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Monday, February 27, 2012

"The covenant between me and you and every living creature"

In the first reading at Mass yesterday – the first Sunday of Lent – Catholics were reminded of Noah. This was followed by St. Peter’s epistle, which expanded the flood imagery with the promises of baptism. Both readings then contrasted wonderfully with the Gospel’s scene in the desert. As I was listening to these texts, each echoed a subject that of late has been the focus of much discussion: the place of man within creation.
God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth,
and the bow appears in the clouds,
I will recall the covenant I have made
between me and you and all living beings,
so that the waters shall never again become a flood
to destroy all mortal beings." (Gen. 9:8-15)
There’s a lot going on here, but the common theme in God’s promise to Noah is that He will forevermore safeguard earth and all living beings from His just judgment. Indeed, Genesis doesn't limit God’s promise exclusively to the human race, but “to every living creature.” This makes sense since, in the beginning, God found all that He had made to be “very good.” (Of course, we’ll see echoes of all this in the psalms of creation and, ultimately, in the promise of a new Heaven and a new Earth in John’s Apocalypse.)

What have been revealed to us in Scripture, then, are balancing forces that teach us what God is up to by granting us “dominion” over creation (Gen. 1:28-29). This is helpful. Exactly what man’s dominant place is within the scheme of earthly resources (living or otherwise) has been debated for some time, especially since the coming of the Age of Industry. Of late, it’s been highlighted in the presidential races here in America.

One comment reported recently by former Senator Rick Santorum especially caught my attention: “Unlike the earth, we're intelligent and we can actually manage things."

I think I know what he means by this, but the theologian and environmental regulator in me have something to add.

Ages ago, I had it explained to me (and I do forget who said this, for which I apologize) that the theology and anthropology of the meaning of dominion in Genesis is more akin to a parent-child relationship than it is to a master-slave relationship. Following the metaphor, we humans are to be wise and care for creation, but we are not beholden to it. We are to put it to use for the good of the human family, but not assault it for our whims and pleasure.

Better yet, in the language of love, we are to embrace it and allow it to seek our good, as we seek its good. This may seem to be odd language when speaking of man’s relation with the rest of creation. But it sounds consistent with what has been revealed to us about God:
"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
Simply put, if God holds a covenant with all living creatures, and we are made in His image, shouldn't we also seek a covenant with earth’s ecological bounty? And if so, how far do our responsibilities go to protect it?

Here we come to another point: Just because God will not devastate the earth does not imply that He would not allow us to do so. Thanks to our free will, we may take too much and pollute too much and waste too much and, thus, destroy a great many bodily creatures – plant, animal, and human. Sure, we probably will not obliterate all life on earth, but we certainly may leave our mark. We are, after all, sinners.

And here we come back to Senator Santorum’s statement that “we're intelligent and we can actually manage things.”

Yes, we can manage things, but we can also be very poor at it, which is why I have a job. Yes, many of us do care about conserving the goods of nature, but then there are others that don’t, no matter what their intelligence. Which is why I have a job. Greed, after all, is sometimes a stronger force than our wits.

Thus, we do well to remember that it is not our intelligence that makes us good stewards, but our intellect elevated and emboldened by the grace of God. It is not our minds that foster good decision making, but our redeemed hearts. It is God, not us, that alone can claim a perfect covenant with the great good of the natural order. We consumers, regulators, scientists, politicians, and chief executive officers need to work very hard at managing things at all – sinners that we are.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Bill. I was hesitant to comment. I don't want to mess up your blog, but the issues are far too important. First let me say that I enjoy reading your blog and appreciate the good work that you do. However, I’m concerned about comments regarding Rick Santorum that I’ve seen in your blog and the National Catholic Reporter. Given the immensity of the environmental problems we face, I feel that I need to speak up. I’m not endorsing Santorum, but instead would like to draw attention to the bigger picture. I believe that the greatest threat to our environment at this moment is not climate change, nor is it the loss of biodiversity. The greatest threat to our environment is radical secularism. Those who promote radical secularism, together with those who see the state as humankind’s savior, are only the bearers of bad news, like climate change, yet they offer no authentic solutions. This radical secularism is increasing its stranglehold on our nation and the world, and is dominating our presidential election. Purely secularist so-called solutions to environmental problems that ignore, belittle, or push aside God and his Church are false solutions, yet this is what we hear every day from the radical secularists and statists. Governments are wondering why they've failed to adequately address climate change. Secular non-profit conservation groups are scrambling, trying to figure out why after all these years they have been unable to protect biological diversity or restore ecosystems. Yet they fail to acknowledge that once God is removed from the picture, once we are unable to hear God in the voice of creation, secularist solutions can do nothing but fail. We may quote our Holy Father, yet the secularists (primarily on the left) laugh at the Pope, they mock all of our bishops, trample on religious freedom, and would drive the Catholic Church into the ground if they had the chance. These secularists also bear the bad news of mandated abortifacients, pills that induce abortion. No culture of death can renew life on Earth. Authentic solutions to environmental problems must include God, not exclude him. Solutions must include the Catholic Church, not exclude her. We are the bearers of Good News. We need to turn to God for solutions. God IS the solution. We need to restore our proper relationships with God, each other, and the world around us. I strongly believe that Catholic environmentalists must resist the efforts of radical secularists and statists. I realize you know these things already, but in practical terms, when we pick apart Santorum in a way that is out of proportion with the bigger picture, we are aiding and abetting the radical secularists and statists, those who would do away with God and his Church. I pray that we all recognize the greatest threat to our environment at this moment is radical secularism. If we are to have any real hope of protecting and restoring the environment, we must pick our battles wisely. ~Bill Jacobs, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center

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  2. Bill, I appreciate your comment, and I thank you for it.

    It made me think of something the Holy Father said in his Lenten address: “I am thinking of all those Christians who, out of human regard or purely personal convenience, adapt to the prevailing mentality, rather than warning their brothers and sisters against ways of thinking and acting that are contrary to the truth and that do not follow the path of goodness. Christian admonishment, for its part, is never motivated by a spirit of accusation or recrimination. It is always moved by love and mercy, and springs from genuine concern for the good of the other.”

    And so, we dialogue, as brothers do – which is easy for you and I because we agree on so much, especially of the harm caused by the sins of our culture’s extreme secularism.

    Providentially, I gave a talk this evening on the Catholic voice in climate change, and my point was – and here I was speaking as both a government regulator and a Catholic writer – that what is needed is more faith in the public square, not less. What is needed is the Gospel message of unity, respect, and love.

    As Benedict XVI has noted, “in order to protect nature, it is not enough to intervene with economic incentives or deterrents; not even an apposite education is sufficient. These are important steps, but the decisive issue is the overall moral tenor of society.”

    I love that statement. In fact, I need to blog about it soon. Because, as you rightly point out, secularism can lead – indeed, is leading – to a grave disorders of nature, especially human nature. Here, again, the Holy Father: “Human beings interpret and shape the natural environment through culture, which in turn is given direction by the responsible use of freedom, in accordance with the dictates of the moral law.”

    Anyway, I’ll conclude by noting that I do not wish to demonize Senator Santorum, but to correct him if I believe him straying, as he is my brother in Christ. And if I do not speak well in the process, I am glad that I have friends who will fraternally correct me, too.

    So again, thanks much! And God bless you during this Lenten journey. May Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha pray always for us and our efforts, and for Senator Santorum and all who serve the public and, thus, the common good.

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  3. Hey Bill. Thanks for your understanding, and again for all the good work you do. One of these days we should get together and compare notes, as they say.

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