All Life, Together

The thought occurred to me today that if we tack enough “great-”s on to the relationship, the tree outside my window and I have a common ancestor.  While a natural conclusion of the theory of evolution (ignoring minor squabbles about asexual reproduction and multiple origins of life), the idea remains somewhat trippy to think about.  What is particularly fascinating to me, however, is the implication this has for humankind’s understanding of its place in nature.

Over the past fifteen or twenty years, there has been an encouraging development of “Creation Care” thought within Christian, and especially Evangelical, communities.  This thought is almost invariably grounded on the concept of stewardship—that humans were placed in charge of creation by God and commanded to oversee and steward it.  The idea of stewardship is derived from numerous Biblical passages, especially Genesis 1:26-28:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

The theological and scientific conversation around the idea of stewardship is extensive and ongoing.  While this is encouraging, and by no means to be discouraged, the discussion doesn’t often seem to touch on one particular area: that of humanity’s existence as part of nature itself.  (If there are themes I am unaware of within the discussion that address this, please leave a note below and inform me.)

The concept of stewardship draws a connection between humanity and nature, but that connection is not necessarily one of participation.  Stewardship, rather, understands the relationship to be one in which one entity (humanity) is put in charge of and ordered to take care of another entity (nature).  The problem is that in today’s world it is becoming increasingly apparent that humans are not only in charge of nature, but are, in fact, a part of nature.

The threat of global warming is, of course, the most prominent example of this reality.  In the past human actions have often seemed to be executed from outside of nature, harming or helping it at our whim.  Global warming amply demonstrates that our actions have consequences beyond our perception which can alter the very system that we believed we were in control of.

In this scenario, where humans are a cog in the machine of nature rather than an engineer watching it from above, it becomes imperative that we understand our connection to nature itself.  This is where we can return to the idea of the common ancestor shared between me and my botanical neighbor.

To be clear, I don’t want to be sidetracked into some sort of mystical reverie about Mother Nature and the interconnected life force we share with other things.  What is important, however, is the idea that every living thing on the planet originates from one family tree.  It is, granted, a family tree so utterly enormous as to be beyond human comprehension, but it is still the same tree.

While blood, or sap, ties are obviously not unbreakable (as evidenced by the myriad groups of humans who have sought to kill other humans, organisms much more closely related to them than anything else, throughout the centuries), they do represent an essential connection.  Such an understanding of our position within and of nature calls for an appreciation of and care for the world around us.

Clearly we must be careful not to take this line of reasoning too far, to the detriment of the idea of stewardship.  Though a part of nature, we are still placed in responsibility over nature.  It is also worth remembering that Scripture explicitly notes that humanity is created in God’s own image, thus distinguishing humans from the rest of nature.  Taking the philosophy of interconnectedness too far would diminish our understanding of humanity’s unique role.  Like many things in theology (and life), the two sides must be held in tension.

With those caveats in place, let us remember that we are a part of nature.  Let us remember that “All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful” are a part of life together, and “The Lord God made them all.”

Tags: ancestor, humanity, nature, stewardship