A thick strand of Christian theology begins with an assertion from Psalm 8: "O Lord . . . .what are human beings that you are mindful of them . . .? Yet you have made them a little lower than the heavenly ones, and crowned them with glory and honor . . ." When set next to the Genesis creation stories, this passage paints a picture of humanity as the pinnacle of the created world. Humanity is to have "dominion" (Psalm 8:6, Genesis 1:28) over creation, but also to "tend" it (Genesis 2:15). On this knife's edge between dominion and caretaking much Christian thought on creation care has bled. Sadly I think that the conviction that God will replace the present creation with a new one at the end of history has bent Christian ethics largely toward a view of "dominion" and "tending" that embraces maximum exploitation of natural resources.
As a Christian who does not believe in maximum exploitation, I think often of how Christians might rally to a less consumptive view of creation. In the United States at present there is much ado about Native American land ethics. I have encountered mostly oversimplified versions of First Nations ecological ethics, usually romanticized and told from a third-person perspective. Robin Wall Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass brings something deep, thoughtful, and challenging into view from the Native American perspective.
This part-memoir, part-science lesson, part-spiritual primer weaves together elements that produce a robust proposal for how to live responsibly in the world. Kimmerer reflects on her own experiences as a woman, a mother, and teacher in powerful and poignant vignettes. She also presents in a poetic and accessible way a scientific understanding of ecology and especially botany. And with the same poetry and gentle grace she lines out her Potowatomi spiritual inheritance and how it shapes her view of the Beings that surround humanity.
It is this last--the assertion that maple trees are Maples and bloodroot is Bloodroot--which has caught my attention most. How would my life be different, and how would our life together be different, if I viewed the rest of creation as Beings rather than objects? I mean (and Kimmerer means) something more than viewing cute pets as surrogate children. I mean, as Kimmerer displays, believing that a stand of Aspens has something to say about which or how many of its members may be cut down for fire mitigation or harvested for other human use. I mean believing that one needs to honor wild Leeks, to ask their permission before harvesting, and to be grateful to them for their presence in our meal.
As a consumer at the "top" of the food chain I have been taught to think of plants and many animals as, at best, producers of something that I consume. At worst, they are simply objects. I am the subject, with sole meaningful ethical input and agency, and the created world contains objects on which I act. To borrow Martin Buber's categories: I have an I-It relationship with the world. Kimmerer's challenge is to envision myself in an I-Thou relationship with the world. This challenge does not supplant the I-Thou relationship we have with God, the Creator. Rather, because God chooses and I-Thou relationship with me I choose an I-Thou relationship with all the beloved handiwork of God, down to Sparrow and Leek. Sustaining that relationship becomes more important than my desire to consume.
In Christian sacred writings, there are suggestions about the spiritual personhood of creation. Psalm 148 sings that mountains and hills, fruit trees and Cedars, creeping things and wild birds all give praise to God. How can one give praise to God unless one is a being capable of some sort of declaration? Jesus states that if people don't laud him, the stones will cry out (Luke 19:40). We could understand these as more than literary "devices" and as a way to view the world around us. We Homo sapiens are not a species that stands on top of a laboring pyramid of inferior species. We are members of a greater community for whose welfare we have a greater responsibility because we can think, adapt, and use wisdom.
Braiding Sweetgrass does a beautiful job of opening up to the reader both the complexity of the biological world and the interdependence between all species, including humanity. It also gives us a language for honoring that interdependence and making choices that will contribute to the flourishing of the whole. For this new language I am deeply grateful for Kimmerer's work.
I recommend this book to you in the hope that reading it will draw us all closer to a simpler and healthier life together. I think that our ability to love not only our fellow humans but all the Beings with whom God has surrounded us is part of our training for heaven. Love is an essential ingredient in Kimmerer's book, and it is the essential ingredient in the Christian life. Perhaps love ought to go further than our consumerist ethic tends to allow. After all, if we cannot do well in this creation, why would God want us in the new creation?
~ emrys
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