the Divine Breath of Life

A Reflection on Ecological Harmony

In January I took an intensive course on the ethical and spiritual dimensions of global climate change. Through the course I experienced a deep conversion that renewed my relationship with God and with the earth. I would like to share with you a reflection on some of the insights I gained.

In the beginning God created the earth and all its dimensions from night and day, land and sea, plants and animals, and even human beings. In creating God breathed spirit into the form shaped from the dust, and life came forth into breathing human beings. Women and men from the beginning would breathe God's Spirit, live together, and fill the earth with children.

From the time of God's creation humans have lived in a profound web of relationships. The women and men were connected to one another by the flesh God used to shape them. The humans were also tied to the God who created and sustained them. God entrusted the first humans with naming creation, which bound them together. In this way all the birds, fish, plants, land, water, humans, and God co-existed in the garden in harmonious relationship.

After learning how humans exist in profound relationship and how created reality is holistic, I felt how much my life had become fragmented. Through my growing up in the U.S. culture that celebrates the self-sufficient individual and a materialistic way of life, I had lost my breath and the spirit of God in my life. I felt somewhat disconnected from my body and considered it less important than spiritual things. I would buy clothes and eat food without considering what kind of energy, land, or limited resources might be involved in their production. All these contributed to internal frustration and a somewhat solitary way of living for me.

During the class I began to take on this spirituality of holistic relationship and found a powerful integration of body, mind, emotions, and spirit that are part of me as a whole human. I also began to realize how deeply I am in relationship, not only with my family and friends and God, but also with the earth, animals, plants, and all of creation. I began to see how consuming gasoline in travel, fossil fuels in heating/cooling, and so many resources in material things overuse the environment provoking climate change. This holistic integration seems key for me in becoming holy by uniting with Christ's way and breathing deeply of the Spirit again.

During the course I learned how massive amounts of fossil fuels, used to power the machinery of modern technology, directly provoke climate change. Coal, oil, and natural gas, while sources of energy, are also concentrated stores of carbon. As the many tons of fossil fuels are burned the tons of stored carbon are released into the earth's atmosphere. This thickens the blanket around the earth's surface holding in more heat from the sun's rays and causing a global warming effect. The global warming effect has thickened as much in one century as would naturally take thousands of years! Massive fossil fuel use is the main culprit for increased warming.

If the average earth temperature warms by more than a few degrees, the climate will change. We will see more intense hurricanes, more frequent flooding in some areas, more deserts in others, the extinction of many living species, the loss of fresh water sources and mountain glaciers, and changing patterns of food production. If the earth warms very much, our lives will be affected.

Fortunately, I found that there are many ways to reduce carbon emissions and reverse the patterns causing climate change. It is easy to use a compact fluorescent light bulb, turn off unused electronics, and to lower the thermostat a couple degrees in winter and raise it a couple degrees in summer. If everyone in the U.S. changed light bulbs, 45 million tons of carbon dioxide would not enter the atmosphere. These small things really add up. If we better insulate our homes, choose energy efficient appliances, drive less, recycle more, and do what we can, U.S. greenhouse emissions could almost be cut in half.

Since I have experienced such a conversion to wholeness in relationships and healing in myself, I realize that I need much less stuff than I once thought. With God's wholeness I can be content with few things and find an abundance of joy and fulfillment. I hope that by using less resources and renewing my relationship with the earth I may learn to breathe again with the rhythm of God's life breath in harmony with all of creation.