|
One of the themes of The Sacred Balance is that religions around the world celebrate and revere nature in unique ways. In Episode Four of the TV Series, David Suzuki travels to St. Paul's Anglican Church in London, Ontario, to meet Bishop Bruce Howe and join his parishioners in a ritual honouring Saint Francis, patron saint of ecology. In this ceremony parishioners and members of the community are invited to bring their animals in for a special blessing. In addition to the broadcast portion of this interview here is more of what Bishop Howe had to say: Bishop Howe on why people bring their pets to be blessed: "When you have a pet you discover a pet has a soul. To discover that animals can have souls and that we're in relationship with them, I think people want to bless that relationship and bless the pet." Bishop Howe on why blessing animals falls within biblical teachings: "For Christians that's what our biblical record says. From the Old Testament through the New Testament and in all the contexts when animals are brought up from the Garden of Eden on there is a context that animals can be in relationship with God." The idea that animals have souls (as believed by Bishop Howe and preached by St. Francis) is not shared by all practitioners of bible-based religion - especially in recent times. Writer William C. French gives this explanation for this change: "With the rise of modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the idea of nature as being organic and alive with purpose unto itself was replaced with a notion of animals and nature, and indeed the world as a whole, as being a vast machine not unlike a clock with springs and wheels and cogs, which could be broken down into its individual parts and units and studied and thereby understood. Animals were regarded in the same way, as automatons without feeling or significance or rights. Many scientists embraced the notion because it silenced qualms about vivisection and animal experimentation. Many theologians likewise employed the idea of the beast-machine to secure the doctrine of the uniqueness of humanity's gift of an immortal soul." In Good News for Animals, the teachings of St. Francis are summed up this way: "Saint Francis of Assisi (c.1182-1226) drew on the biblical nature of allegory, and his own experiences of a graced nature of all creation, to develop an original and compelling vision of nature and our relationship to it. His vision focused on: 1) God's love for all creatures, 2) our close kinship with animals and nature, and 3) the natural world understood as a community of creation with a harmony and balance achieved through the participation of varied interdependent species and elements. The boldness of St. Francis's sense of kinship with animals and nature is complemented by his view of the natural world as a vast community, sustained by God's love, and a web of interdependence linking living species and natural elements of creation." While St. Francis is known for his love of animals, it is really nature as whole that he wished to honour and praise, as can be seen in his religious poem "The Canticle of Brother Sun": Most high, omnipotent, good Lord
To you alone belong praise and glory
Honor, and blessing
No man is worthy to breathe your name.
Be praised, my Lord, for all your creatures.
In the first place for the blessed Brother Sun
Who give us the day and enlightens us through you.
He is beautiful and radiant with his great splendour,
Giving witness of you, most Omnipotent One.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Wind
And the airy skies, so cloudy and serene;
For every weather, be praised, for it is life-giving.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water
So necessary yet so humble, precious, and chaste.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
Who lights up the night,
He is beautiful and carefree, robust and fierce.
Be praised, my Lord, for our sister, Mother Earth,
Who nourishes and watches us
While bringing forth abundant fruits with coloured flowers
And herbs.
Praise and bless the Lord.
Render him thanks.
Serve him with great humility. Amen
|
