Turn, Turn, Turn: The Journey of Repentance

This is the sixth piece in my series, “The Journey of Ecological Discipleship." You can find the first five pieces HERE. This piece looks deeper into the Repentance stage of the journey.

Thanks for reading! - James

"To everything, turn, turn, turn
there is a season, turn, turn, turn
and a time for every purpose under heaven."
-Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season), The Byrds.

A Turning Point

In 2007, I consulted a landscape professional to help get rid of the insects that were preventing the grass in my front yard from growing strong, thick, and green. He recommended a regimen of insecticide, herbicide, and nitrogen fertilizer - a chemical trifecta that could, if applied with discipline, help the lawn become the picture of American lawn perfection. It was a tempting proposition. A sea of perfectly green grass can be quite beautiful and appreciated by neighbors. And a patchy, weed-infested lawn can be unbecoming and attract neighborly scorn.

But I had begun to learn about the negative impacts of chemical-dependent lawn care: loss of crucial pollinators, toxic runoff into streams and lakes, poisons traveling up the food chain, and links to increased cancer rates in humans, among others. I had also learned about the origins of lawns as a way to demonstrate superior social status, and that many pesticides and fertilizers had their origins in chemical warfare. My front lawn was little more than a hundred square feet of semi-thriving grass, but from an ecological perspective it was entangled in far-reaching social, political, and environmental injustice - and so was I.

It felt like an opportunity for me to take a step from knowledge to action. I said "no" to the landscaper's recommendation and began researching alternative approaches to lawn care that were more earth-friendly. Since then, I have enjoyed replacing sections of lawn with native plants, switching to an electric mower, and letting the grass grow in springtime when pollinators are doing their thing. I still have a long way to go, but making this change was an important turning point in my journey of ecological discipleship, and, in this aspect of my life, I haven't turned back.

The Three Turns of Repentance

Many Christians think of repentance as remorse coupled with a promise not to repeat whatever wrong has been done. But true repentance is much more than this; it involves three distinct turns that require compassion, conversion, and courage.

The first turn is toward suffering. This includes, of course, the personal suffering we inflict on others in our immediate context. But the journey of ecological discipleship asks us to go beyond the personal and see how suffering and sin are woven into our interconnected, interdependent world. It asks us to see that each one of us is enmeshed a collective way of life that is systematically weakening and destroying Earth's capacity to support life.

We must see those who are on the receiving end of this unbalanced way of life, such as our fellow humans who have contributed little to global climate change but are dealing disproportionately with the consequences, or one of the thousands of species who have disappeared from the face of the earth over the last few decades. Do we hear their cries - or their silence?

It can be difficult to face such widespread suffering and not look away, and even more difficult to acknowledge that many of us, in large and small ways, are complicit. We have not lived up to our God-given vocation to care for the earth and all its creatures, we have diminished the sacred beauty and fecundity of this beautiful planet, we have missed the heart of the Gospel as good news for all creation, and we have tarnished the witness of the Church. Such honest compassion, though difficult, keeps our hearts open and enables us to make the next turn.

The second turn is away from the root causes of systemic brokenness. This is the work of conversion. It requires rejecting the core beliefs, attitudes, and practices behind our cultures of domination, control, and consumption, and committing to walk a different path.

Such conversion is hard work. It can come in distinct moments of clarity and decision, but most of the time it happens slowly by patiently and persistently disentangling ourselves as best we can from the powerful systems that have shaped the world we live in and are designed to keep things moving in the same destructive direction. It often feels like two steps forward, one step back, but when we are committed to turning away from these root causes, we begin to create room for something new to emerge.

The third turn is toward discerning the new path God has for us. The last movement of repentance is to look for opportunities to explore new ideas and practices, to discover ways in which your life can align with what God is doing in the world. We do this by turning toward the particular opportunities that God brings our way.

We turn toward our vocation and ask how we might use our gifts, abilities, and resources to join God in the work of care and healing. We turn toward the earth and ask how we can serve our particular places and communities. We turn toward the vulnerable and ask how we can stand in solidarity with them. We turn toward creation-centered faith practices that connect us to God and the community of creation.

It can be hard to know where to start. Fortunately, as in all the stages of this journey, there are guides and practices to help us.

Following the Three P's

The work of repentance can be helped by listening to the poor. This is not an act of pity, but the recognition that those who are suffering are often more in tune with the heart and will of God than those who are not. It is also a reminder that social and environmental justice are linked. As theologian Leonardo Boff points out:

“The wound of poverty breaks the social fabric of millions and millions of poor people around the world. The other wound, systematic assault on the Earth, breaks down the balance of the planet, which is under threat from the plundering of development as practiced by contemporary global societies. Both lines of reflection and practice have as their starting point a cry: the cry of the poor for life, freedom, and beauty … and the cry of the Earth groaning under oppression.”

Listening to these cries, and following where they lead, can help us discern how we stand in solidarity with the sufferings of creation and be ready to act when opportunities arise.

We can also be guided by poets. Through sparse language and evocative imagery, poets gift us with words that can cut through the superficiality and distractions of modern life, and focus our attention on difficult truths. The Bible gives us many examples of poetic speech that draws the reader into the deeper realities of suffering, destruction, and, eventually, hope. The words of Jeremiah 4:23-26, for instance, depict the injustice of his time as causing a type of de-creation:

I looked on the earth, and it was complete chaos,
    and to the heavens, and they had no light.
 I looked on the mountains, and they were quaking,
    and all the hills moved to and fro.
I looked, and there was no one at all,
    and all the birds of the air had fled.
 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert,
    and all its cities were laid in ruins
    before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

Contemporary poets can also help us in our work of repentance. John O'Donohue's poem, "For Longing," captures what it feels like to go through a time of turning, and reminds us to trust that the process is leading us somewhere good.

Blessed be the longing that brought you here
And quickens your soul with wonder.
May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.
May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To discover the new direction your longing wants you to take.
May the forms of your belonging -- in love, creativity and friendship --
Be equal to the grandeur and the call of your soul.

(John O'Donohue from his book "To Bless the Space Between Us.")

We can follow the example of practitioners. There are so many people ready and willing to help us step into a new practice. I found people ready to help me transition my lawn care practices. There are many people who have figured out how to take action in more ecologically-conscious ways: activists, arborists, beekeepers, community organizers, contemplative monks, gardeners, neighbors, nurses, pastors, parents, transportation providers, zookeepers (you get it, everything from A-Z). Find a starting place, and go from there.

The first step in a journey can be the hardest - but then it starts to get a little easier. Pretty soon you are able to pick up the pace a bit, look around, and begin to see the new territory you have entered. We will explore that together in my next piece.

 
With you on The Way,
James

SPECIAL INVITATION: If you are on the "Journey" and trying to figure out how to bring others along with you in your church, ministry, or community, consider an upcoming learning retreat Circlewood is hosting on Camano Island. We will explore the stages in more depth, with special focus on your personal discipleship and leadership context. If you want to learn more, click on the image below.