commodity thinking

…we have developed a materialistic culture that treats the earth as a commodity that exists to serve our own selfish purposes.

                     Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Prayer of the Heart

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everything

if we take the Bible seriously

is Sacred

 

everything

participates in the divine

 

the earth which is God’s self revelation

an incarnation

if holy

 

so to0 the creatures that live upon it

and so too we human creatures

 

unique permeated with the sacred

little incarnations

 

how dare we treat the earth as a commodity

as something soulless,

an object merely to be used for our benefit

 

how dare we any human being this way?

and yet we do

 

we rape and pillage the earth

 

and people too

 

how many people are treated as commodities

women (for example) objectified by men

objects to be used

for sexual pleasure

as brood mares

as servants

 

how many men too

are used

 

no one, I expect is exempt

bosses objectify workers

churches objectify ministers

parents objectify children

consumers objectify retail workers

 

we walk through life using others

making them less than

making them

commodities

 

the more we objectify

the more we use

the more we objectify

the more we abuse

 

everything becomes about us

about our wealth

our power

our guns

our political ideology

 

it no longer matters what happens to others

 

this it seems is the great sin of humanity

it is seen in the “big lie”

it is seen in voter suppression

it is seen in the assaults of women’s rights

it is seen in the treatment of all who are vulnerable

it is seen in climate change denial

it is seen in those who refuse to wear masks

 

it is seen in those who do deplorable things

because

frankly they cannot see that the creation they are destroying

is permeated with God

and that the person they would ignore, or endager

is a Sacred Child

 

it is seen in my own life, in too many ways

perhaps, dare I say it, it is seen in yours?

 

what can I do today to connect myself with all that is sacred

with all that is

with the earth, its creatures

with the people who surround me

 

I sit, on my way to help another, in an airport

vaccinated, masked and distanced

 

I watch the people wander to and fro

some rushing, some moving slowly

some full of energy

some sagging, as if they are carrying the weight of the world

on their shoulders

 

it is easy to simply ignore

feeling on a spark of love and interest for the service dog

who pants at his person’s feet

 

can I see that person without a mask as homo divinus

how can I

sense a connection

with all of these scurrying people

 

nameless, faceless, rushing, limping,wandering

 

headed on vacation

headed on a work trip

headed toward a dying parent or friend

headed to a medical center for treatment

headed to family

 

how can I see God in the son the shines through the window?

how can I see the invisible bonds

that bind us all together?

 

perhaps I only need to be aware of my own spiritual nature

of the God within me

 

for if the Sacred is me

certainly the Sacred is in them

and certainly in earth beneath

and the sky above

 

it is disturbing

to be so connected, so aware

 

but only when I am no longer alone

isolated

only when I am part of this whole

can I really be me

and allow you to be you