And
G-d said fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over every
living thing. – Genesis 1: 28
The first
chapter of Genesis is one of the most beloved passages of sacred writing from
any tradition in the world. Opening with the words: “In the beginning when
G-d began creating the heavens and the earth,” Genesis offers a lyrical and poetic account filled
with rich imagery of an intricate life world being methodically organized from chaotic,
unorganized raw materials. Genesis details an ongoing creative process that
continues today.
These writings
are the work of a group of priestly scholars whose primary role was to take a
wide range of existing sacred writings and put everything into a single story
called the Torah. Not surprisingly, well-defined roles and duties to others are
key understandings for both the creation of the world as well as our place within
it.
It is
telling that the initial moment of this story begins with this creator G-d. “In
the beginning…G-d…” All things that follow that beginning point – including
us human beings –come from the G-d who is the origin of everything. From that
beginning of creation in G-d, the Priestly writers lay out a process of
organization and development starting with the heavens above and ending with
human beings below.
One of
the reasons we love this Priestly vision of creation is because it is so positive
regarding the creation itself and thereby ourselves as an essential part of
that creation: “And G-d saw everything he had made and it was very good.”
It’s
important to note what this does not say: “It was perfect.” Perfection
is a Greek concept, not a Hebrew term. Humanity has been an imperfect creation
from the very beginning. But even in our imperfections, we have always been
very good. And that includes the capability of learning from our mistakes. We
are born bearing the image of G-d with the potential to grow ever more into the
divine likeness.
Dominion,
NOT Domination
A critical
moment in this account comes at the end of the roll call of created beings. The
Priestly writers’ Creator says the following:
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have
dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every
living thing that moves upon the earth.”
The word
“dominion” has long been a key concept in our understanding of ourselves as a
species and our relation to the rest of the Creation. Sadly our misreading of
that word has often proven to be a means of rationalizing irresponsible if not exploitative
and destructive dealings with Creation and each other. For far too many of us,
“dominion” has been confused with a related but very different term - “domination.”
Ironically,
both words share the same root in Latin domus, a word which means “home.”
Our English word domicile comes from that root. Dominion points toward the
right relationship of members of a well-tended household. In this case,
that household is the very good creation of which the human animal is a part - but only a part. It is the household human beings were created to care for. Dominion
points toward a lifeworld which, when it is in balance, all living beings have
their rightful place.
Domination,
on the other hand, points toward power relationships. Domination is by
definition exploitative, obsessed with the exercise of control over the
powerless who are devalued in that process. The result of that
exploitative relationship is inevitably the privilege of the few amassed at the
expense of the many. In the end, domination is always poised on a slippery
slope to sadism and destructiveness.
We saw a
good example of domination at work this past week. That word was the focus of a
speech seeking to rationalize the use of potentially lethal force by the
world’s most powerful military to confront American citizens exercising First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble and seek
redress from grievance in the streets of our cities. Shortly after that speech, a peaceful crowd at St.
John’s Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square across the street from the White
House, protesting the killing of Floyd George by a police officer in
Minneapolis earlier this month, was attacked by police officers without any
warning using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Among
those forced to flee was an Episcopal priest and a seminarian who had been
distributing water and medical supplies to the crowd. When the tear gas had
cleared, a Bible was thrust into the lens of a TV camera but never opened, much
less read. Had it been, it’s possible the reader would soon have stumbled
across Jesus teaching “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
This
venerable old church is where Abraham Lincoln often slipped out at night to
pray in the midst of a tumultuous time, not unlike our own, which threatened
the end of the country he governed. It is a church where presidents have prayed
for two centuries. But this day St. Johns was never entered and no prayers were
said. Rather, its courtyard had been cleared without warning through violence to
become the scene for a political photo opportunity. This was a showcase for
domination. As Central Florida Episcopal Bishop Greg Brewer put it, this was “Blasphemy
in real time.”
Domination
is inevitably about power. But the Hebrew reference to dominion points toward shalom,
right relationship with one another. With any relationship comes duties the
parties have to one another. That includes those of human beings to other human
beings and it includes duties of human animals to the rest of the natural world.
The failure
to live into the duties of dominion proves catastrophic to all of the members
of the domus, the household of G-d. We see that in a world where human
behaviors are causing an extinction rate of non-human animals at up to 10,000
times the natural rate. And we see it in the way Coronavirus has played out disproportionately
among people of color in our in prisons, on indigenous reservations and in the
packing plants where the death rates of working poor – those whose labor
is seen as essential to all of us even as their lives are not – are off
the charts.
To be
entrusted with dominion, the household of Creation, means valuing all its members
and tending to their needs. When parents fail to take care of the needs of
their children, those children are often removed from the household. When
trustees of institutions fail to live into their duties, they are often removed
from office. The words of Thomas Jefferson are particularly troubling here:
“I
tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot
sleep forever.”
So why is
that important? Why should we recognize and value our origins in G-d and
thereby our connectedness to all that exists?
Why should we care about being responsible to all the other living
beings in our lifeworld?
I
Can’t Breathe…
The last
few weeks have provided us with more than enough reasons beginning with the
last words of George Floyd. As he lay dying on the streets of Minneapolis
beneath the knee of a law enforcement officer, he called out to his dead Mother
to come to him. Perhaps her spirit was waiting there to accompany his soul to
the next world. But it is difficult to hear this agonizing call and not
recognize the echoes of another young man dying under the heel of domination who
called to his own parent: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
George
Floyd repeated this phrase over and over until his last dying breath escaped
him: “I can’t breathe.” It is a
refrain we can hear all around us if we have ears to hear it.
“I
can’t breathe.”
The last
words to loved ones at the other end of an I-Pad connection from patients on a
ventilator as they lie dying in the hallways of hospitals overrun by victims of
a vicious disease. It is a contagion spread in part by an abject failure of policy
by those entrusted with leadership as well as a corresponding failure in the duties
of egocentric individuals to be mindful of others.
“I
can’t breathe.”
The words
of young working people already swamped by debt and paid far too little to live
in an economic system stacked against them to benefit the wealthy. Many have now
lost the meager income they had and are looking at eviction.
“I
can’t breathe.”
The sputtering
gasps of a planet whose very life breath is being destroyed by relentless
exploitation starting with the destruction of the Amazon Basin, the lungs of
“this fragile earth, our island home.”
Thank
G-d for Second Chances
So where
is the good news in all of this?
First, it
is essential that we understand now that G-d is not going to swoop down and save
us from ourselves. Remember, G_d, has left us in charge, stewards of the
creation with dominion over the earth. The harm that is being done to the
powerless - from people of color on our streets to the very heart of the Earth
itself - is a matter of human choices including our willingness to silently acquiesce
to them.
We cannot
make this reality go away by simply ignoring it, seeking to escape, distracting
ourselves with yet another Netflix binge watch or online shopping spree. If the
harm is to end, it is up to us as a people to consciously and intentionally choose
to make it happen. To paraphrase British philosopher Edmund Burke, “The only
way for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
There is
a word for such choices. It is called repentance. And the result
of such choices is also summed up in a word. It is called redemption.
Fortunately for us, we actually have the chance to make such a choice.
We stand
at a time in our world’s history in which one era is ending and another is
waiting to emerge. In the wake of this pandemic our preexisting world is
collapsing. We have an unparalleled opportunity
to step back, reflect and repent of our failures. Out of that repentance comes
the potential for redemption, a gracious second chance in our calling to be responsible
stewards of creation, and an opportunity to actually help heal a suffering world.
The new
world that will rise from the ruins of the old is not yet clear. And it will
not materialize quickly, despite our desperate desires for instant
gratification. For us, it is an enormous opportunity as well as an enormous responsibility.
But if there has ever been a time when we needed to be responsible to our
Creator, ourselves, one another and the Creation we were given to care for, it
is definitely right now.
And I pray
that G-d will help each of us find the strength and courage to answer our calling
as individuals and as a people to reflect, where necessary to repent, and to
seek redemption in the healing of a broken, suffering but always a very good
Creation. To that calling, in the words of our Baptismal Covenant, may we respond:
“I will with God’s help.”
AMEN.
[A sermon preached on Trinity Sunday, Pentecost I, 2020, at St. Richard's Episcopal Parish, Winter Park, FL on June 7, 2020.
You are invited to watch this morning’s worship from St. Richard’s, Winter Park. I am the celebrant and preacher.
This sermon begins at the 39:00 mark.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Harry Scott Coverston
Orlando, Florida
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth
living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is
not worth holding. Most things worth considering do not come in sound bites.
Those who believe religion and
politics aren't connected don't understand either. – Mahatma
Gandhi
For what does G-d require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your G-d?
- Micah 6:8, Hebrew Scriptures
Do not be daunted by the enormity
of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly now. You are
not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. - Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Wisdom of the Jewish Sages (1993)
© Harry Coverston, 2020
1 comment:
Harry+ these words, these thoughts, these events have coalesced in very similar ways in my own heart and mind. As is often true, your wonderful images and words, deeply felt and carefully chosen, bring clarity, coherence and resolve. Sincere thanks to you, glory to G-d (as you write the Name), and Godspeed to us all.
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