Dialogue between Joan Gillies and Karen Hollis from worship on April 21, 2024
John 1:1-5 (Indigenous Translation) Long ago, in the time before all days, before the creation of all things, the one who is known as the Word was there face to face with the Great Spirit. This Word fully represents Creator and shows us who he is and what he is like. He has always been there from the beginning, for the Word and Creator are one and the same. Through the Word all things came into being, and not one thing exists that he did not create.
Creator’s life shined out from the Word, giving light to all human beings. This is the true Light that comes to all the peoples of the world and shines on everyone. The Light shines into the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it or put it out.
Joan: Sadly I feel like there is a loss “in translation” around this verse. I believe “ALL” of creation is precious to God and was meant to be sacred – not just humans.
Because of the modern language (English in the last 500 years), nature is simply omitted as part of creation, this verse engenders an “us and them” situation – We (the humans) and them (nature).
Karen: I think there’s a great deal of conditioning that went into this omission. I don’t think it was the original intent of the writers . . . actually I think they are so human focused because they are wrestling with the human condition. There’s a tiny book on my shelf that I reference frequently called Learning to Die, in which the authors unpack this idea and how the wrestling was lost in translation. They remind us that stories belong to places and the stories of the Bible were first imported to Europe and Great Britain, interpreted, and then imported on ships to North America. “If the European colonists and traders had come here by meandering over a land bridge, or by paddling, over several generations, along a chain of islands, then their stories, dreams, and songs would have shifted step by step and had ample time to change.” (Learning to Die, Zwicky, p. 11) But, the stories came quickly and much was lost along the way.
Joan: I get that, but reality is that as colonizers (thanks British Empire!) we have already done damage because we have seen ourselves as conquerers of not just other people, but as conquerers of our planet –giving us permission to “plunder” its bounty. How do we move out of this way of thinking?
This has resulted in North Americans using our resources at estimates that approximate the capacity of 5 earths (not just one). In climate crisis circles, earth has also been likened to a garbage can in how we use it.
Karen: Right. There is a huge gap between our behaviour and what is needed to sustain our planet home. Take the cycle of producing and throwing away. This makes absolutely no sense from a spiritual perspective. We take something from the earth and process it to the point that it takes thousands of years to break down and can no longer participate in the annual cycle of renewal. And so they just remain and creation has to continue on around them.
There’s a spiritual corollary I’ve been learning about in some of these scriptures that weren’t included in the Bible. In these texts, like the gospels of Thomas and Mary Magdalene, Jesus teaches that because the world is the outpouring of God, our origin is with God, and so with everything created has a corresponding higher nature in the kindom of God. Between the physical and higher nature there is, as Cynthia Bourgeault explains, “a dynamic reciprocity as they simultaneously articulate the same reality in two different realms.” (Meaning of MM, 50) They are in a continuous creative tension receiving and fulfilling each other, and the energy exchange between them supports their healing the wholeness. (MMM, 50) This is a concept on which I have a very tender grasp, and I like it. I’m energized by the idea that I can do things to bring this healing resonance and energy into my environment. I’m also curious about the idea that I can also do things that don’t have a higher nature, and so don’t resonate. For ex. I can feel the resonance and energy exchange when I sit with someone and speak with truth and generosity or spend a day planting a garden. When I fill my car with gasoline, I don’t have the same experience of resonance.
I’m working with this idea that what we do matters not just in the physical, but in the way the physical and spiritual come together and energize one another with healing and wholeness, God knows we could use it.
Joan: What a beautiful way of thinking! I wonder how we can get there. The current thinking has created the mistaken notion we are separate from the planet as opposed to being part of the planet; this upholds the concept that damaging it is different than damaging ourselves, but given what you have just said, if there is resonance, we/the planet/God are in a place that is healthy and engenders healing for ourselves. I think our indigenous people do this well already - let’s listen to Richard Wagamese.
Wagamese: I’ve been considering the phrase “all my relations” for some time now. It’s hugely important. It’s our saving grace in the end. It points to the truth that we are all related, that we are all connected, that we all belong to each other. The most important word is “all.” Not just those who look like me, sing like me, dance like me, speak like me, pray like me or behave like me. ALL my relations. That means every person, just as it means every rock, mineral, blade of grass, and creature. We live because everything else does. If we were to choose collectively to live that teaching, the energy of our change of consciousness would heal each of us - and heal the planet.
Joan: Wagamese brings forth the Indigenous perspective of humans as “part” of nature and the critical inter-relationship of all things (including the inanimate). If we subscribed to thinking of ourselves as intertwined with nature, as PART of nature, we would probably love AND care for the planet as we would for our family.
Karen: Yes, I love the perspective Wagamese brings! In fact, I hear something really similar to this new theological concept I shared before. He writes: “We live because everything else does. If we were to choose collectively to live that teaching, the energy of our change of consciousness would heal each of us - and heal the planet.” If we focus our action on our interconnectedness, we will undoubtedly spend more time in resonance and bring more healing and wholeness to our environment. What a collective shift that could be.
Joan: Absolutely! I suggest we take it even further by not just appreciating our interconnectedness, but loving the earth as another part of ourselves. Robin Wall Kimmerer tells us that we won’t harm that which we love. This is a big first step!
Karen: Wagamese and others bring us back to the truth of our interconnectedness and we need to find as many ways as possible to take steps into alignment with that truth and live it. This work happens on many levels within us. This morning we have an opportunity for us to engage with one level with the guided meditation I mentioned earlier. The meditation comes from the Active Hope book, which frames interconnectedness from a Buddhist perspective. This perspective begins with loyalty to our circles of belonging, like family and community, and broadens to all of life. The Buddhist term is bodhichitta. This is the deep desire to act for the welfare of all beings. This desire is treasured and protected. The bodhisattvas are hero figures of Buddhism, who have very strong bodhichitta. It is said that when they have reached the gates of nirvana, they choose to turn around and come back to serve the well being of the earth. This meditation invites us to imagine there is a bodhisattva in each of us who chose to come and serve, and has something of great value to offer. To engage in this exercise, we need not subscribe to the idea of reincarnation. The value of this exercise is to look at the context of our own lives and see how it uniquely equips us to serve a purpose much larger than ourselves. Imagining returning to the threshold of our present life may be intriguing for some, challenging for others. Please do what is right for you and engage with the exercise in your own way.
Meditation:
Joan: The starting point for this process is to imagine yourself poised at the gateway into your present life. You are back before your birth. The difference is that for this incarnation, you are born with knowledge that humanity will be facing the full brunt of climate change. You know that a quantum leap in consciousness is required if life is to prevail on Earth.
With this knowledge, you decide to turn away from Nirvana and instead renew your commitment to life and reenter the fray by taking birth as a human living on Earth in present time, bringing with you everything you’ve ever learned about courage and community. This is a major decision. And it is a hard decision, because there is no guarantee that you will remember why you came back and no assurance that you will succeed in your mission. Furthermore, you may well feel alone, because you probably won’t even recognize the many other bodhisattvas who, like you, have chosen to be born into this time. But there are other bodhhisattvas so you won’t be alone!
Karen: Take a moment to reflect on your willingness to take a human birth in so challenging a planet time. It is your bodhichitta that calls you - your commitment to caring for the common good. This is such a harsh time, and you are aware that you may be born into a life with particular gifts and challenges.
Every human life is by necessity a particular life. You can’t take birth as a generic human, but only as a unique human shaped by particular circumstances. So feel yourself stepping into these circumstances now. Imagine that you can understand how they will help prepare you to serve the flourishing of life.
Step into the year of your birth. The timing of your birth allows you to be aware of and affected by particular conditions and events . . .
Step into the place of your birth. What country did you choose? Were you born in a town or city or on the land? Which parts of the Earth’s body first greeted your eyes?
Which skin colour and ethnicity did you select? And what socioeconomic conditions? Both the privileges and privations resulting from these choices help prepare you for the work you are coming to do.
Into what faith tradition - or lack thereof - were you born this time? Religious stories and images from childhood - or the very lack of these - influence how you see and search for your purpose.
Joan: Now here’s an important choice: Which gender or genders did you adopt for this time around? And which sexual orientation?
What physical and/or mental challenges did you choose to take on this time? These differences of ability nourish compassion and deepen your understanding of the difficulties and capacities of others.
Certain strengths and passions characterize this life of yours too. Which mental, physical, and spiritual powers and appetites did you choose to embody for this planet time?
And last, imagining that you can glimpse it for a moment, what particular mission are you coming to perform?
Each choice relates to your actual life and not to any fantasized alternative to it. What you’re doing is seeing these choices from a more encompassing dimension of consciousness. It is as though you’re remembering an important aspect of your identity that may have been hidden from view. With this process, you’re becoming reacquainted with the bodhisattva within you.