SUSTAINABILITY AND SPIRITUALITY

 

 

Greeting:

It is a great opportunity for me to be able to share thoughts and reflections with women from Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, England, Germany and Sweden.

I was born more than forty years ago and I have lived all of this time in Costa Rica. I've had the opportunity of sharing experiences with women from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Now I would like to express my thoughts and feelings concerning the theme which was asked of me: “Sustainability and Spirituality”.

 

1.       Introduction.

I understand that you have been discussing about the concept of sustainability and that you have done this from the perspective of the definition from the report of Bruntland. My input will be to make some reflections about sustainability from the perspecitive of the Scriptures. I also want to share with you how I see the situation of sustainability on the basis of the reality of Central America and on the basis of a liberational christian faith.

 

 

1. Elements which are not in favor of sustainability.

 

The metaphoric language is the way in which the biblical authors expressed their way of understanding the experience of God. These ways of expressing the experience of God are depending, in quite a large extent, on the culture from the era in which the holy texts were written. It is important to point out that the culture in which the texts of the jewish-chrisitan Bible were written was extremely patriarchal. From this patriarchal vision the role of the men was set to consist of a strong leadership, wisdom and power. The role of the women is to be sinners, be depending, be submissives and their voices are not taken into account.

 

The metaphores that were used to talk about God were those that gave men the most honour and dignity in those cultures.

 

Sallie McFague is a professor of theology in the United States. In her book “Models of God” she speaks about that in the Hebrew testament we can find patriarchal, triumphalistic methaphors of God such as: God as Lord, God as King and God as warrior. The problem consists of that these metaphors are hierarchical, imperial and dualistic and that they put stress on the distance between God and the world and the worlds total dependence on God. The relationship between God and the world, from the former metaphors, has left agonizing results: plundering, accumulation, violence, destruction, soil exhaustion and extinction of species. Their is also a hierarchy of relationships between individuals based on their sex, their age and their skin colour. 

 

The absolute power of the patriarchal God steals the feminine powers, leaving them invalidated and invisibilized. The adoration that women received in old religious traditions because of their capabilities to transfer, nurture and sustain life is not included in the texts that explained the origin of the world and all things in it in our jewish-christian tradition.  

 

In the two versions of the Genesis the new cosmovision is presented. It has of course clear consequences for practical life. Things are now created by the powerful word of a God who does not at all take into account the cycles of gestation, the care, the waiting, the accompanying, the patience and the struggle that are all part of life itself.

 

They are these slow processes with a lot of attention, accompanying, patience and a lot of care. All of these that we women know very well make possible the miracle of life.

 

 

The wisdom to see the own processes of life itself which comes into existence, slowly takes form and has its own rythms. This wisdom along with being attentive to changes and knowing the times of each phase is characeristical for the judaic culture, a prominent farming culture, connected with the cycles of sowing, the seasons and taking care of animals. In the Hebrew Scriptures, a leading idea for reflection can be concentrated around the idea of retirement. Here there is a special sensitivity for the earth, its cycles and for the animals that live there. It is considered that the earth should rest because it has a necessity of improving itself. In a culture that practices slavery it is interesting that there exists the idea that one person can not be a slave forever. Finally it is an element which could be explored a lot more in order to receive more elements for a reflection. 

 

A reading of the gospels allows us to get a glimpse of Jesus with the help of some practices especially striking considering our theme. Jesus speaks clearly and strong against those who lay hands upon and witholds from others what is necessary for survival. He makes constant calls for us to get ride of our abundance and share with those who are in need. He prefers sick, excluded and for women in a very convincing way. He appreciates their skills, he invites them to his group, he gives them responsiblities and uses their stories to tell us about his project. The Kingdom of God is similar to a woman who kneads flour and adds yeast. It is also similar to a woman who has ten coins and when she loses one, turns the whole house upside down until she founds what she has lost. Jesus appreciates the women and he praises them more for following and commiting themselves to the project of solidarity and humanization than for their physical motherhood and taking care of the house work.  

 

Now I will continue by responding some questions given to me by mrs Karin Åkerlund.

 

 

Considering spirituality as a deep connection with life I think that he or she who does not work to defend, care for and protect life, is going in a different direction.

 

Spirituality is the inner force which moves us to search for happiness, not in an individualistic way, but as a group. Spirituality always sets me off in search for other persons, to connect myself with all forces that strengthens me. In these forces, not only persons are included, but also plants, animals, air and water. Ecofeminist theologians state that ”The dominant and destructive relationships with the earth are interlaced with sex, class and racial domination. A healthy relationship with the earth can therefore not be created only with technical improvements. A social recontruction is necessary to bring about just and loving relationships between men and women, raices and nations and between groups that are currently divided up in social classes. The dominant and destructive relationships result in great differences concerning ability to support oneself. -Rosermary Radford Ruether-     

 

 

The first thing we must do is revalue life itself over economical interests. We should be capable of going back to become marvelled by a small bird that makes her nest, lays eggs, broods them, looks for food for her young birds... We should regain the capacity to enjoy a cristal clear river and wish that the future generations can apreciate it in that same state. Go back to take pleasure in simple things, which are those that make possible the miracle that is life.   

 

We as women must receive the same oportunities that men are receiving. We must be on an equality with them and this must be the case in daily life and in all social, political, economical and cultural rights. And no woman should be thought of, in any part of the world, as a being of the second category. 

 

Until now we have been obligated to give as the poor widow with all our limitations. But it is unjust and it is also a sin. The churches must take the vanguard to denounce and work for the transformation of the social systems that have denied women of their rightful place, as half of the human race.   

 

From a religious perspective were created myths and metaphors which place women in desadventegeous positions. These need to be changed. Because from here they have overflooded to other fields of knowledge and culture. I think that a lot of time and rescourses should be inverted into creating a change of conscience and a new way of understanding the relationship between God and the world and in consequence also in the role of women. Women's wisdom should be appreciated and added to the efforts to support the life of humans, animals and plants. During centuries the sensible? knowledge of women have not been incorporated in the different areas of cultures and this has created an unbalance that does not promote economic, social and environmental sustainability.    

 

 

The cultural characteristics and different environments in which groups of humans move should be taken into account. It seems to me that we have the responsibility to recognize the diverse of forms of life of groups of human beings in the world and their distinctive necessities. A very large share of humility is necessary in order to be able to listen to the groups of humans and learn from them and about their needs. I am thinking of groups of indians, farmers, women, urban groups. All of them with necessities in common and at the same time very specific. 

 

From my point of view it is necessary to make a reflection about the consuming habits of some groups and the waste they cause. It is also necessary to go back to simple models of living. It is obvious that campaigns about responsable consumption for some groups can be one way of change. For other persons training and accompaniment are required in the struggle to become owners of their land and have the resources to defend them from the transnational companies that corners them with monoculture of exportation, eliminating traditional food. I do not think that there will be one unique solution for all cases.

 

 

I think that women have gathered important experiences in a special way in their care for the life of animals, plants and humans. But a problem with this is that the women always end up last in these processes of care. They are the last to eat, they eat the worst parts, the smallest portions and they work longer hours. Despite of many years of opression many women have preserved the practice of honoring life in the middle of systems of power. Women's own knowledges should be recovered. They should be given acknowledgement and they should also be incorporated in programs and projects. Women should be present in all spaces of discussion, reflection, analysis which should be practiced in all forms of ploitics and programs. Women must receive the training that make them competent to report in different processes and must have the option to critize and make changes concerning all things that affect women.  

 

 

I take refuge in the hope that a sustainable world is possible, but I am aware that many changes are necessary. One of them is the profound conversion of those with a bitter egoism and the exagerated desire of having more than what is necessary. It is necessary to have the capacity of feeling as brothers and sisters and leave behind the blindness that prevents seing oneself in others.

 

The greed should give way for sharing. The absolutism should accept in local wisdom and minority groups the capacity of sharing knowledges and important experiences for the solidary social life in this large common house, in which there are no exclusions of persons or species of animals or plants.

 

There should be a growing appreciation that all forms of life are totally and inseparably interconnected. I think that this will encourage new forms of interpretation. Not only of the holy texts, but also of the texts of daily life that are written by groups of humans who struggles for a life with dignity and justice. In these interpretations communities of plants and animals will not be left unconsidered.  

 

 

Maria Hallén maria.k.hallen(a)gmail.com 

Anna Hjälm anna.hjalm(a)geography.umu.se        
Anita J Sääf  anita.saaf(a)telia.com
Eva Nordblom a(a)hotmail.com

Ingrid Ödquist ingrid.odquist(a)bilda.nu