{"id":270,"date":"2011-04-28T17:20:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T17:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/04\/the-earths-teeth\/"},"modified":"2011-04-28T17:20:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T17:20:00","slug":"the-earths-teeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/04\/the-earths-teeth.html","title":{"rendered":"The Earth\u2019s Teeth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cI felt the Earth. It\u2019s all connected, it is, but\u2026 it\u2019s not all good and pure and rootsy. There\u2019s deep\u2026 deep black. There\u2019s\u2026 I saw\u2026 I saw the Earth, Giles. I saw its teeth.\u201d \u2013 Willow, from the episode \u201cLessons\u201d in <\/i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks we\u2019ve been reminded over and over again that the Earth has teeth. There was the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We\u2019ve seen flooding in the Midwest. Now we\u2019re in the middle of tornado season. There have been a few here in North Texas, and yesterday was a horrible day for the Southeast<\/a>. Last night I had a call from a close friend in Trenton, Georgia telling me about sitting in a closet as a tornado came through, fully expecting to die.<\/p>\n

How can we love and worship Nature when she does things like this?<\/p>\n

This is not an easy question, nor is it a new one. People have been asking \u201cwhy do bad things happen to good people?\u201d for thousands of years. The only certain answer is \u201cwe don\u2019t know\u201d and I don\u2019t propose to have any insight that hasn\u2019t occurred to philosophers and theologians over the centuries. But if we view Nature as sacred \u2013 and I do \u2013 this is a question we must contemplate.<\/p>\n

We begin with humility. Our large brains and opposable thumbs may have put humans at the top of the food chain, but we are not the most powerful force in the universe, and there\u2019s nothing like an earthquake or tornado to remind us of that fact. Nor are we the most important. Other animals, plants, and elemental processes like winds, rain and earthquakes all have power and all have interests. Why should ours trump theirs?<\/p>\n

Life isn\u2019t all about humans, not collectively and certainly not individually. This isn\u2019t a pleasant thought for some, but the evidence tells us it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

Events like these remind us to continually challenge dualism. Our brains have evolved to instinctively classify everything as \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad.\u201d This is understandable. If you live in the trees or on the savannah (as our ancestors did until very recently, on an evolutionary timescale) you don\u2019t have time for nuance. You need to quickly determine whether a particular plant will cure you or kill you or whether a particular animal will eat you before you are removed from the gene pool. Dualistic thinking is very efficient. It\u2019s also very incomplete.<\/p>\n

We know that fire can cook our food and fire can burn our houses. Water can quench our thirst and water can drown us. Fire and water aren\u2019t \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cevil\u201d \u2013 they simply are what they are. Likewise, earthquakes and tornados aren\u2019t good or evil, they simply are what they are. Nature as a whole is beautiful and powerful and awe-inspiring and terrible and live-giving and deadly. <\/p>\n

And we are part of that beauty and terror, a tiny part of a much greater Whole. All life on Earth evolved from a common ancestor. The Earth, the Sun, the Moon and all the stars and planets formed from the elements created when our universe began. We are all connected: the trees and lakes and cool breezes, the thorns and floods and hurricanes. And if we are connected to the rest of Nature, then the rest of Nature is due the honor and consideration \u2013 and love \u2013 that are due our closer relations.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Earth has teeth. Yes, sometimes those teeth cause pain and suffering. No, I don\u2019t know why. I just know it is.<\/p>\n

Blessed be the Earth.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI felt the Earth. It\u2019s all connected, it is, but\u2026 it\u2019s not all good and pure and rootsy. There\u2019s deep\u2026 deep black. There\u2019s\u2026 I saw\u2026 I saw the Earth, Giles. I saw its teeth.\u201d \u2013 Willow, from the episode \u201cLessons\u201d in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Over the past few weeks we\u2019ve been reminded over and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Earth\u2019s Teeth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cI felt the Earth. It\u2019s all connected, it is, but... it\u2019s not all good and pure and rootsy. There\u2019s deep... deep black. There\u2019s... I saw... 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