A Spirit-Filled Place
The challenges of global warming has a continuing impact on our part of the world. The scientific evidence on climate change is compelling, and the message is one of urgency. A vigorous debate is emerging to meet the social crises that are anticipated, with robust, policies proposed to meet the challenges. Questions arises as to how we church people join the debate. Do we come with a credible voice? Do we bring a worthwhile contribution from a spiritual perspective? Do we bring an expanded imagination to identify, justify and clarify alternative responses? Or are we locked into usual scientific, political and economic approaches? For my part, I am drawn to what permeates creation and life. I live with a conviction that I live in a Spirit-filled space on the planet. Wisdom, rituals and protocols tell me about the way things are, and how they make sense. The turning world is a vast living creature of planetary proportions within which I am immersed, and which supports and nourishes me. In Scripture, we have our narratives of origin. They remind us of our identity and connectedness to all of creation, to Earth, to ancestors, to others, and to a future. In Aotearoa New Zealand, connections are made to migration, to tribal canoes, to mountains, rivers, valleys, oceans, stars and to the elements of nature. Everyone, and everything, that has gone before us is acknowledged and addressed with appreciation. Narratives of origin relate the unfolding story of creation and how we belong on the planet. The point worth considering is that, even within the complex challenges of climate change, we are dealing with a Spirit-filled world. Climate systems are spirited, and they engender a spirituality of respect and responsibility.
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