Ecology
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 -- Week of Proper 26, Year Two
Richard Hooker, Priest, 1600
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p 991)
Psalms 72 (morning) 119:73-96 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus* 43:23-33
Revelation 16:1-11
Luke 13:10-17
* found in the Apocrypha; also known as the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach
My imagination was captured by the passage from Ecclesiasticus. Ben Sira speaks of the wonders of the ocean, where God stilled the deep and planted islands in it, where all kinds of strange and marvelous creatures live. The writer concludes this section praising creation by asserting that by God's word all things hold together. "We could say more but could never say enough; let the final word be, 'He is the all.' ...Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can, for he surpasses even that."
My son-in-law teaches ecology and specializes in marine environments. He was telling me recently about an opportunity that may open for him to study an area that may be the only unfished coral reef in the world. It is in a small group of islands in the Pacific. To get there he would travel to Fiji, and then go five hours more. There is a community of about 30 people who are native to the islands, otherwise it is unaffected by human contact.
According to my son-in-law, the reef is remarkably alive and healthy. He also says it has the highest concentration of sharks of anywhere on the planet.
I asked him what contributes to the fecundity of the reef. His eyes got expressive and he motioned energetically with his hands. It is the amazingly abundant lower life -- plankton and other small creatures -- who fuel the energy and abundance that create optimum conditions for all of the larger forms to have a luxuriant supply of food moving up the food chain. There is plenty for all, bubbling up from the generative powers of the lowest forms.
Humans interfere with the food chain both by pollution and by fishing. Pollution damages the smaller creatures, sabotaging the ecosystem from its source. And fishing takes away links in the food chain by removing certain animals that others rely on.
It seems to me that this healthy reef is instructional for our human systems. I would love to see what Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, the authors of Freakonomics, might make of this. Levitt is the University of Chicago economics professor who loves to apply the principles of economics to various systems of data and interaction.
It makes economic sense that abundance bubbles up from below. The energy of life begins with healthy cells, and the energy of an economy begins with lots of one-dollar bills passing quickly from person to person at the base level of economic interactions. Right now, few people are spending money, especially among the poor and lower-middle class, particularly those who have lost their jobs, so the system is pretty shut down. There is a lot of money -- industries report great surpluses -- but U.S. wealth is concentrated among wealthiest few in a way as it has rarely been in our history. There is plenty of money, but nowhere to spend it because there is very little "food" at the lower end of the economic chain. Industries have money to build and make new things, but who will buy them?
Our reef needs more health for the smaller creatures, whose life and work creates the energy and prosperity that allows the larger creatures to prosper. When a dollar goes into the hands of an hourly worker, it gets turned over fast and more often than a dollar that goes to somebody like me who has enough and need not spend it.
What are the conditions that create healthy economic and social life for the smaller creatures? Lots of work, lots of opportunity. Energy and money invested among the working poor is what is not being stimulated in our unhealthy economic reef right now. So the sharks circle, but they have nothing to eat; their money sits at low interest, waiting until enough prosperity is pumped into the lower economy so that they have customers again. (I'm out of my area here; really need Steven Levitt.)
Reef ecology: abundant health among the small creatures generates life; pollution and overfishing breaks the cycle of health. It may have something to teach us. Getting rid of pollutants, practicing moderation, and taking good care of the little things is not a bad strategy for health in one's spiritual life or nearly any other endeavor. When we sleep and eat well, practice hygiene, attend to relationships, take care of our responsibilities, pray, watch, enjoy, work -- avoiding the things that pollute our lives and living with some sense of balance -- we are healthier, more alive and productive. Life seems to bubble up from below.
Maybe that's why when God took on flesh in Jesus; he rose up among the little people -- the peasants and villages, rather than from the courts of the powerful and wealthy. Energy seems to percolate up. Jesus came focusing on the little, the leprous and the lost, Bob Farrar likes to say, bringing Good News to the bottom of the food chain. Good ecology makes for good life.
Richard Hooker, Priest, 1600
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p 991)
Psalms 72 (morning) 119:73-96 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus* 43:23-33
Revelation 16:1-11
Luke 13:10-17
* found in the Apocrypha; also known as the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach
My imagination was captured by the passage from Ecclesiasticus. Ben Sira speaks of the wonders of the ocean, where God stilled the deep and planted islands in it, where all kinds of strange and marvelous creatures live. The writer concludes this section praising creation by asserting that by God's word all things hold together. "We could say more but could never say enough; let the final word be, 'He is the all.' ...Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can, for he surpasses even that."
My son-in-law teaches ecology and specializes in marine environments. He was telling me recently about an opportunity that may open for him to study an area that may be the only unfished coral reef in the world. It is in a small group of islands in the Pacific. To get there he would travel to Fiji, and then go five hours more. There is a community of about 30 people who are native to the islands, otherwise it is unaffected by human contact.
According to my son-in-law, the reef is remarkably alive and healthy. He also says it has the highest concentration of sharks of anywhere on the planet.
I asked him what contributes to the fecundity of the reef. His eyes got expressive and he motioned energetically with his hands. It is the amazingly abundant lower life -- plankton and other small creatures -- who fuel the energy and abundance that create optimum conditions for all of the larger forms to have a luxuriant supply of food moving up the food chain. There is plenty for all, bubbling up from the generative powers of the lowest forms.
Humans interfere with the food chain both by pollution and by fishing. Pollution damages the smaller creatures, sabotaging the ecosystem from its source. And fishing takes away links in the food chain by removing certain animals that others rely on.
It seems to me that this healthy reef is instructional for our human systems. I would love to see what Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, the authors of Freakonomics, might make of this. Levitt is the University of Chicago economics professor who loves to apply the principles of economics to various systems of data and interaction.
It makes economic sense that abundance bubbles up from below. The energy of life begins with healthy cells, and the energy of an economy begins with lots of one-dollar bills passing quickly from person to person at the base level of economic interactions. Right now, few people are spending money, especially among the poor and lower-middle class, particularly those who have lost their jobs, so the system is pretty shut down. There is a lot of money -- industries report great surpluses -- but U.S. wealth is concentrated among wealthiest few in a way as it has rarely been in our history. There is plenty of money, but nowhere to spend it because there is very little "food" at the lower end of the economic chain. Industries have money to build and make new things, but who will buy them?
Our reef needs more health for the smaller creatures, whose life and work creates the energy and prosperity that allows the larger creatures to prosper. When a dollar goes into the hands of an hourly worker, it gets turned over fast and more often than a dollar that goes to somebody like me who has enough and need not spend it.
What are the conditions that create healthy economic and social life for the smaller creatures? Lots of work, lots of opportunity. Energy and money invested among the working poor is what is not being stimulated in our unhealthy economic reef right now. So the sharks circle, but they have nothing to eat; their money sits at low interest, waiting until enough prosperity is pumped into the lower economy so that they have customers again. (I'm out of my area here; really need Steven Levitt.)
Reef ecology: abundant health among the small creatures generates life; pollution and overfishing breaks the cycle of health. It may have something to teach us. Getting rid of pollutants, practicing moderation, and taking good care of the little things is not a bad strategy for health in one's spiritual life or nearly any other endeavor. When we sleep and eat well, practice hygiene, attend to relationships, take care of our responsibilities, pray, watch, enjoy, work -- avoiding the things that pollute our lives and living with some sense of balance -- we are healthier, more alive and productive. Life seems to bubble up from below.
Maybe that's why when God took on flesh in Jesus; he rose up among the little people -- the peasants and villages, rather than from the courts of the powerful and wealthy. Energy seems to percolate up. Jesus came focusing on the little, the leprous and the lost, Bob Farrar likes to say, bringing Good News to the bottom of the food chain. Good ecology makes for good life.
Lowell
__________________
| Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: -- Morning Reflection Podcasts About Morning Reflections "Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer. Evening Prayer begins on p. 117 An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at missionstclare.com -- Click for online Daily Office Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html -- Click for Divine Hours Discussion Blog: To comment on today's reflection or readings, go to http://lowellsblog.blogspot.com, or click here for Lowell's blog find today's reading, click "comment" at the bottom of the reading, and post your thoughts. |
| The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love. See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org Our Rule of Life: We aspire to... worship weekly pray daily learn constantly serve joyfully live generously. Lowell Grisham, Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church Fayetteville, Arkansas |
posted by Lowell @ 8:11 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I fluctuate mightily between feeling really partisan and wanting my views to battle for acceptance - and then wanting to work to bring some sort of understanding between differing political views. Real duality going on here. Will take time to sort out. Our economic disparity is troubling.
I will have to think more about your ideas, but this is very thought provoking. Plan to read Ecclesiasticus in its entirety.
Jane
How much we have to learn from healthy ecological models. When we look and listen to the reef we can hear the healthy song of the sea, all things praise Thee by their being, and we can also hear the music of the forest, of other healthy ecological patterns. And we, the creatures who are most able to learn and to care seem immune and deaf to the healing energies of peace (homeostatis) and the sacred song of the sea. The power and song of the reef is the power of a system working in right relation to the All. The power and song of the city seems to be less for you and more for me. Where is the All? It rings a disturbing melody. Like Jesus, who in today's gospel lesson healed a woman bent over for 18 years. He healed her on the Sabbath. A woman (think small, insignificant, lowly) is healed, is brought back into wholeness and fullness with the All, an occasion for rejoicing surely. We need only read the reaction of the religious, of the righteous, to hear the discord they create.
Thanks, Lowell. Powerful parallels to life in the city among the sharks. Peace, Janet
Thanks for the posts, Janet, Jane and Anon. Just getting back to the blog.
I'm troubled by a decades-long trend that has concentrated money and wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer in our nation. In 1974, the wealthiest 1% of Americans earned 9% of the nation's total income. By 2007, they got 23.5 percent. During this recession, the average income of individuals earning more than $50 million rose from $91 million in 2008 to $519 million in 2009.
Over 30 years, the average income of the bottom 90% of Americans has risen $303 in constant dollars and their share of the nation's income declined from 65% to 52%.
This is not a picture of a healthy ecology. It is a picture much like the economy of Israel at the time of Amos. In the Name of the Lord he condemned such extreme inequalities and warned of looming catastrophe.
Lowell
Post a Comment
<< Home