Introduction
Restoring the Shattered Image of the World
Cosmic Fragmentation
Almost every day, we witness activists, lobbyists, and theorists—each from their own perspective, occasionally with their own agenda—grappling with the ecological crisis. Climate change and global warming, flora and fauna extinction, soil erosion and forest clearance, marine and agricultural contamination, noise and air pollution receive increasing attention on a daily basis and striking prominence on an international level. Indeed, these concerns have assumed a progressive sense of urgency, even though the intensity with which they are frequently handled and resolved is far less impressive or persuasive. With the emphasis in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries on the individual and individual rights, who would have predicted that the exploitation and violation of nature would become more important than, and even equivalent to, concern and consternation for the very survival of the human race?
No matter how carefully modern man has sought to foster material prosperity and self-sufficiency, it is now clear that grave “fissures” and “faults” have appeared on the face of earth. As a result, despite past actions that sought to contain or constrain the world’s forces and resources, today we face a global challenge that directly affects everyone, regardless of ecological awareness, geographical location, or social class. Nature, we know, paces like an enraged animal in a cage, and it is only a matter of time before it exacts retribution. We are already feeling the reverberations; ecological “justice” always follows suit, sooner or later, with mathematical precision. The image of God in creation has been shattered; the face of God on the world has been distorted; the integrity of natural life has been fragmented.1 Yet, it is precisely in this shattered world that we are called to discern the caring nature of the Creator and discover the sacramental nature of creation.
This book examines the restoration of that shattered image of the world through the sacramental lenses of cosmic transfiguration, cosmic interconnection, and cosmic reconciliation. The aim is to induce personal and societal transformation in making choices that respect creation as sacrament. Such transformation is only possible through divine grace, the energy of the Holy Spirit, the creative and motivating force for everyone and everything. As Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022) asserted, “The Holy Spirit has no other name. It derives its name from the matter on which it rests.”2 The same grace communicates a vision of how creation relates to its Creator, inspiring an ethos that enables us to live on earth while having our citizenship in heaven.
Cosmic Transfiguration
One distinct focus of the book lies in the emphasis on cosmic transfiguration, as this is articulated through the centuries to this day in Orthodox theology, liturgy, and spirituality. The hymns for the Feast of Theophany, the celebration of Christ’s baptism commemorated each year on the sixth of January, declare, “The nature of the waters is sanctified … the earth itself is blessed … and the heavens are enlightened.” And the Great Blessing of Waters recited on the same day provides the reason behind the blessedness of the earth: “So that by the elements of creation, and by the angels, and by human beings, by things visible and invisible, God’s most holy name may be glorified.”
The theology of the Orthodox Christian tradition retains a sacramental, balanced view of nature and the environment, proclaiming a world imbued by God and a God involved in the whole world. I say retains because the essence and creed of the Orthodox Church offer the basis for its unparalleled and unfailing care for the created cosmos. It would be a mistaken identity and ideology that perceives the interest and involvement in the protection and preservation of the natural environment on the part of Orthodox theologians and leaders—most notably among them, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew3—merely as a reaction to the contemporary ecological crisis.
Climate change provides the occasion and opportunity, but it does not prompt the cause or conviction for an Orthodox Christian sacramental worldview. Orthodox liturgy and spirituality offer compelling and concrete answers to the ultimate questions about redemption from corruptibility and liberation from death, teaching that “original sin” lies in turning away from God, manifested in a refusal to view life—and all life in the world—as a sacrament of communion. In the seventh century, Maximus the Confessor describes the Incarnation of the Word as a complete and comprehensive re-creation of the world, wherein “God is emptied and descends without change to the last extremities of nature.”4
Inasmuch as everyone and everything bear the imprint and likeness of the divine, there can never be a sharp line of demarcation between humankind and nature. This vision surely lies at the heart of the doctrine and intention of creation; this conviction also lies at the heart of the doctrine and purpose of the Incarnation. It is why Paul can describe the eager expectation and deeper yearning that unites all people with all creation:
Above and beyond any conception or definition as a rational, social, or political being, the human person is primarily and essentially a liturgical celebrant of this sacramental reality of the world. The dimension of liturgy—of joyful praise and cosmic mystery in the human heart and in the natural environment—is God’s gift to the world and transcends any environmental erudition or endeavor. Augustine of Hippo long ago acknowledged this truth: “Through the mouth of the good, all the lands make a joyful noise to the Lord … No words are needed to make this joy heard … overflowing with joy … above the level of discourse.”5
Cosmic Interconnection
“A human being,” says Gregory the Theologian in the fourth century, “is like another universe,”6 standing at the center of creation, mid-way between strength and frailty, greatness and lowliness. Humanity is the meeting point of all the created order. The idea of the human person as a bridge of union or point of contact is developed in the seventh century by Maximus the Confessor: “The whole world, made up of visible and invisible things, is a man; and conversely … man, made up of body and soul, is a world.”7 As an image of the world, the human person constitutes a microcosm—a universe in miniature. And at the same time, the human person is a mediator, a bond of sorts8—integrating and reconciling the fragmentations within oneself and the divisions within the world. As another monastic writer, Nilus of Ancyra, put it in the fifth century: “You are a world within a world … Look within yourself and there you will see the entire world.”9
The same mystical interdependence between our lives and our planet is eloquently articulated by American farmer and cultural critic Wendell Berry, who touches in poetic and prophetic manner on the deeper implications of the global ecological crisis:
Not only, then, are we members one of another (cf. Eph. 4:25); but to press Berry’s image still further and provide an identity for this interdependence, we might also suggest an uncanny resemblance between the body and the earth. If the earth is our very flesh, then it is inseparable from our story, our destiny, and our God. After all, as Paul writes in his Letter to the Ephesians, no one ever hates one’s own flesh (5:29), a notion subsequently echoed in the philosophical thought of Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–254): “The world is like our bodies. It, too, is formed of many limbs and directed by a single soul. Yes, the world is an immense being directed by the power and the word of God, who is, so to say, its soul.”11 Indeed, for Origen, the parallel between nature and scripture is so complete that the person exploring nature and the person examining scripture should inevitably and invariably arrive at the very same conclusion and creed.12
Cosmic Reconciliation
While acknowledging the importance of the cosmic interconnection of all living things, one must also keep all things in perspective: their relationship to each other and the Creator, who is above all. Cosmic reconciliation includes reconciling in humility our relationship to God and others.
In this perspective, we gain access to other dimensions of life and are empowered to transcend ourselves and our own in order to see others and the world more transparently. After all, we constitute a part of creation and can never be considered apart from it; much less so should we dare to set ourselves up over and against the rest of creation. Surely it is inappropriate to contrast or compare ourselves with other creatures in order somehow to establish dispari...