Several days ago, an evangelical Christian asked me if I "worship the Earth." The implication was that if I did, that would be a clear instance of "worshiping the creation instead of the Creator" and would thus be a case of practicing idolatry. My short answer is this:
In some Christian quarters, Christ is viewed as an embodiment of Sophia, the feminine aspect of the Godhead. Even though individual creatures - plants, animals, mountains and clouds, for example - might be viewed as created, the feminine presence of Sophia Wisdom which underlies their material and emotional substance has a divine essence. We might also call this sophianic presence "Mother Earth" or the "Goddess." In any case, it is connected to the feminine aspect of Christ. I am assuming that since evangelicals have no qualms about worshiping Christ, they would also have no issue with worshiping a Christic sophianic presence that indwells all of creation, tying it all together as a single "body of Christ" or "Mother Earth" or "web of life."
Second, my experience is that God himself - the transcendent aspect of the Godhead - worships and adores the Earth. Here I appeal to the Song of Songs, which was considered by medieval monks to be the most spiritual book of the Bible. This book consists of a series of love poems spoken between two lovers: one masculine and one feminine. These two have traditionally been viewed as corresponding to God and the individual soul. In that book, the masculine lover (symbolizing God) is presented as continually adoring the feminine lover (symbolizing the soul and the Earth to which the soul is connected), even more intensely than the feminine lover is seen adoring the masculine lover.
Thus, employing the metaphor, we see God exclaiming to the soul: "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh how beautiful! . . . There is no flaw in you . . . You have stolen my heart, . . . you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace . . . Turn your eyes away from me, for they overwhelm me!" The song proceeds to describe the feminine lover in terms of all kinds of sensate beings, including plants, spices, and animals, thus revealing the fact that the sophianic presence dwelling in the Earth is included in this praise as well.
My point is that we, as mediators of God's love to the world around us, are ALSO meant to praise and adore the Earth, just as God does. For only in this way will all creatures be awakened to the divinity which lies within them.
Photo: Alpine Bog Laurel with Mount Alice in the background; Lion Lakes, Wild Basin, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; June 24, 2013
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