Tuesday, April 2
Readings: EZ 47:1-9, 12; JN 5:1-16
The words of Ezekiel today are a reminder of the scriptural grounding in ecology and geography – and the promise of what would be our inheritance if we had cared for it.
Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.
In fact this is how it WAS before colonization.
A great activist and environmental advocate from Detroit, Will Copeland, recently had a quote posted on Facebook,
“settler colonialism was climate catastrophe, apocalypse, and genocide rolled into one. Do you know what this place was like before all the concrete and industry? How many clean rivers and lakes there were? What was that loss and grief like to see what it looks like now which some consider “modern lifestyle”….[the modern lifestyle that is being threatened]…damn well should be threatened because it is based on colonialism, exploitation, and genocide! The comforts that the “climate change” people are mourning are based on genocide, exploitation, and colonization. That’s point blank. I’m sorry for people’s feeling of uncertainty but that way of life should be swept away by the earth. Too bad Western leaders aren’t proactively trying to change but holding on with tight, white knuckles of death leading millions to premature death, stress, and unnecessary anxiety that would be avoided or minimized if Western leaders could show leadership… “
These are strong words, indeed, but ones we may need to take in and hear.
In the gospel, Jesus heals a man who could not walk but he heals him on the sabbath. As the man is now walking with his mat, the religious leaders shame him for walking with his mat. Instead of celebrating his healing, they just want to get to the bottom of this scandal!
This sounds a lot like the leaders that Will speaks about – focused on all the wrong things. Instead of welcoming the dismantling of a system that blocks liberation, the Pharisees hold on tighter even though they know that this means people will be left out, people will be excluded and people will die.
Lent is a time to take a sober and loving look at reality. We face some serious challenges that mainstream society is not taking up. Oppressed peoples, however, have been taking these issues up for a long time, and actually have much to offer us in terms of how to develop the skills to live in the world that is coming. The cost of learning those skills is the release of the old system of domination. Sadly, too many in power want the “skills” but also want to keep the system intact.
For today, just sit with the words of the first reading as well as Will Copeland’s reflection. Notice what it brings up in you. Be sure to speak to someone or write about it somehow.
(This reflection was inspired by my daughter, Kateri, who has brought so much to my attention and consciousness)