Calling Impassioned Stewards of Creation (from the April 2005 Cow Hollow News)

Peggy da Silva

Few are altogether blind and deaf to the sweet looks and voices of nature. Everyone at heart loves God’s beauty because God made everybody.    —John Muir

Most of us would admit to loving God’s creation and we pull the joys of nature into our lives: we dig our hands in the dirt to plant things, walk in a park in the rain to soak up the elements, or strap on a backpack and climb a mountain in the sun.

However, many voices have been raised over the past 50 years to warn us that we do not love God’s creation in ways that will sustain it. From Rachel Carson to David Brower to our own Sally Bingham, we are being cautioned about our profligate use of our Earth’s resources—and the ways that we are fouling our own nest with the toxins that are the byproducts of our way of life.

Environmentalism runs in my veins, as does Christianity. I joined the Diocesan Commission for the Environment (CFE) in 2003 to see if these two passions could coexist. I was worried. Although Christ clearly draws from creation for his teachings and preaches a simple lifestyle that would not be environ­mentally destructive, over the last several hundred years we have ignored God’s charge to us to be good stewards of His creation by separating ourselves from nature.

 Through the CFE, I learned of a variety of wonderful things being done by church communities to deepen their faith through deepening their care of creation. We at St. Mary’s are Episcopalian San Franciscans in the 21st century. We care about much that is going on around us; we are charitable and concerned for social justice. Are there parishioners who would like to explore ways that we can be better stewards of God’s creation?

Here are three major ways we can approach a deeper commitment to stewardship of creation:

  • Incorporate the joys and treasures of God’s creation into our liturgies and our religious education, using scripture and the words of environmentalists and theologians from around the world.
  • Examine the ways that we behave as a church community—are we doing all we can to reduce, reuse and recycle? Are we trying to limit our impact on our fragile planet’s air, water and natural resources?
  • Explore how we can support through time, talent and treasure those organizations that are working full-time to preserve and protect the Earth.

If these ideas interest you, please contact me at (415) 759-6702 or peggyda@earthlink.net and we’ll have a meeting of interest after Easter.