Commentary: Beyond Warm
by Rev. Michael S. Piazza

This summer has been hot enough to convince even George W. that global warming exists. We who are Christians or Jews believe that we have all been called to be a part of the oldest profession … that’s right: gardening.

God created humans of the stuff of the earth, breathed into us the breath of life, placed us in a garden and said, “Take care of it for me.” For thousands of years, we have tended the garden, and the earth has provided for our every need. Now, though, we are like a greedy farmer eating his seed corn, or a selfish gardener poisoning her own land.

How we treat the earth is bearing a harvest of great grief for us.

As Albert Schweitzer said:

Until humans can extend the circle of their compassion to include all living things, they will never, themselves, know peace.

Al Gore proved to be a pretty poor politician, but if the earth survives it will be in part because of his devotion to calling us to do better in caring for our home. So far, nothing he has written or said has been as powerful as the new film he has produced called An Inconvenient Truth.

The title is well chosen, because we Americans want to save the earth, so long as it doesn’t require us to change our lifestyles. We who comprise five percent of the world’s population want to continue using over 25 percent of the world’s resources. While in Minnesota they may spend summer weekends at the lakes, in Dallas we spend our free time shopping. It is a competitive sport here, especially if you don’t have sufficient funds to spend the summer traveling. Either way, we are contributing to the destruction of the planet. We want to save the planet, but what are we willing to give up to do so? What changes are we willing to make?

It seems easier for most folks to ignore the poison air we are breathing and keep right on driving. Our friends in the oil and auto industries seem to know this. It is no coincidence that the current parody of Al Gore that is making the rounds on the Internet was secretly produced by the DCI Group whose major clients include Exxon-Mobile. I had to write to them to remind them that, when Al Gore meets his maker, he at least can go feeling he left the world a better place. That won’t be the case for them. Will that be the case for us?

My friends, there is an old book that tells a story about a woman and man who were put in a garden to care and tend to it with the promise that the garden would provide for all their needs. A Jewish folk tale goes like this:

Two men were fighting over a piece of land. Each claimed ownership. They put the case before their rabbi. He listened to their arguments but could not come to a decision. Finally, he said, “Since I cannot decide to whom this land belongs, let us ask the land.” He put his ear to the ground, and then straightened up. “Gentlemen, the land says that it belongs to neither of you, but that you belong to it.”

In our day, we have Fundamentalist Christians who don’t seem to care about creation at all. Instead, they are expecting Armageddon when they will be raptured and the rest of us destroyed.

On the other side of the political equation there are the radical environmentalists who seem to believe we have done so much damage to the earth that global annihilation is our destiny.

Armageddon or annihilation? That seems quite a choice. However, I am a Christian and have at least some hope: We who are God's children and people of resurrection faith have a responsibility to care for the wonderful world that has been entrusted to us. In particular, we are a gentle, compassionate, creative people who should be especially sensitive to caring for the beautiful life around us. If we allow the feminine side of us, which would nurture life to be manifest, and if we become people of the empty tomb, which gives birth to new life that is eternal, then we can give birth to a whole new movement away from death and toward life.

Related Links

An Inconvenient Truth
Ten Things to Do to Stop Global Warming (PDF)