Friends of the Earth - and of Each Other?
'Take only photos, leave only footprints' is the unofficial countryside code. Leave no trace, environmentalists caution us, lest we further compound the profoundly destructive impact we have had on our surroundings. Indeed, type 'human impact' into Google and it's several pages of results before the balance tilts in favour of positive references.
Increasingly, we are becoming aware that we possess something of a reverse Midas touch in relation to our environment; our 'touch' being more gaseous than golden. And so we bear a creeping sense of guilt about what it means to be human, and an allied tendency to define ourselves as alien invaders in our world.
A recent article in the Observer underlines the point, distilling twenty reasons not to have a baby down to the following three: babies are economically costly; they are inevitable polluters; they are potentially emotionally and relationally harmful. Such an outlook betrays a basic mistrust in our identity and in our role in the world.
This sense of mistrust impacts not only the environmental sphere, but also the social and relational spheres of our lives. We are increasingly counselled that the best human relationships are those which give the other enough space to 'be themselves'; space to flourish without hindrance. Perhaps we shall one day have the option of offsetting the damage done to relationships, just as currently we offset our carbon footprint.
Of course, there is much that is wise in advocating careful consideration and thoughtfulness. We certainly want to avoid recklessness in our relationships with others and the world. Yet there is real danger in defining our interactions in predominantly negative terms. Activity becomes attuned to damage avoidance; we define others by their perceived fragility; and caution and hesitancy circumscribe our vision of what is possible and curb our potential to do much that is positive. A 'life lived well' becomes one which has caused no damage, is traceless and invisible.
Such a 'life' stands in stark contrast to the God-given, human creative imperative, which commands us to work the land, shaping it for good. This mandate calls for active engagement with the world and others. Jesus never lacked confidence in his relationships, nor counselled relational timidity to his disciples. Whilst we should never be naïve about our capacity to damage, isn't it time we recovered our confidence in the capability of human beings to engage meaningfully and actively in positive social and ecological relationships?
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