Reconnecting

“There is an endless net of threads throughout the universe…”

Indra’s Net from the Rig Veda

We see so much that divides and separates us. We write about those divisions weekly in these very posts.  We also delve into some remedies: giving gratitude for the gifts of women and other genders in leadership and ministry, lamenting their loss, envisioning what could be, finding ways to make vision reality. But the ideas and suggestions so easily fall into an us-versus-them scenario—justifiably maybe, but satisfying?—often not.

As I journey more and more, a great sacred journey I believe, into movements for environmental justice, I am struck by how much this connects to our own work and how each of these missions enhances the other. The earth truly is like a woman or any gender that is violated or ignored or dismissed or oppressed or exploited or patronized or defined by others with an agenda of their own or not allowed to flourish. (With each “or” in that sentence, by the way, there could equally be an “and.”) And, like any oppressed person, the earth is rising up, wreaking havoc, exposing its might and its woundedness, both poignantly and majestically.

In the case of the violation of the earth, however, we all, all genders, are the perpetrators, the arrogant, the implacable, the superior, the guilty ones. We need to look into that and discover why. As we are mystified by the treatment of women and other genders by the Church, we should be as mystified, and eventually horrified, by our all too similar treatment of the earth. We need to wake up, all of us this time. We need to harvest humility and grace, all of us. We need to change our attitudes, our minds, our practices, all of us this time. And this time, we need to recognize we need each other – desperately.

I’ve been thinking, therefore, about how much we need to reconnect, certainly and most urgently with the earth, but also with each other—and I include those  in institutions and governments and businesses we rail against as well as champion—to make a critical difference. We had one church and it imploded and seems to be dying if we let it, if we give up rather than restore and renew and transform it into something that can offer sustenance, resurrection and life-sustaining growth. Something in us may die, if we don’t take on this task. As for the earth, if we give up there, well, the death that happens will be far more literal.

I am currently enrolled in a series called “Engaging in Active Hope,” inspired by the works of Joanna Macy on spirituality and environmental justice.  I think what we learn there may inform our work for Church renewal and/or re-creation. Our first task at the meeting was to enter into a “state of gratitude, becoming more present to the life around us and to the many gifts we receive.” It was easy to do that on a warm, sunny, early autumn day surrounded by trees and flowering plant life. But what if we at least started taking on the goal of reconnection with, rather than separation from, Church. We could begin with entering into gratitude for all the gifts our particular Church has given us. No bitterness, disappointment, outrage for a bit, just a peace-filled gratitude, as a thread in a net, connecting, inspiring and blessing us in our sacred work ahead.