One of the spin-offs from the recent synchroblog on Christianity and Neopaganism (see Notes from underground: Christianity, paganism and literature (synchroblog)), was some comments about ways in which the natural environment is seen.
There was an interesting variety of comments on some of the posts. For some, concern for the natural environment is one of the things that Christians and Neopagans have in common — or at least some Christians and some Neopagans.
For instance Sally, in Following the wild goose, writes:
How then can a re-awakened sense of God’s presence in creation serve to encourage Christians to build bridges to their Pagan “friends”? For we should seek to be friends…. For too long we have simply swallowed and accepted a dualistic mindset without question, separating the spiritual and physical worlds, often in an unconscious way, we have simply compartmentalised our lives.I wonder then what type of dialogue might be struck if we were to celebrate the passing of the seasons ( with more than increasingly meaningless Harvest festivals)? If we were to develop liturgies to recognise solstice and equinox, choosing to see the ebb and flow of the seasons as Gods good gift to us?
I wonder if healing might flow if we were to recognise the possibility that “thin places” and ley lines look at the world in similar ways? Our task is to make connections rather than raise barriers, and to tear down old barriers in order to move forward to a more positive place.
To which one person responded, “I am a Pagan, and I really appreciate what you’ve said here. A form of Christianity that celebrates the seasons and see God’s presence in creation seems like a great step in the right direction towards building interfaith dialog and healing our injured planet.”
Similar comments can be found in some of the other postings in the synchroblog.
One of the things that might be interesting to explore in future would be the motivations and theological interpretation of this concern. How are they similar, and how do they differ, for Christians and Neopagans?
As far as Orthodox Christianity is concerned, a useful compilation of links and resources may be found on this web page.
1 Comment
3 October 2007 at 7:08 am
I think it’s important people of all religion (if any) remain aware that we are part of the environment; we are a product of it, we can have profound effects on it, and it can have even more profound effects on us.