Is God Green?

Is God Green? I want to begin with a problem: namely, that the culpability of Christianity in the destruction of the natural world, and the uselessness of Christianity to any effort to correct that destruction, are now established cliches of the conservation movement. The indictment of Christianity by the anti-Christian conservationists is, in many respects, just. For instance, the complicity of Christian priests, preachers, and missionaries in the cultural destruction and the economic exploitation of the primary peoples of the Western Hemisphere as well as of traditional cultures around the world, is notorious. Throughout the five-hundred years since Columbus's first landfall in the Bahamas, the evangelist has walked beside the conqueror and the merchant, too often blandly assuming that his cause was the same as theirs. Christian organizations, to this day, remain largely indifferent to the rape and plunder of the world and of its traditional cultures. It is hardly too much to say that most Christian organizations are as happily indifferent as most industrial organizations to the ecological, cultural, and religious implications of industrial economics. The certified Christian seems just as likely as anyone else to join the military-industrial conspiracy to murder Creation.                                       -Wendell Berry   It rained a lot here and i stayed inside all day except when i ran to work and then ran home afterwards. I think of rain as a perfect opportunity to go running in the woods surrounding Liberty Reservoir or a chance to partake in the renewal of life and plants. Rainy days are often actually some of the most colorful times around here. I won't be seeing fancy fall foliage here though, but when it rains you see lots of rainbows in the oil puddles in the streets and parking lots. Not exactly what God intended. Anyhow, I depend on dinner at the Sal (Salvation Army) most nights, especially this week since our fridge is pretty empty. I'm not really making money right now and this is one way God really provides for me. It's cool, i should think about it more in terms of God's provision, but usually i am just anxious to make sure the kids don't eat all the food before i get a chance to have some of it. I think i will try to view it more as a communion meal tomorrow. Today there was a fruit/veggie give-away bag for the kids and i was excited for that too b/c fresh fruits and veggies are way too expensive for me. There were lots of platanos left over too b/c a lot of people don't know much about them so i am eagerly awaiting my brown bag of green plantains and green bananas to ripen so i can eat more healthy than normal. I usually eat stuff out of cans, boxes and bags, as most people do on a limited income. I hope someday to have a garden where i can eat some of my own food. I want to help start a garden in a vacant lot that sits there so Paul and Charlie have more stuff to do around church. Tonight Sean and I watched a PBS special called "Is God green?" I suppose it's an interesting question that ties to some of my personal frustrations with realities in my neighborhood about urban blight, industrial wastelands and poor nutritional and ecological awareness. It was actually pretty encouraging to watch despite heavy doses of really frustrating  partisan politics, mostly free market capitalism stuff with God seemingly thrown in. It's tough to see someone like James Dobson, whom I have such respect for from when i was a kid and learning values through Focus on the Family programming to hear him seemingly miss giant opportunities to be the prophetic voice that so many people in this postmodern generation are seeking. I think that longing and that search came through in the special tonight. I think that's my story, and i saw it tonight. People are experiencing "conversion" anew when they take up the fight to end mountain top removal coal mining, set up tent cities with the homeless in St. Edwards Cathedral, share communion with the homeless in Love Park, laugh and play with widows and orphans in the mountains of Guatemala, teach in public schools, advocate for public health, work with beautiful children in west philly, anacostia or tampa. whatever your story is, when "Christians" have the opportunity to step outside of a narrow personal religion and see the possibilities of the gospel to speak truth and life into injustice and truly see that it is not just about me, about you, but about a new village, a community on earth that is already here, but is also coming, a community that has been given new life and been transformed by Jesus and his beautiful revolution of love and grace. To see the scriptures laid out before you concerning the spirit of the Lord upon Jesus to proclaim good news to the lost, lame, captive and powerless.That is exciting, that is at the heart of the gospel and we miss that so often b/c we just are concerned about ourselves and keeping our sorry butts out of hell. Creation groans for rebirth, for the kingdom of Jesus. This has long been the yearning of my heart, but I am mostly too afraid to step out and pursue this rebirth that comes only through Christ's kingdom. I watch tonight and i cry out within me, yes God is green, can't you see that, this earth is part of his witness, his testimony of love to us, his glory is reflected in the simple complexity of tiny plants and ginormous animals. It's not just about global warming, partisan politics, the religious right, green this or that, but it is about rebirth. We Christians are too often motivated by economic gain that we blur the lines of the scripture to support a lifestyle that is beneficial to us.  It's about time some of us are speaking out against this. Christians should not use their size to leverage political power for our own purposes, but we ought to live out a Godly way of life that draws people by our movement that brings life and hope to all. Jesus invited people to come and see, to follow him. I believe that to be Biblically consistent, you must at times be politically inconsistent, and that scares people in Washington that crave predictability. Done, for now, but there will be more later