Relationship with Nature: A Christian's Perspective

As I've recently finished my senior thesis for the literature dept., I've had time to reflect on what it means/meant to me. For my thesis, I examined the theme of mankind being stewards of the earth within Genesis. It's a subject matter that I'm honestly passionate about and I enjoy discussing it with others.


Through the past fews years I have spent a lot of my time becoming familiar with the "Green" movement within the Church.... the call to return back to caring for the earth in a Biblical light.... remembering that we were made as stewards of the earth. This is relevant to our American Indian Literature class because so often I find myself saying "Yes! This is Biblical!" whenever I come across Indians speaking of their relationship with nature... how they respect it... how they see themselves as caretakers.... If I'm being honest, I think that every Christian should be environmentalists- and radical at that. It's something that the Church has swept under the rug. Partially I think this is due because the Church doesn't want to face up to the fact that they were responsible for a lot of damage done to the Earth, but also redeeming the earth and cleaning it up takes active effort- and we Christians are lazy. 


For the longest time, I thought that I was a crazy Christian for believing that we had a responsibility to take care of the earth. My home church thought that I was this "hippy" and "earth freak," but I saw them as ignorant and stubborn. I didn't like how the Church saw the world or our bodies as "bad," because I saw nothing but beauty. God made the earth and God made our bodies- why would they be sinful even if we treated them right? I didn't understand why they saw themselves as "above nature" because we were created from it, from the ground, from the dirt. So many questions had me distraught for the longest time and at times I didn't think anyone understood where I was trying to come from. It wasn't until I read Walt Whitman for the first time in 11th grade that I realized that someone else did understand me. Whitman saw God in nature. He saw beauty in everything- even the smell of his own armpits. 

I drank Whitman up; I soaked in his poetry and basked in his optimistic spirit. I can remember shouting, "EXACTLY" every now and then whenever I came across a lyric that glorified the oneness of his relationship with everything around him. It wasn't until I read Zitkala-Sa in humanities324 that I think something "clicked" inside of me. Here's a picture of her:

Zitkala-Sa, or Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, is a Sioux indian (you can learn more about her here) and wrote one of my favorite essays of all time called, "Why I Am A Pagan." Here's a link to a copy of it online. Basically, if you don't have time to read it, she illustrates a time when she was sitting outdoors and could feel God's presence all around her, from the sway of the sunflowers to the rolling green hills. She was then interrupted by a Christian missionary who explained that the path to being a better Christian is to come to church every Sunday. Outraged, she proclaims that if finding God in the outdoors   makes her a pagan, then she's okay with that. It's better than being stuffed up in a church. It's summed up best with her closing statement:


The little incident recalled to mind the copy of a missionary paper brought to my notice a few days ago, in which a "Christian" pugilist commented upon a recent article of mine, grossly perverting the spirit of my pen. Still I would not forget that the pale-faced missionary and the hoodooed aborigine are both God's creatures, though small indeed their own conceptions of Infinite Love. A wee child toddling in a wonder world, I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism, then at present, at least, I am a Pagan.

I often return to this essay in my mind. I think about how for Zitkala-Sa, nature was her way of connecting to God, but for the missionary, it was inside the church. I have to remind myself that there are many, many, ways that God is able to reveal himself. For me, before writing my thesis and afterwards, I have a deep, intimate relationship with the earth. I like the imagery that the American Indian nations depict: all of the earth are our brothers and sisters, from the tallest tree, to the smallest rock. Beauty is in everything. Everything is connected. Everything has purpose and everything has soul. As a Christian I believe it. I don't just know that the trees are beautiful, but I feel their soul, their heart, their longing to have a relationship with me. While nature is a tool to experience God, I don't think that it stops there. God wants us to experience nature, to enjoy it, to relish in it, but most importantly take care of it. One of my favorite authors, Wendell Berry, writes, "The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility." I could go on about this subject for long time, explaining how God has commissioned us to be stewards of the earth, so if you ever want to chat, please do!