By Bob Carey
Earth Day seems an entirely appropriate time to look at Creation stories. They make interesting reading and can be summarized in the phrase: "All worlds are local." The stories invariably tell us a lot about the people who told them--how they saw the world, the issues they were sorting out (why there is death, why childbirth is painful, why people can be so nasty.) The world is in a kind of "beginning" shape--not really up and running but almost there needing a few touches to bring everything up to speed.
The "world" that creation stories describe is "back there," some time ago: way back when, a long time ago. That really isn't the point of the stories. The age of things isn't what is at issue. The world is, the stories agree, an old and busy place, but mostly the stories are about us--about how we got to be in the world that the stories are talking about. Creation stories, in sum, are not about the earth; they are about us. I know we have presentations that describe human history as sort of the last coat of paint on the top of the Eiffel tower. We have all I, I expect, our "Wow" moment. But, I think, just for the moment.
It takes awhile to begin to hear the story of the earth, the sheer scope of the thing, the staggering numbers associated with the ages that have come and gone on this earth in which we make our home. If you want to enjoy getting dizzy trying to imagine spans of time that can somewhat numb the mind, read Denis Wood, Five Billion Years of Global Change: A History of the Land.
Wood writes in a kind of blistering forward lurching style that takes a bit of getting used to. But after awhile you do begin to get it; that we are very recent, very new, hardly a major moment compared to all that has gone before. It is all that has gone before that has the affect of making one finally begin to hear the history of the land, of how it has come to be, of the forces that shape it and reshape it even as we read. As you read this, the Himalayas are still getting higher. Not on our scale of speed, but on the earth's. I find that fascinating and calming. What should I do as a child of the earth? First of all, don't confuse its history as being in the service of my history. The world wasn't created for me to simply say, Thank you very much; I'll take it from here. I think that puts the matter exactly wrong. Our history is so dependent, so intertwined with what the earth has been and is, that it really does fall to us to listen, really listen to hear its voice. Maybe for the first time.
Email: wardens@saintsaviour.org
