Either Or

Was the world created for mankind or for God?

Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath." - Mark 2:27

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus is once again watched closely on the Sabbath, to see if he would do anything against the law.

But Jesus shifts the paradigm, saying the Sabbath is the day God rested for man's sake, so we would take rest and enjoy the work of Creation.

So, it makes me wonder.  Is all of Creation ours to enjoy?

If it is, does that mean we are not responsible for how we use it?

There was a time when we might have thought that was the case, with such an abundance of resources at our disposal, which seemed to renew themselves with little if any effort on our part.

But that isn't how we view the world now that we have inhabited so much of it, and we realize that trees do not grow themselves.

To honor the Sabbath, then, we might have to do more than just enjoy the fruits of God's labor.  We might need to make those fruits available to all who come after us as well.

Now there is a lot of discussion about the changing climate and while that may sound like the same topic, the framing of it may be wrong.

So long as we are willing to argue about the greenhouse effect and rising temperatures, we may be missing the point.

If we think of our responsibility for Creation as something to sustain for all generations to come, so they will enjoy it the way we do, drawing from it what is needed and using all it has to offer, we play into both arguments, the one for conservation and sustainability, as well as the one for progress and growth.

Until we are all pulling in the same direction, we will continue to argue with no result.

By focusing on God's gift to us of a day to enjoy the world He created for us, we may be able to come together and agree on replenishing all we take, so it will be as plentiful for those who follow us.

But if we continue to make the case for one way or another, with no wiggle room, we will never reach an accord.

Maybe that is the lesson of the Sabbath, to come together and rest our positions, f only for one day.

More to come...