Last week saw people from all over the world gather at Rhodes University for a conference on the environment.
Last week saw people from all over the world gather at Rhodes University for a conference on the environment.
Earth-care is part of what it means to be good stewards of what we have been given. The first creation story (Genesis 1:1-31) is not intended to be a scientific account of how the world began and evolved, all those millions of years ago. Rather, it is a theological picture which describes the relationship between God and creation, and the place of humankind in all this. It shows that, outside of the creative process, outside of time, outside of our unfolding universe, the energy and force, the first cause that began it all is God.
The general trend of scientific research points towards the notion of a 'first event', the moment in time from which the universe as we know it begins to expand. But that begs the next question – what started it all? As someone put it, “If there is an apparently endless line of dominoes knocking itself over one by one, somewhere there was a domino that was nudged.”
This universe, our world, comes from the hand of God. “And God saw everything that he had made and indeed, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
Christian stewardship means to use responsibly, as answerable to God, all that we have been given. It is part of what it means to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Good, wise stewardship of creation is needed at a personal level – our care for animals, water resources, recycling as much as possible, living simply, fixing water leaks, caring for the Kowie River; it is needed at a ‘big issue’ policy level – fracking in the Karoo, sustainable and wise development, good farming practice, access to land, good and affordable housing, health care for all; and it is needed at the level of economic justice – our care for the powerless and the poor.
The Marikana crisis is due in part to appalling stewardship of what we have been given. It is wrong that mine owners, trade union officials, and strategically placed officials enrich themselves while others work for little, and many, many people are unemployed.
Last week, after a visit to Marikana and being part of the talks there, Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba wrote, “As we drove away later it was as if the land spoke deep in my soul, saying, ‘All is not well’. I could not help but fear that we are living in the calm before the storm. We are on a knife edge. The dire states of everything from living conditions to issues in the mining community are the stuff from which revulsion follows and revolution is too easily made … [T]his visit left me with the sense that this country is like a smouldering log that, left unattended, lies ready to ignite at the slightest wind.”[1]
We have only one world. We have only one country. May we do all we can to be peacemakers, reconcilers, bearers of the good news of God’s love, working for justice for all, being instruments of healing, faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.
* The Very Reverend Andrew Hunter is Dean of Grahamstown, at the Cathedral of St Michael and St George
