EARTH
Genesis 1:9-13, 24-28; John 9:1-7
1st Sunday in the Season of Creation, September 3, 2023
Pastor Ritva H Williams
Welcome to the Season of Creation 2023 and our exploration of Diana Butler Bass’ book Grounded alongside with thematically chosen scriptures. Today’s first Episode features “Earth.” Join us for Episode 2, “Water” on at 7pm, Episode 3, “Sky” next Sunday and so forth until St Francis Day on October 4.
Grounded is a spiritual memoir tracing how Bass' understanding of God, world and humankind has changed over her lifetime. Schooled in ‘vertical theology’ (God is up there, we’re down here, and hell is below) she was taught to think of God as holy, and humans as morally and spiritually filthy, unworthy of God’s love, and organized religion as “a holy elevator between God above and [us] muddling around down below.” Her personal experiences of God showing up throughout her life in different circumstances contradicted this vertical theology and resulted in a spiritual revolution in which she came to see God with us (pp.11-12).
Bass prefaces Chapter one, “Dirt” with this quote:
We must abandon the external heights images in which the theistic God has historically been perceived and replace them with internal depth images of a deity who is not apart from us, but who is the very core and ground all that is. — Paul Tillich (p.32)
Genesis 1 is often read as if it is a literal scientific and historical account of creation. It is better understood as a liturgical poem celebrating God as the ground (the source and foundation) of all this. The passage we read this morning highlight where earth comes from and what it does.
God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth …. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so … And God saw that it was good. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so. And God saw that it was good.”
We learn three things here. (1) God uses existing matter to create new things. God transforms a dark, watery, formless chaos into an organized world where everything has a place and function that promotes life. As the waters are gathered together into one place, and earth/soil/dirt appears. (2) God shares their creative power with earth when God says, “let the earth put forth,” The word “let” means to give permission or provide an opportunity to do something. Synonyms include permit, approve, authorize, commission, enable and empower. God empowers the earth to bring forth vegetation and living creatures, that in turn are empowered to reproduce and bring forth new life. Earth, plants, and animals become co-creators, commissioned by God to give and nurture life. (3) God declares that all of this is good — not perfect, not complete — but good. In other words, there’s more work to be done.
Last week a neighbor was complaining about how hard it is to keep flowers alive in the midst of this drought. In the very next breath she bemoaned the effort it was taking to keep the weeds at bay. Unwanted plants were pushing through the river stone and landscape fabric in her flower beds. Another neighbor commiserated and suggested she replace the old, worn out landscape fabric and add more stones. I smiled to myself, thinking of how God continues to empower the dirt to bring forth life in spite of all our efforts to control and obstruct its God-given mission.
In our gospel lesson, Jesus makes mud and smears it on the eyes of a blind man. I included this reading, not for the sake of the miracle, but because Jesus’ actions point to the healing power of dirt. Ancient peoples relied on heated mud baths, wraps, and packs. Science shows that Dead Sea mud, a favorite of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, can heal wounds, reduce inflammation, treat joint pain, stimulate blood circulation, and enhance lymphatic flow. Natives in this land have used volcanic mud for millennia to treat bug stings and sunburn. Diana Butler Bass tells of her visit to a chapel in New Mexico with a well of sacred dirt used generations of indigenous peoples. Scientists tell us that the efficacy of mud coincides with concentrations of various minerals in the soil. Sources of healing mud are limited. Although healing mud renews itself, if harvested in large quantities it can run out. Some scientists are looking to create healing muds in laboratories. (Alina Bradford, “Everywhere But in Your Eye: The Healing Powers of Mud,” December 22, 2021 at theearthandi.org).
What a wonderful world! What a wonderful God who shares their creative and healing power with dirt, plants of all kinds, and animals of all kinds, even the creepy, crawly ones.
The story in Genesis continues with God making humankind, male and female, in God’s image and likeness.
Father Richard Rohr teaches that the image of God refers to the soul’s objective union with God. He writes, “You (and every other created thing) begin with a divine DNA, an inner destiny … a [divine] blueprint.” This indwelling divine image is our “original blessing” given at creation, the source of our inherent and irrevocable dignity which cannot be increased or decreased by any thoughts, words or actions of our own or of others. In other words, because we are created in God’s image we are not inherently morally or spiritually filthy.
God’s likeness refers to our personal and unique embodiment of God’s image over the course of our lifetimes. There are as many ways to manifest God’s likeness are there are beings in the universe (posted Sunday, December 31, 2017 at cac.org). And the truth is that none of us manifest God’s likeness perfectly or even very well at all times — but that’s a story for another day.
God creates humankind, infuses us with a divine blueprint and the capacity to grow into the divine likeness. God shares with us the power to reproduce, and to have dominion in creation. Some interpret dominion to mean humans have carte blanche to hunt animals to extinction, poison rivers, and to pave over paradise. Nothing could be further than the truth. The Bible only and always presents humans as stewards of this world, strictly accountable to God for our management of creation. Theologians increasingly urge us to see God’s sharing of power with earth, plants, animals and humans as a model for our own behavior and conduct (Terence Freitheim, 2008 at workingpreacher.org). What better way could there be to manifest the divine likeness in our relationships at home, work, school and in the wider community.
excerpts from “In Praise of the Earth” by John O’Donahue
Let us bless the imagination of the Earth, that knew early the patience to harness the mind of time, waited for the seas to warm, ready to welcome the emergence of things dreaming of voyaging among the stillness of land.
…Let us thank the Earth that offers ground for home
and holds our feet firm to walk in space open to infinite galaxies.
Let us salute the silence and certainty of mountains …
The wonder of a garden trusting the first warmth of spring …
The humility of the Earth that transfigures all that has fallen of outlived growth.
The kindness of the Earth, opening to receive our worn forms into the final stillness.
Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth for all our sins against her:
for our violence and poisonings of her beauty.
Let us remember within us the ancient clay, holding the memory of seasons …
That we may awaken, to live to the full the dream of the Earth who chose us to emerge …
Amen.
