pastors, it's a woman (ie, me) who would be the most likely to follow in their steps.

I attended a very conservative Bible college in the States and was officially turned off to the male-authority view during my senior seminar when a fellow (male) student presented his paper in support of this view. When several other students brought up the hypothetical situation of a woman who was more qualified or more trained in a theological area and whether she ought to be allowed some measure of leadership/input, he was unwilling to make allowances. Being a Bible/Theo major with an emphasis in Greek and planning to pursue Biblical languages in grad school that fall, I mentioned the fact that the professor who taught the highest-level Greek course at that school was a woman, he responded with simply: "I would choose another school." Ouch! He also glossed over the fact that the two winners of that year's Greek scholar awards were both women, amidst a classful of men. I guess one of the men who didn't do quite so well would be better-suited to teach Greek, simply by fact of their gender.

I've never minded being a part of the male-leadership model in general; in many ways it is still more comfortable to me (at least in the sense that it is more familiar). It wasn't until grad school that I personally experienced a really positive, strong model of female “leadership:” speakers who were scholarly, not just sentimental, who spoke as disciples, not specifically as women.

It was difficult to be a passionate-about-theology kind of woman in churches where the pastor feels uncomfortable being around “a single young lady.” It’s not much easier being married with 3½ kids. If anything, my theological education seems to suggest that I’m a threat, out to usurp authority and proselytize all to my liberal ways, when in fact I simply want to talk with others who care about the topics and ideas that I enjoy so much, and as it happens, the similarly-passionate are usually men.

More than anything, I have struggled with the double standard with which the male-authority model is applied: Why is it okay for female missionaries to minister in a leadership capacity to other cultures? Why is it less “dangerous” or “sinful” for mothers and Sunday School to train boys? Anyone with any recognition of the role of a godly mother in the lives of her children will recognize the power she is given in “ministering” to men – for that, of course, is what young boys eventually turn into (I know - duh!). Susanna Wesley is one famous example for which there have been so many anonymous ones over the centuries. I endeavour to be one myself. :-)

And most of all, it just seems so incongruent with the spirit of Scripture (if not always the letter, at least at first glance). Within the reasonable limits of the culture, from OT Law to the actions and words of Jesus himself and even Paul's often-brusque manner, God’s way is always pushing the envelope of cultural mores, moving toward a higher view of women. In one sense, the Bible is a snapshot of history that ended two thousand years ago, and I think there is plenty of evidence within it to encourage believers to keep moving forward, until women are truly co-inheritors (Rom 8:17) and co-priests (1 Pet 2:5, 9) with men in the riches and grace of God. Each expression of the church is in the midst of that process, some further along than others, and that’s okay too.

Lastly, I must say that no careful reader of Scripture should be able to support any application of authority that turns the word “submit” into a bad word. If Christ himself modelled it, it is a beautiful thing, characterised by sacrificial love, not power, and as Dyfed mentioned, is utterly mutual amongst believers. The best submission is that which is not spoken of at all, but lived out in mutual love. It’s what makes my marriage work, at any rate!

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What about you, readers? Do you agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts...

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For Further Thought: Around the World 18 Times

For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care, by Steven Bouma-Prediger

progress: 98/187

In my last post I wrote about why the world is groaning, without addressing the doubts of some who might disagree as to whether it is in fact groaning at all (except perhaps in some spiritualized sense), believing instead that all or most environmental concern is misguided, misinformed or even maliciously false. I chose not to try and convince any such people, because as I mentioned before, I am not a scientist. I have read the statistics and viewed the charts of many scientists in this book, and I have chosen to believe them as true and not sensationalist, because they make logical sense to me and they jive with my experience of the physical world. I cannot argue with any who disagree with such information, but I hope their disagreement will be based on research and not reactions...it's a temptation against which we all must be on guard.

Having said that, I thought it might be of interest to list some of the statistics that I found most startling in Bouma-Prediger's chapter, entitled "What's Wrong With the World?" I appreciated his use of word-pictures which helped me to visualize the magnitude of the numbers. 

Population/Consumption

• "A newborn in the US requires twice as much grain and 10 times as much oil as a child born in Brazil or Indonesia - and produces far more pollution. In fact a simple calculation shows that the annual increase in the US population of 2.6 million people puts more pressure on the world's resources than do the 17 million people added in India each year." (Christopher Flavin, quoted on page 43)
• For a fascinating - and convicting - photographic representation of what families all around the world eat in a month, click here.

Hunger

• If you lined up all the hungry people in the world, shoulder to shoulder, they would stretch around the world (at the equator) 18.2 times. (43)

Biodiversity

• While estimates vary, a conservative estimate states that three species per day become extinct. (45)

Deforestation

• Half of the forests (our carbon-collecting air-cleaners) that once covered the earth are now gone. (47)

Water

• Approximately 25% of the total human population do not have an adequate supply of drinking water. (49)
• In California, groundwater overdraft averages 1.6 billion cubic meters per year. (Sandra Postel, quoted on pp. 50-51)
• In Arizona, water tables have dropped more than 120 meters. (ibid)
• In North Africa, current water depletion is estimated at 10 billion cubic meters per year. (ibid)
• In Mexico as well as Gaza and Israel, pumping exceeds natural recharge by more than 50%. (ibid)
• In India, water tables are falling 20 centimeters annually. (ibid)
• In Beijing, the water table has fallen 37 meters over the last four decades. (ibid)
• In Bangkok, overpumping has caused land to subside 5 to 10 centimeters a year for the past two decades. (ibid)

Land

• The US has annual ratio of 18:1 soil lost to soil formed. Nineteen million acres of rural land was "developed" between 1970 and 1990 and currently every year, 400,000 acres are lost. (52, 54)

Waste

• Each year the US generates enough solid waste to fill a bumper-to-bumper convoy of garbage trucks that would stretch around the equator almost 8 times. This amounts to 1500 pounds of waste per person per year, or 52 tons in a 70-year lifetime. And this is only 1.5 percent of the total waste generated each year in the US alone! (54)
• Each year the US throws away (municipal waste only) enough aluminum to rebuild the country's entire commercial airline fleet every three months, and enough disposable diapers, if linked end-to-end, to reach the moon and back seven times.

Energy

• The US uses approximately 1/4 of the world's available energy.

Air

• In Sweden all bodies of fresh water are now acidic, with "roughly fifteen thousand of them too sour to support life." (Bill McKibben, quoted on page 57)
• In the Adirondacks of upstate New York approximately 1/4 of the 2,759 lakes and ponds are now fishless because of acid deposition or have been damaged to the point at which fish populations have been substantially reduced. (58)

Climate

• The hottest fourteen years on record have occurred in the last two decades.
• The global mean surface temperature has been steadily rising for at least a century.
• "Already we are seeing evidence consistent with the predictions of climate change models. More intense heat waves and longer cold spells. Severe droughts and intensive flooding. More destructive storms and less controllable wild fires." (64-65)

 Well, that's probably enough downers for now. For me the challenge is to step back from looking at these statistics as shocking quotes to spice up the next conversation, but to feel the weight of them in my own life, to let the conviction settle into my heart, so that I can take action for change. Consumption is the biggest word that comes to mind - how much I as a North American consume, and to what extent that consumption robs others of even the most basic necessities. As much as I might like to, this is not an issue I can ignore.

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Creation Groans: What Have We Done?

For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care, by Steven Bouma-Prediger
progress: 98/187

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning

as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."

Romans 8:22

I am really enjoying this book. After so much sensationalism, oversimplification and willful ignorance in the media and popular thought, Bouma-Prediger offers a refreshingly sane review of our current environmental situation, as well as thoughtful explanations of how many Christians have misinterpreted Scripture with regard to ecology, and a humble but passionate plea for a closer, more informed look at what the Bible has to say on the subject.

As I write, an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil have been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day for the past five or six weeks, since an oil rig exploded in mid-April. As of May 18th, 46,000 square miles of the Gulf had been closed to fishing because of the spread of this dirty, sticky, toxic mess. Amazingly, some folks in the news have chosen to attack random third parties, defending the corporations and deflecting public sentiment from what should be the obvious response: sorrow at the soiling of our good earth.

 Some of the heaviest oil on land to date is seen along the Louisiana coastline on May 20.

An oil-covered crab crawls past an oil blob that washed ashore on May 22 in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

(photo and caption credits to CNN) 

I think it is this deflecting that disturbs me most. On a CBC news interview last week, callers called in to respond to the Sierra Club's suggestion that the Alberta oilsands are environmentally harmful and therefore new investments should be made in greener technologies. The Sierra representative wasn't even saying that the oilsands should stop, just that new growth should be suspended. Obviously, this struck a chord with the Albertans, so many of whom rely on the oil and gas industry - messy as it is - to put food on their tables. It is completely valid to raise this as a concern in the discussion, but I was surprised how many people simply wanted to shut down the discussion "because the oilsands make good money," as if that in itself were a good enough reason to do anything. I couldn't help thinking about the formula, "We should do ______ because it makes good money." What else would we be willing to plug into such a simplistic statment? Prostitution? Drug-dealing? Abortion? Child labour? Our perspectives on ecology are skewed by many things, not the least of which is money. While a healthy economy is indeed important, we can't separate that from the multitude of interconnected topics that relate to a healthy world at large.

I have puzzled over the highly-politicized nature of the environmental debate, as politicians and the average joes who support them, rather than scientists, make concrete statements about what is or isn't happening with global warming, among other things. When did it become Christian to say that global warming is a hoax? When did it become Liberal to care about environmental issues? Not being a scientist myself, I can only rely on the science of others to sway me one way or the other, but I think any reasonable person should be able to admit that we humans affect our environment- to some degree at least - with our cars and our industries, our chemicals and our sprawl. One fellow who called in to the aforementioned radio show boldly proclaimed that "Ants have made more impact on this planet that humans have!" Meaning no disrepect to ants, I somehow doubt that.

It's a good thing I haven't written in over a month, because that's at least a month's worth of opinions right there. Hopefully I haven't lost any of you yet!

The most intriguing chapter that I've read thus far is the one entitled, "Is Christianity to Blame?" in which Bouma-Prediger explores the multifaceted critique of Christianity as the primary cause of our world's environmental crisis. Though he ably argues against this charge, he emphasizes that Christians do bear part of the burden of responsibility. In his defense, he differentiates between various (misinformed) expressions of Christianity and what the Bible actually has to say on the subject. The expressions of Christianity were familiar to me, and the criticisms of such expressions need to be heard by the church.

The biggest criticism was that God's command in the Garden of Eden for his human creatures to "have dominion" (Gen 1:28) over the earth was tantamount to commanding the exploitation of the natural world for the sole benefit of humans. In the critics' definition, dominion equals domination. Bouma-Prediger challenges this interpretation of dominion, arguing from Psalm 72 as well as Jesus' life that godly dominion is in fact defined by service. Regarding the domination/exploitation view, Wendell Berry writes,

"Such a reading of Genesis 1:28 is contradicted by virtually all the rest of the Bible, as many people by now have pointed out. The ecological teaching of the Bible is simply inescapable: God made the world because He wanted it made. He thinks the world is good, and He loves it. It is His world; He has never relinquished title to it. And He has never revoked the conditions, bearing on His gift to us of the use of it, that oblige us to take excellent care of it. If God loves the world, then how might any person of faith be excused for not loving it or justified in destroying it?" (quoted in SBJ, 75)

Another criticism is that Christian eschatology has contributed to the earth's malaise. Many Christians believe that, since the earth is going to be "burned up," there's no need to be overly concerned about the earth of this world, which is passing away. I have encountered this mentality amongst Christians with dismay. Bouma-Prediger discusses 2 Peter 3:10, the primary verse that has been used to support such a view:

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." (NASB)

He explains that this is a mistranslation of the Greek word, which means "to be found." The idea, more clearly translated in the ESV as "the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed," carries the idea of purifying judgment rather than utter destruction. Eugene Peterson brings this idea out even more clearly in his paraphrase: "earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment." As I look more closely at the entire chapter of 2 Peter 3, I still have questions about the nature and extent of the fire. However, as the author points out, even if such an interpretation is correct (i.e. the earth will be utterly destroyed), it should not follow that we are not called to be good stewards of it until that time.

The unfortunate truth is that some Christians have used this passage to justify the degradation of God's good creation. How might things change if more Christians understood having dominion over the earth within a Christlike context of service? What of our own luxuries might we sacrifice in deference to our charge to rule the earth in a godly way?

A number of years ago, it occurred to me that if Jesus' post-resurrection body bore the scars of his death, then what if our restored earth also bore the scars of its previous life? The thought has stayed with me, sobering me to the reality that the choices we make in this life will have consequences in the next life.

Though Bouma-Prediger opposes the accusation that Christianity is wholly to blame for the earth's ecological woes, he goes on to explain how Christians are indeed complicit in at least five ways:

1. The church is captive to modern Western culture, and its patron gods of consumption and wealth
2. The church has accepted the anthropocentrism of modernity, placing humanity at the center of purpose and meaning in the universe
3. The church, along with Western culture, has made technology into a god, forgetting that it is good and bad
4. The church has forgotten creation in light of redemption, even though creation provides the foundation for understanding that redemption
5. The Western church is prideful, unwilling to learn from other traditions and perspectives

There is much to think about, much to confess. I'm looking forward to reading more of his thoughts on the path forward, on his "vision for creation care," and how I can be a better steward of my beautiful world.

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Memories of Earth

For The Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care, by Steven Bouma-Prediger. (Baker Academic Press)
progress: 31/187

Welcome to the new Book #5 (see my last post). As gardening season approaches, this book seems a good fit. I am routinely amazed and often disturbed by the variety of views amongst Christians with regard to all things environmental/ecological, and the anger, suspision and general passion of one kind or another that arises when the topic is broached. Conspiracy theories abound. Spirituality is called into question. Because I know godly men and women at multiple ends of the spectrum(s), I have realised my need for more information before taking a personal stance. Hopefully this book will be a start in the right direction.

At the beginning of his first chapter, Bouma-Prediger asks the question: "What do you remember from your childhood about the earth?" It seems as good a place as any to start back into writing after my month-long hiatus.

I remember water and sun. The saltiness of the ocean and the chalky residiue of salt on my skin after a swim. Sand, infinite and beautiful, I found to be made up of many colours and shapes upon closer inspection. I remember the buoyancy of my body in the ocean, the light dappling through and sparkling on the white sand below me, the hot sun baking my back as my I snorkeled in and along the reefs. The fish were extreme in every way: colour, shape and size. There were starfish, sea cucumbers, spiny urchins, hermit crabs and the dreaded jellyfish.

The world was magical in its offer of endless possibilities. I was an explorer, trekking through the tangled boonies of Okinawa, the hillside rainforest of Hawaii, the vine-clogged woods of Maryland. I was a hunter, eyes to the ground as I searched for seashells, sand dollars and glass balls along the shores of the Pacific ocean. Once, we saw an old washing machine and a piano, dumped on an otherwise pristine stretch of beach in Japan, and I was at the same time confused as to who would do such a thing, and curious to take a closer look.

The world was powerful. The waves had the power to crush me. There was a current off the coast of Oahu, I was told, that could carry you all the way to another island - dead, of course. In my old neighbourhood in Annapolis, Maryland, there had been a restaurant that had slid off the edge of the eroding cliffs and crashed onto the shore of the Chesapeake Bay below. It was a favourite exploring spot with my friends. That, and the abandoned pool down the road from my house, complete with baby-pool-turned-swamp, which was in the process of being completely reclaimed by nature.

The world was just plain weird at times, which was my childlike way of saying it was wonderful. The black, lumpy, bumpy, spiky swaths of dried lava at Kilauea Volcano Park in Hawaii transported me to another planet. A late-night boat ride at the just the right time of the year left a glowing path of baby jellyfish in our wake on the Chesapeake Bay. There was a funny little plant in Okinawa that closed up its tiny leaves when I touched it. Venus flytraps ate bugs! And fireflies, the most magical of all, transformed the giant oaks and elms of my nighttime walks around the neighbourhood into something ethereal and dreamy.

I loved animals of all kinds and had my share of pets over the years: hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, a cat, a dog, rabbits, fish, and birds. I used to capture green, red and yellow box turtles as temporary pets, until they made their way out of their enclosures and back into the woods. I chased down crawdads and tadpoles in the creek by my house. Bugs I viewed with less openness (except for every child's favourites, the butterfly and dragonfly): I remember the horror of seing a harmless but intimidating banana spider the size of an adult's outstretched hand, making its way toward me on the road as I walked to the bus stop for my first day of school. I was so convinced he was going to get me that I ran back home. Hawaii exposed me to the likes of five-inch-long centipedes, flying cockroaches and numerous large spiders. I remember hearing about a girl in my neighbourhood in California who pulled the wings off of ladybugs and that fact alone made her a horrible person in my mind.

As I think about it, the realm of nature was a major character in my childhood. Being a kid who moved around a lot and struggled at times to fit in socially, the natural world was a place I felt comfortable and at home. The familiar crack of a coconut dropping to the ground outside my window every couple of nights kept me company in Hawaii. The howling wind was a tangible presence as I walked. The sparkling ocean was my playmate, inviting me in. Animals of all kinds were my close companions and the gracious receivers of my awkward gestures of love. Even the more dangerous aspects of nature (thunderstorms, sharks, remoteness, etc) generally struck awe in me rather than fear. In ways I am still struggling to understand, nature has played a significant role in shaping who I've become.

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April Housekeeping

I've been away for awhile, struggling to feel motivated to write. I'm not sure just what my reasons are, but part of it is that I'm feeling overwhelmed. I'm reading multiple books and blogs and overdosing a bit on ideas I need to think through. Occasionally I stall out, feeling incapable of grasping the big picture and being able to comment with sense on anything. The more I read the thoughts of very informed folks, the more disqualified I feel to share my own thoughts. Humility or pride? Likely a healthy dose of each. Humility lets me know that I don't know much, pride makes me want to hide that fact from others. Hiding one's ignorance is appropriate at times ("Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue." - Proverbs 17:28), but it's harmful if that silence keeps me ignorant when exposing myself by asking a "stupid" question could help me become less ignorant. Perhaps I'm just afraid to expose my ignorance on the likes of Facebook! I am well aware of the vast diversity of Friends who read my random comments - believers, doubters, smirkers, professors, activists, pastors, and cynics, to name just a few categories. This blog was meant to be a place to work through my thoughts and open topics up for discussion, but I face the same fears. Stupid, I know. But I press on.

Now for a bit of housekeeping: I am still reading Kathleen Norris' Amazing Grace - and really enjoying it. I have read nearly all of Wendell Berry's A World Lost and I'm just not into it, or at the very least, have no idea what to write about it. So, I am dropping it from my reading list. There are plenty of other books of his that I'm more interested to read, so I'll add him in later. I've got a few books on my mind for my next batch:

• For the Beauty of the Earth, by Steven Bouma-Prediger. This book presents "a Christian vision for creation care." The creation/evolution debate, as well of the spinoff issues of creation care and stewardship have been on my mind a lot lately.
• Pensees, by Blaise Pascal. It seems as though just about every thoughtful writer that I respect has quoted Pascal at some point. I'm long overdue in reading this one.
• The Way is Made by Walking, by Arthur Paul Boers. Boers is a Mennonite pastor and professor who went on a pilgrimage to Spain, and writes about his experience of pilgrimage, both literal and spiritual. Anyone who's read more than one of my posts likely knows that this is a major theme in my life right now.
• Discovering Biblical Equality, edited by Gordon Fee, among others. I've been wanting to read this one for a while, as I become increasingly involved in spiritual leadership in my church and community. I have ideas and I have feelings, but I'd like some facts, grappled with by this thoughtful writer and esteemed former professor. Only problem: I don't have a copy as of yet...Anyone have one to donate or sell at a reduced rate?

That's just a few...but more than enough to overwhelm me. Better just pick one and get started!

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Soul Whispers: The Unspoken Questions of Our Lives

In his first epistle, Peter says that we must always "be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." Further, we are to do so with "gentleness and respect," a phrase I repeated in the form of a prayer many times one year when I was a part of a Hare Krishna discussion group. I had been invited to join by a friendly orange-clad follower of Krishna as I walked down Byres Road in Glasgow years ago. I told the fellow I was a Christian, but he didn't seem to mind, so I went ahead and joined the group. I wanted to be a witness for the truth, but I also had to respect the fact that this was their discussion group, not mine. My witness usually took the form of questions about their faith, rather than statements about my own. This approach eventually allowed me the privilege of sharing some of my own beliefs with them, and through this gentle dialogue, we became friends.

It was obvious to me in that particular situation that tactfulness would be required. I could not hijack their topics or begin proselytizing the group members. The first goal was to take time to really get to know them and understand their beliefs. If I showed such respect, perhaps I might (and in fact did) win the right to speak gently and be heard with an open mind.

There are times when I have not shared my faith so gently or respectfully. My evangelical heritage sometimes tempts me to throw doctrine at nonbelievers, like little "thou shalt not" daggers of condemnation. True as it may be, "You're wrong" is not always the best approach, and may sometimes be the worst. Peter writes about giving an answer for the hope that is in us, and it is doubtful whether any healthy Christian would respond by talking primarily about their own sinfulness or that of others. The presence of sin is what makes hope necessary and what by contrast makes it so wonderful, but what embodies that hope? Forgiveness of the unforgiveable? Love for the unloveable? Healing for broken bodies and hearts? The promise of a future where the world will be made right again? To be sure, there is very bad news in the Bible - we are indeed sinful and separated from God. But that's only the lead-up to the Good News - the comedy that God loves us anyway and the fairy tale that there really is a "happily ever after" for those who will receive it in grace (I am borrowing here from Buechner's Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale).

Don't get me wrong, recognition of one's sin and genuine confession are essential for every person who would be saved; I'm just arguing that it's usually not the first thing a person needs to hear when being introduced to God: "Bob, this is Jesus. He says you're a scoundrel. Oh, and he loves you even though you don't deserve it." It's difficult for most of us to receive criticism well from our most trusted friends, how much more so from this Jesus, who to Bob is a total Stranger?

I've always thought of Peter's words in terms of responding to the direct question of a skeptic: "Becky, I was just wondering...what is the reason for the hope that is in you?" but the truth is I don't get asked that question all so much. In the rare moments when I probably should've spoken more directly to a person, I have tried to justify my cowardly silence with the quote (questionably attibuted to St Francis) "Preach the gospel at all times; use words when necessary." Actions, like words, are essential. But what words?

It's occurred to me recently that the most important questions people ask are rarely spoken with words, but whispered (although sometimes shouted) with their lives. If our words are to take root in the hearts of others, they must address those whispered questions they are asking with their lives rather than the questions we think they should be asking. This is powerful stuff. Time and again in the Gospels we see Jesus demonstrating this intimate understanding of people's hearts, fulfilling Simeon's prophesy that by him "the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed." A Samaritan woman asks him for water but he answers her deeper question by telling her about living water. The Pharisees are routinely confounded when he identifies the true, ugly motives behind their questions, sometimes by asking a question of his own. Even with good old Thomas, whose doubt keeps it real for the rest of us, Jesus knows what he really needs and invites him to touch Him and believe.

So with this idea of giving an answer to the often unspoken but deepest questions of others' lives, how can we "be prepared" to do so? We must rely on the work of the Holy Spirit, searching out and revealing the truth all around us, about ourselves and others. We must embody the love of God, who went to extreme lengths to show that love to the needy and deluded. And we must be like Jesus, taking the time to talk to people, meeting with and loving them right where they're at. We must be abiding in intimate relationship with these Three, so that our efforts are fueled by their wisdom and words, not our own.

Aside from answering the unspoken questions, we may be called to help people discover exactly what question or questions their own uniquely-loved-by-God souls are struggling to ask. It seems likely that most of us couldn't put our deepest questions into words even if we tried. Ideas, emotions, opinions, and experiences hover like the mists of Avalon between the worlds of our conscious and our subconscious. I have spent the past two years trying to articulate a few of my own questions, and I've only recently begun to discover some of the key words, thanks to several Spirit-led friends who have taken the time to get to know me and my struggles.

So instead of telling our friends that they should do this or don't do that, maybe we can point them beyond the command to the Spirit from whom it came. Darrell Johnson gave me a new perspective on the Ten Commandments. Yes, they are rules. But they are there because of God's love for us. He writes,

The Law is given not to tie us up but to release us into the fullness of freedom. How do the commandments do this? By telling us who we are, by revealing who we were created to be..."You shall have no other gods before me." Why? Because God is an egoist and cannot handle rivals? No. "You shall have no other gods" because we were created in such a way that only the one, true, Living God can satisfy us. We finite creatures were made in such a away that only the Infinite God can fill and fulfill us. God speaks the commandment to protect us, to keep us from ruining our lives by seeking satisfaction in what ultimately does not satisfy. (from Fifty-Seven Words, pp 59-60)

People need to know that God has a standard for living. But the way we present that information can do much to help or hinder a person's receptivity to spiritual matters. Pharisaic zeal for rules is a spirit-crushing, hypocrite-inducing, us-versus-them approach. It is motivated by anger or resentment that someone else might "get away" with doing something they've denied themselves. Godly zeal is for souls to be reconciled to Christ. Jesus addressed people's sin, but only after first pouring out kindness and healing and friendship on the broken and outcast: "Go and sin no more." 

God and His word can speak to people about rules and standards; who is more able to soften a heart for repentance than God Himself? I believe our job is primarily to show unbelievers the deep, deep love of Jesus in word and deed, so that when the time comes for the Holy Spirit to convict and guide them into wholeness and holiness, we will have helped Jesus win the "right" to be heard. If our words are motivated by repulsion at a person's sinfulness, they might be better left unsaid - I am especially referring to the case of an unbeliever. But if our words are motivated by a sincere and nonjudmental desire to see a person freed from the weight of sin and released into the full joy of life as God intended it for him or her, then it might be appropriate to speak...but only after listening to the Holy Spirit and being assured that it's His words we speak, and not our own.

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. ~ Proverbs 12:18

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Incarnational Conversion

Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, by Kathleen Norris
progress: 168/384

The last time communion was served at our church, our three-and-a-half-year-old R reached his hand out to take the sacraments. As Steve gently told him that he couldn't have the bread or juice, he leaned over and whispered to me, "It's hard to say no when he's asked Jesus into his heart about a thousand times." I felt the awkwardness, too.

It started last summer, when our five-year-old T prayed the simple and unsolicited prayer, “God, please you be in my heart, and help me do good things." Although I thought this prayer was sweet and certainly a heartfelt response to a recent punishment, I didn't know whether T really knew what he was saying, so I explained the five-year-old basics of what it means to ask Jesus into your heart. Then I asked him if he’d like to ask Jesus to come and live in his heart, and he replied, “But I already did, Mama!” The next morning he woke up with the words, "I a new boy!" and ever since it has been clear to Steve and me that the seed of faith had indeed taken root in his life.

As T exercised his newfound pleasure in praying at meals and bedtime, R picked up on the excitement. He began to pray, "JesusGod, please you be in my heart" at every opportunity. He occasionally talks about Jesus' death on the cross and is impressed enough with God's greatness that he'll sometimes announce, "I'm God!" while wrestling with Steve, because God is obviously the greatest Superhero of them all, right? (Does that fall under the category of "being imitators of God" or sacrilege? I like to think it might elicit a grin from God. Surely Amazing Superhero from an awestruck three-year-old beats a Decrepit Old Grandpa or Lightning Rod Thrower from sarcastic adults. It's better than Bibleman, at any rate.)

Hero worship and Bible trivia aside, we've sort of assumed that Rowan has not yet "officially" received Jesus into his heart. The words are the there, the information is there, but repentance has yet to replace the indignation or smirks that are his typical response to his own naughtiness. Hence the communion rejection. And hence the question, who are we to determine the state of his heart?

I think we have good reasons for making our kids wait to take communion until we're assured that they will take it with seriousness and at least some understanding of what's involved. Even with T, we walk him through it every time, talking about the bread and the juice and the thankfulness we have for what God has done. But I have sometimes wondered, how will we know when the time comes that R is ready?

Kathleen Norris views "conversion as a daily and lifelong process." (44) Believers have long debated whether conversion is a process or a point, with the real question being about where we draw the line between conversion and sanctification. Sometimes I feel like chalking it all up to semantics. Like T, I asked Jesus into my heart at a very young age and never questioned my faith in all my thirty-five years. I tend to view my own conversion more in terms of having a specific starting point, but this is limited to my own perspective - my decision was a result of a process already in place, and initiated by God. The "point" of my conversion has also stretched out into my present, and I trust, will continue into my future as long as I live. Bit by bit, little pieces of me are being converted, drawn into the light and redeemed. Thank God that He allows time to work out His salvation within us, deeper and deeper into our souls! I couldn't handle so much transformation in an instant.

The problem is that we sometimes would prefer to know exactly where a person (more often than not, someone other than ourselves) stands in spiritual terms. We'd like to think it's a helpful way to know and understand a person better, but it more often is a means by which to label and categorize who's in and who's out. It is a tool which helps us decide how to behave around a person. It's so much easier to deal with sheep and goats when you know who's who, right? Kathleen rejects the idea of conversion as a "a product we consume" (42) and challenges those who would try to define the mechanics of conversion too narrowly. But we humans so like to have things nailed down, defined, compartmentalized, checked off the lists of our own making. To refrain from what she refers to as the "idol called 'This is the way we've always done it'" leaves us in a much more tenuous position, one which forces us to acknowledge the unknowable and move foward anyway. It might even force us to shift our attentions from others' conversions to our own. She writes

Maybe the real scariness of conversion lies in admitting that God can work in us however, whenever, and through whatever means God chooses. If the incarnation of Jesus Christ teaches us anything it is that conversion is not one-size-fits-all. Christian conversion is, in fact, incarnational; it is worked out by each individual within the conmmunity of faith. (42)

People often mean well. I once had a man challenge Steve and me to "throw away the birth control and let God be in charge of how many children you have" because this is what God had told him in a powerful way. I truly believe he was transformed by his obedience (resulting in a total of nine children). What he failed to acknowledge is that the ways in which God works are as unique as each person He has created. I believe what the man really wanted us to experience was the joy of following God's calling in our lives. His mistake was in trying to define our calling in terms of his own. I do this sometimes when I think every twentysomething Christian should go to Regent College for at least a year - it was so incredibly transformational for me, surely it would be for everyone! But God has such unique paths for each of us to follow.

Along with the incarnational individuality that Kathleen writes about comes divine unpredicability, which can mean a loss of human control over both people and situations. It's hard to relinquish our attempts to control in this way, but it must be done. In humility and reverance, we must continually place our trust in the Spirit. This means believing that He is working in people, and that His ways are better than our ways, and uniquely suited to each soul, which He knows so well and we do not. Regardless of which shade of converted a person is or isn't, my responsibility is the same: to welcome that person into the love of Christ. Leaving the mechanics of conversion to God, we are freed to experience gracious and authentic relationship with others who are different from us. We can help rather than hinder what God is doing in others - and in the process become more aware of and receptive to what He is doing in ourselves.

I'm not too sure just what this means with regard to R. For now, the communion is still off-limits, but we'll trust God to show him and us when he's ready. In the meantime, maybe we can be on the lookout for what we can learn from this little one, who views God as a Superhero and likes to tell Him jokes when he prays. What mystery, how God works in the heart of a three-year-old! What glorious wonder that He would make His home there!

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