Every spring, nature comes to life after a long winter nap (and it took a while this year didn’t it?). Budding flowers, bright-yellow chicks, verdant fields, furry bunnies, blooming trees... This vernal exuberance just offers itself to be compared to the Easter resurrection hope. But this year gives us a marvelous opportunity to go beyond this easy cliche sermonizing. This year, Easter Sunday falls just two days before Earth Day, presenting us with an exciting opportunity to consider what the Easter Resurrection Message might mean for the universe as a whole.
For centuries Christianity (especially western Christianity) insisted that the world was planted by God only to benefit humans. No part of nature had any purpose but to serve humans and their salvation. For generations, that has been a sad and highly unfortunate distortion of our faith tradition which eventually led to exploitation and pollution of our environment. The original divine charge to human race was to “keep and protect nature” or in different translation to “till and watch after it” like a garden (Genesis 2:15).
Come this Easter Sunday to meet with a surprising guest, a returning, revived Gardener. Come to celebrate the resurrection hope woven into an intricate and beautiful lacework of nature, where all parts are interconnected and interdependent. Come to celebrate all parts of nature (including us humans, but not only us humans) which are together equally dear and loved by God. Come to celebrate Easter Sunday and Earth Day together.
For centuries Christianity (especially western Christianity) insisted that the world was planted by God only to benefit humans. No part of nature had any purpose but to serve humans and their salvation. For generations, that has been a sad and highly unfortunate distortion of our faith tradition which eventually led to exploitation and pollution of our environment. The original divine charge to human race was to “keep and protect nature” or in different translation to “till and watch after it” like a garden (Genesis 2:15).
Come this Easter Sunday to meet with a surprising guest, a returning, revived Gardener. Come to celebrate the resurrection hope woven into an intricate and beautiful lacework of nature, where all parts are interconnected and interdependent. Come to celebrate all parts of nature (including us humans, but not only us humans) which are together equally dear and loved by God. Come to celebrate Easter Sunday and Earth Day together.
Amen Andrej
ReplyDeleteIT is no wonder that the worshippers of Cybele and other agricultural based deity are so appealing!
Dear Friend,
ReplyDeleteI intentionally stay within limits of biblical tradition. It is interesting that in John 20:15b the resurrected Jesus is mistaken for "the gardener".
Together with my teacher from the New College in Edinburgh Nikolas Wyatt I believe that it is not a mistake or coincidence but actually an example of typological exegesis of Genesis 2:15. It is not necessarily pointing towards Cybele but rather to a long tradition of royal gardeners from Sargon or Persian gardening kings.
Ondrej (or Andrew)