We may hope that a sermon moves and inspires us through the words of the preacher. We may also hope that a worship service will tap into something deep within us. This sermon time will, I hope, do a little of both.
Today we begin a sermon series based on this book, The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home, by John Philip Newell. We will also have opportunities to read this book and discuss it together. And John Philip Newell is coming to University UCC the weekend of February 20-22 for lectures based on this book. You could be one of the cool kids who has already read it in advance.
The inspiration to write this book comes from Newell’s realization that his Christian faith is too small. In the prologue, he writes, “I felt relieved to be letting go of the weight of Christianity’s centuries of exclusivist teachings about Jesus so that I could focus more simply on the universal wisdom of Jesus for today” (p. 6). He’s not letting go of Jesus, or of his own Christian roots. He’s letting go of the baggage of Christian history, the creeds that served to create an us vs. them, we’re in / you’re going to hell mentality through the centuries. He wants to focus on what Jesus actually taught, rather than how Christians have used Jesus to bash people or to serve their own flawed, human ends. Newell is also aware that many people are in spiritual exile, distancing themselves from a Christian church that does not resonate with their spiritual needs or beliefs. And, he says, “I am writing also for many of my sisters and brothers who have chosen to remain in the church but who . . . long for a spirituality of Earth’s healing and humanity’s wholeness” (p. 7).
So Newell features nine writers, some Christian, some from other faith traditions, some well known, some less so. They are Thomas Berry, Nan Shepherd, Martin Buber, Carl Jung, Julian of Norwich, Jalaluddin Rumi, Rabindranath Tagore, Etty Hillesum, and Edwin Muir. In the coming weeks I will lift up some of these to see how they might feed our spiritual hunger today.
We begin with Thomas Berry.
Thomas Berry lived from 1914 to 2009. He was an American Catholic priest who studied religions from all over the world and developed a theology based in science, religion, and a connection with creation.
Newell writes,
Berry offers a threefold vision for the way in which religion can play a vital role in the healing of humanity, and thus come back into true relationship with the spiritual depths of its origins. First, he said, we are to move from a spirituality of alienation from the natural world to a spirituality of intimacy with the natural world. Second, we are to move from a spirituality of revelation through scripture to a spirituality of revelation through Earth. And third, we are to move from a spirituality of justice for human beings to a spirituality of justice for every life-form. “The destiny of Christianity,” he said, “will be determined to a large extent by its capacity to fulfill these three commitments.” (p. 16)
Let’s unpack these three steps in Berry’s threefold vision for religion. The first step is a spirituality that draws deeply from its connection with the natural world. Some people say they worship the God of the great outdoors, that their spirit is more fed by sitting on a mountaintop or by a stream or under a tree than it is fed by sitting in a pew and hearing someone talk at them the way I’m doing right now. This nature-based spirituality is exactly what Berry is talking about: incorporating into our spiritual journey an intentional practice of finding the Divine in nature.
The second step is to listen closely to what we learn not just from scripture but from nature. Scripture carries certain cultural and historical baggage, including, in the case of Christianity, the teaching that we are to have dominion over the rest of creation, which has been understood not as stewardship but as domination. And the way Christianity has treated nature is also the way Christianity has treated women. Berry sees these two issues as inseparable. Neither women nor nature are to be abused. But when we step back from scripture and step forward into nature, we shed a lot of the cultural trappings and are more fully present in the moment.
The third step is to seek justice not just for all humans but for all of creation.
Let’s practice step one right now, which is the step that talks about finding spirituality in the natural world. How many of you have ever had a “wow” moment in nature, a moment that moved you profoundly, maybe even made you think about your place in the universe? Maybe it was on a mountaintop, or next to some body of water, or under a tree, like Buddha.
I invite you to think of one such moment right now. Close your eyes, if that helps, and bring that scene to mind in as much detail as you can. …
Where are you?...
Experience this memory with all of your senses. What do you see, … hear, … touch, … smell, … taste?
How does this place, this experience, make you feel?
Does this experience change you in some way—guide your path forward?
Stay in this experience for another moment.
When you’re ready, open your eyes.
Find a buddy. If you’re over 10 years old, look for a buddy who you didn’t come to church with. Share your experience with your buddy. You’ve got 10 minutes total; at the 5-minute mark I will encourage you to switch roles with your buddy if you haven’t already done so. For those of you on Zoom, you will have a group discussion for 10 minutes; try to be sure everyone gets a chance to share.
God says to Isaiah, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19). The UCC has a slogan along a similar vein: “God is still speaking.” Sometimes God speaks to us through the written scriptures. Sometimes God speaks to us through experiences in nature. Our reading today from Job, for example, tells us to talk to the plants and the animals, and they will tell us:
"Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the CREATOR has done this?
In God's hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being."
Berry says all of us—plants, animals, human animals, Earth, the solar system, the universe—we are all one community, all interconnected. As we treat the planet, so we treat ourselves. It behooves us to connect, to have more of those mountaintop or waterside or under-a-tree moments in order to learn the wisdom of the plants, the animals, the Earth itself. We are all stardust, all connected, all bound to the same fate, for better or worse. We can develop a spirituality that connects us not just to other people around us but to all of creation. May we cultivate and cherish such experiences, and may they feed our souls. Amen.