The sixth in series of blog posts for Lent from Sr. Madeleine Gregg, fcJ
Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Lent invites us to look particularly at certain areas of our lives from an Eco spirituality perspective. Our first step is to cultivate awareness of what’s missing that is causing suffering in people and other creatures. Alternatively, we can closely consider how what is real in creation and in the structures, policies, and practices of people is creating suffering in our world. We want our awareness to lead us to compassion, to a desire to look beyond what currently is to what could be. Sharing our awareness with God is prayer.
A vision develops from our awareness….. a vision of what could be, of how we could change things. As we recognize how our choices have contributed to the suffering of others, we begin to realize that we need to change not only structures, policies, and practices in the world around us, we need to change our own way of moving through the world, the structures, policies, and practices of our own lives. This is the moment of ecological conversion, when we see clearly that we need to seek forgiveness, to mend broken relationships and to change the priorities which guide how we make choices our everyday lives and it, too, leads us to prayer. Finally, we are moved to action, amending our lives to help alleviate the suffering
Here is a starter list of areas of life in which our choices can make difference in healing the Earth and caring for people and non-human creatures. It is only a starter list; feel free to branch out!
The interconnectedness with all of creation – the earth and all of its peoples and all of the other-than human life
Welcoming the stranger, especially refugees and migrants
The vibrancy of our companionship-across social, political, ethnic, gender, and age divides
Finding and creating beauty in the arts, in gardening, in sewing
Preserving and cultivating God’s creation
Embracing diversity of environment, of culture, of literature, of music
Fostering respect and equality in each encounter
Monitoring our collusion with control and power through what we buy and what we pay attention to
Reverencing the mystical in our lives
Accepting our creature-hood—seeing ourselves as part of creation, not above it
Embracing our role in co-creating with God a world of justice and peace
Using only our fair share of the earth’s resources
Resisting cruelty online or in person, anywhere on Earth
Closing ourselves to God who is constantly reaching out to us in love
Forgetting gratitude
Working for the common good
There’s something here for everyone! Choose an idea and start entering the space created by an EcoSpiritual Perspective!
