Sweat and
Soul
“Scripture
reveals that 'in the beginning' God intended humanity to cooperate in
the preservation and protection of the natural environment...The
earth was entrusted to us as a sublime gift and legacy, for which all
of us share responsibility until, 'in the end,' all in heaven and on
earth will be restored in Christ (Ephesians 1:10) Our human dignity
and welfare are deeply connected to our care for the whole of
creation.”
Pope
Francis & Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Joint Statement on
World Day of Prayer, 2017)
I'll bet you get tired of
my harping about humanity's responsibility for our precious “blue
dot.” It's on my mind a lot, especially after the summer and fall
we've had with storms, fires and earthquakes. But today, I want
include the human body's response to elevated temperatures. As I'm
sure you know, when we exercise our body heats up. That triggers the
blood to move out from the core of the body to the periphery, to the
skin, causing us to sweat. As the sweat evaporates, we cool down. There
are other built-in body-preservation systems, too, like when we are
too hot, our muscles don't work efficiently and fatigue sets in,
forcing us to slow down. But, here's the deal, if the external
temperature is hotter than our internal temperature, we have to sweat
a lot—like four liters worth—to cool down. Some of us are capable
of that and some of us are not—and most of us don't drink sufficient water to keep our blood volume high enough. What happens then is
heatstroke!
All of this is to say,
that if our earth temperatures continue to rise (yesterday, on
October 26, it was in the upper seventies here) sports—like
football, baseball, soccer, racing, and marathon running—will
become lethal in a whole new way. Now I have your attention, right!
Running a marathon at 90+F would be deadly, as would FOOTBALL!
Oh, no! At any rate, we humans must begin to take seriously the
mandate to preserve and protect our home. I don't mean our house,
with semi-automatic weapons; I mean our planet. What was once a
garden is now a hot house.
Lest you think this is
not a spiritual matter, let me say that all the major religions teach
conscientious care of the earth. The Qur'an says that men and women
are God's vicegerents on Earth (2:30). God created nature in balance
(“al-mizan”) and mankind's responsibility is to maintain this
fragile equilibrium. Buddhism teaches that we are not set apart from
nature, but are an integral part of it. Nature is not a boundless
ocean of resources; our actions have an effect on its health.
Hinduism teaches reverence for nature; there are daily mantras in
Sanskrit paying homage to rivers, mountains, trees, animals, and
earth. Taoism teaches an abiding respect for nature, love of harmony
and balance, and living with compassion, frugality, and humility (The
Three Treasures) in all things. In other words, all the great
spiritual traditions hold us responsible for the care and tending of
our environment.
Holy, holy, holy is our
earth. Let us give it the care we would give to a beloved child.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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