It called me to look at creation theology differently - seeing it as an outpouring of God's extravagant love. Picture a fountain at a wedding reception, you know the kind that flows with whiskey sours or chocolate. It seems to be overflowing with the good stuff, and no matter how many people partake, the fountain never seems to be diminished. That's just how God's loving kindness flows in and through creation, a true labor of Divine Love that was always headed toward Incarnation. That knowledge allowed me to embrace what I had suspected all along - that Jesus would have entered creation, would have become one of us, no matter what. His incarnation was not an afterthought brought on by sin, not a ransom as we have often been taught. The tragedy is that sin had so marred the world that it did not know what to do with Pure Goodness and Love in its midst.

I am more aware of biblical references to God's presence in creation, and creation's response - praying with a fuller meaning the words of the Sanctus - “heaven and earth are full of your glory.”

I have learned that the environmental crisis is a spiritual crisis - in that humans have forgotten their interconnection with the rest of creation and became guided by their individual need and greed. I think of it as making choices based on Need and Greed without Creed. Once I realized the spiritual dimension of the current environmental crisis, I saw that the way we treat creation is directly linked to the way we treat other humans, other living beings and the quality of society. A response to this crisis is not optional.

This led to an examination of my place in creation - as a creature in community. I now have a much broader view of what it means to live in community

Exploration of what it means to live in communion seems to be cropping up in my reading more frequently now, or maybe I am just noticing it more. Here are four quotes that I ran across recently that have added to my understanding of the community of Earth.

First from a person who inspired Earth Hope's founders- priest and cosmologist Thomas Berry who says our most fundamental requisite to reverse this crisis is to see Earth as a community of subjects, not a collection of objects. He says we have lost our sense of the sacred in creation and that allows us to treat the Earth and other living beings as commodities to be used for our pleasure. Rediscovering the Sacred in the story of Earth's ongoing creation takes us out of isolation and puts us back in relationship- a key ingredient to community.

Second from Rev. Dr. Michael Northcott, a priest in the Scottish Episcopalian Rite. He had this to say during a conference entitled Jesus and the Earth: the Gospel and the future of the environment: “Modern Democracy, at least in Britain and America, is increasingly identified with the completely unchristian idea that the chief end of people is to be free from the needs and demands of other people, and in particular, free to consume. The idea of being free from the demands and needs of all species, and even of the planet itself, is only a small extension of that idea. Freedom conceived as living without limits imposed by others is at the heart of the ecological crisis. The point is that this false notion of freedom and the use of violence against other people and other species to achieve human ends are deeply intertwined…At heart, the ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis.”

Third, Eckhart Tolle, in A New Earth - a somewhat sophisticated read - written not exclusively from a Christian perspective, although he does affirm his position with quotes from Jesus, Buddha, and others whom he considers holy people: “The whole comprises all that exists, it is the world, or the cosmos. But all things in existence, from microbes, to humans, to galaxies, are not really separate realities but form part of a web of interconnected multi-dimensional processes.” He goes on to say that our living under the dictates of Ego (for him this is the part of self that is motivated by individualized wanting and fear) blinds us to this underlying unity. He says “the stronger the ego, the stronger the sense of separateness between people. The only actions which do not cause opposing reactions are those that are aimed at the good of all, they are inclusive rather than exclusive, they join, not separate, they are not for my country, religion, or species, but for all.”

Fourth, The Shack, all the rage in popular reading right now, a fanciful look at the Trinity. Here's the Holy Spirit, addressing the book's human protagonist: “When you chose independence over relationship, you became a danger to each other. Others became objects to be manipulated or managed for your own happiness. Authority, as you usually think of it, is merely the excuse the strong use to make others conform to what they want.”

You see the logo of Earth Hope is a web and the symbolism of a web lends itself to the Earth community, its connectedness, infrastructure, support, and fragility.

The Friends of Earth Hope took shape one weekend in the late summer of 2007. Under the guidance of Marya and Helen a small group of women seekers gathered in the shadow of the Big Horn Mountains in Montana, to begin a re-discovery of the Sacred Story of Creation. From our time together came this petition

So prayer, reflection and study are certainly commitments I have made as part of my Earth Hope affiliation.

I have also made some practical choices to reflect my growing commitment to living in community with all living beings. To list these efforts almost seems like a shift from the sublime to the ridiculous - but concrete actions are needed to give form to the road of good intentions we all walk.

As much as possible, I strive to