Approved by Northern Yearly Meeting May 24, 2009

“God saw all that was  made, and it was very good.”

–Genesis 1.31 NRSV.

“It would go a great way to caution and direct people  in the Use of the World, that they were better studied and known in the Creation of it.  For how can [people] find the Confidence to abuse it, while they should see the Great Creator stare them in the Face, in all and every Part thereof?”

–William Penn in The Fruits of Solitude (date?)

“That as the mind was moved by an inward principle to love God as an invisible, incomprehensible Being, by the same principle it was moved to love him in all his manifestations in the visible world.  That as by his breath the flame of life was kindled in all animal and sensible creatures, to say we love God as unseen and at the same time to exercise cruelty toward the least creature moving by his life or by life derived from his was a contradiction in itself.”

–John Woolman in The Journal of John Woolman (date?)

“God calls Friends today. . .to look into our hearts and examine our relationship with the rest of Creation, and to recognize that our neighbor includes the entire Earth community.   We, too, are being asked to give up habits and things which have made our lives seem easier, just as slaves appeared to make life easier for their owners.”

–Lisa Gould in Friends, Slavery, and the Earth (date?)

Faith

Friends in Northern Yearly Meeting find spiritual nourishment in our connections to the natural world.  As we care for pets or houseplants; walk to work;  tend gardens or farms; hike or forage in the woods; or retreat to wild places for healing, we find a sense of   reverence, renewal, connection to God, and unity with all Creation.

As individuals, we have a wide variety of beliefs about God, and many ways of describing and explaining our experience of God’s presence in the natural world:  Some Friends might say, “Humans are a part of nature, just like a fish or an elm tree: we’re not special or separate.” or  “Christ is Lord of Creation, and we humans are stewards—caretakers with the ability to see the whole web of nature and a responsibility to care for all of the earth with love and compassion.”   Others would say, “Gaia is a whole living being, and we are all a part of her.”    “Seeing God as inherent in all of creation, then we should not speak of a connection between Spirit and nature—they are one.”

Many of us carry—sometimes with a sense of frustration and sometimes with joy and wonder at the paradox—both the image of humans as part of a whole Earth and that of humans as somehow estranged and alienated from that whole.  However we try to explain it, we share a sense that our relationship to the Divine is intertwined with our relationship to the rest of Creation.  Brokenness in our interactions with the natural world grows out of –and can feed—a sense of separation from Spirit.

Jesus said, “If you have come to the altar with your gift and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift to God.” (Matthew 5:23-24.) He is reminding us that our relationship to God will  only be whole or complete when we have been reconciled to those we have wronged or wounded.  If the concept of “neighbor” is to be extended to include even our enemies, should we not also include the damaged creatures and natural systems of Earth among those brothers and sisters with whom we seek reconciliation?

History of This Concern

Since early history  human beings around the world have been aware of and honored the sacred within nature because they knew their survival depended on the health of their immediate environment.    The authors of the beginning of Genesis say repeatedly the refrain:  “God saw all that was made, and, behold it was very good.” (Genesis  chapter 1.)

The writers of the Psalms knew that natural images can bring us into a sense of connection with the Divine, and in speaking of God often used  natural images such as light, rock, water, and wind . Jesus too, used images from nature when talking about humans’ relationship to God.  He spoke of good soil, sprouting seeds, and a fruitful vine.  Other passages described a  living spring of water; wind and fire, rock and sand, sowing and reaping. He also sought out the wilderness for times of personal renewal and connection with the Divine.

Early Friends, although focusing primarily on right relationships in the human community,  were aware of the need to respect and care for the earth.

“What wages doth the Lord desire of you for his earth that He giveth to you—but that you give him the praise and honor, and the thanks, and the glory, and not that you should spend the creatures upon your lusts, but to do good with them. . . leave all creatures behind you as you found them, which God hath given to serve all nations and generations.”

–George Fox,  (source?) 1678

Friends historic testimonies on Simplicity, Community, Integrity, Equality, and Peace all remind us to use the gifts of Creation wisely, not to take more than we need, and to be aware of the ways our actions affect others.  More recently, Friends have felt a need to speak more specifically about our responsibilities for stewardship and earthcare.   NYM first voiced these concerns as a body in 1988, approving this minute:  “Gathering on Holy Ground, we are feeling a concern for nature, for God’s creation as well as what harm we are doing to God’s creation.  We perceive this as a spiritual concern.”

In 1993, another NYM minute stated, “We as Friends affirm our spiritual relationship with nature.  Our concern for the earth is interwoven in all aspects of our lives, and we recognize that we are responsible for helping to maintain the precarious balance in all of Creation.”

FCNL’s 1997 policy statement also spoke of this concern:  “The earth we share is limited in its capacity to support life and to provide resources for our survival.  The environment that has provided sustenance for generations must be protected for generations to come.  We have an obligation, therefore, to be responsible stewards of the earth. . .”

Connections to Peace and Justice

Our growth dependent economy, together with the brokenness in our interaction with the natural world, has ravaged and plundered the earth.  Furthermore, four fifths of all global fossil fuels and natural resources are controlled and consumed by  20% of the world’s population.  The exponential population growth of the world further adds to the growing inequality and suffering.  The results of this plundering and inequality are a continuing pattern of wars and violations of human rights—people being deprived of freedom, basic human necessities, the opportunity to grow their own food, and of cultural and spiritual connections to their land and their communities.  .

“For our own well-being, we need to respect God’s creation or risk losing the loving sustenance God intends it to provide …..  When we carelessly treat our biosphere with lack of respect, we defy God, its creator.  Such offenses harm not only the plants, animals, environment, and other people, but also . . . we are hurting ourselves.  (Diane J. Peterson, TCFM, 1995)

In 1763 in A Plea for the Poor, John Woolman urged Friends to examine their lives to see if there might be the “seeds of war in these our possessions.” Today we seek to look closely not only at our homes, furniture, and garments, but also at the food we eat, the transportation we choose, the ways we use our time and money, and our attitudes toward the earth.  Are we  sowing the seeds of renewal and healing—or of continued ecological decline and attendant resource wars?

Practice

“Friends endeavor to live joyfully, mindfully, and with reverent regard for the natural world, supporting one another and keeping this leading  [care for the earth and its natural systems] a discernible element of living in the manner of Friends.” ( Alden McCutchan, Cannon Valley Friends Meeting, 2001)

How do NYM Friends live this testimony?  Some individual Friends have carried this question as a spiritual concern and have worked both to reduce their own “eco-footprints” and to encourage their Meetings to pay greater attention to environmental issues.  Many Friends have made changes in household routines, such as composting, recycling and conservation.  Some Friends have made larger lifestyle changes, such as limiting the size of their families, and eliminating  use of their cars and air travel.

In recent years many Meetings have included energy conservation practices in the design and care of their meetinghouses.  Some Meetings have joined with other churches or community groups to reach out to the public concerning environmental issues.

Friends are increasingly alarmed about global warming/ climate change. After many years during which environmental concerns were carried primarily by individuals,  we now see the beginnings of corporate concern and witness.

Some Friends have smaller ecological footprints than others.  No matter how careful we are, we know we use more resources than most people on the planet.   In the State of the Society with Attention to Earthcare, approved by NYM in June, 2001, Friends acknowledged:  “at times we participate in activities we know to be harmful to the Earth and to ourselves.  Simply by living where we do, in the culture of the United States, we each contribute daily to the global eco-crisis.  Knowing this, many of us struggle with feelings of frustration or despair, wishing we could change, but not seeing a way forward.  Economic survival, comfort, community connections, and convenience for ourselves and our families are often major factors in our decisions.”

We feel  an urgency to change the way we live.   We struggle with the complexity and difficulty of  the necessary changes,  and with our feelings of guilt and powerlessness.  We grieve deeply the entangling complicity of our involvement.  Each of us comes to this concern from his/her own point on the path, and needs to discern the right next step.  We need to uphold each other with compassion, and help each other as we seek to open ourselves to the leadings of the Spirit.  We will differ in the details of our leadings, but every step toward healing in our relationship to the natural world will also bring healing and growth in our spiritual lives.    As this growth opens us to the Divine, we trust that we will all see and hear more clearly where we are next called to act.

“We struggle.  We celebrate.  We live our lives as best we can.  We wait and live in the Light.  We search for individual and corporate discernment.  We pray for Divine guidance and for the strength to follow it.  (”State of the Society with Attention to Earthcare, Northern Yearly Meeting, June, 2001)

Queries

For Individuals: Reflecting on our Practice
1. What hinders your ability to be in harmony with earth’s systems? What parts of your life are in conflict with the integrity of these systems?

2. What are the barriers you struggle with as you move toward unity with nature? As you use resources and energy, do you encounter your shadow? {being mindful of both shadow and Light within] What do our deep shadows teach us?

3. How do you express gratitude for all that has been freely given? How do you find support to face your emotional and intellectual conflicts and move toward healing?

4. As life-changing events (eg. becoming a family, retiring, moving) cycle into our lives, how do we support one another in clarifying and making changes that will be more environmentally sustaining?

5. What burden does our waste place on future generations?

For Individuals or Groups: Faith and Ideas
6. How do you respond to the statement: “There is that of God, not only in every human person, but in every element of Creation?”

7. When did you last experience a sense of wonder? How will you cultivate and deepen this to live in the virtue of a more reverent life?

8. How will you weave Self, Nature and the Divine into spiritual unity?

9. How do you use your awareness of beauty and your imaginative abilities to be in a place where transformation can occur?

For Meetings: Reflecting on our Faith and Our Practices
10. How do we share the depth of our gratitude, pleasure and joy in the natural world with our children? How do we share our concerns and our discernment with our children?

11. What is our vision of how Friends could work together to be “patterns and examples” of a spirit-centered and truly sustainable way of life? What steps could we take toward making this vision a living witness?

12. How can we encourage careful consideration of our relationship to the earth among our members and partnership with movements offering a positive vision of a way forward?

13. How do we treat prophetic voices in our Meeting? How does the Meeting respond to an acknowledged concern?