![\"earth](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/230\/2015\/04\/earth-map.jpg\")
<\/a>Do you know what scientists commonly call ecological studies? Dissipation studies: Terrestrial field dissipation studies, soil dissipation studies, habitat dissipation studies, natural resource dissipation studies, petroleum, forest, reef, fisheries dissipation studies\u2026<\/p>\nThe Catholic theologian Ronald Rolheiser says that to be human is to live with an excess of desire. \u201cDesire is always stronger than satisfaction,\u201d he says. (p.3) To be humans is to have an excess of desire. Not all desire is bad. We desire justice, mercy, love, and belonging\u2014all good things. But the quintessential human move is to attempt to maximize our ability to meet our own desires, and minimize the number of our unmet desires.<\/p>\n
The problem is that society cannot function very well if everybody is simply trying to realize their own desires. So, we band together and set limits. Ethics, morals, culture, laws, are all about setting limits on how far you can go to meet your own desire. This, we know, is simply part of the human condition: We are all dealing with an excess of desire.<\/p>\n
Rolheiser says that for Christians, \u201cSpirituality is, ultimately, about what we do with that desire.\u201d (p.5) What we do with the enduring excess of desire is called spirituality. If our desires and longings rule over us, they threaten our health, and the health of the world. A life ruled by desire will always become destructive.<\/p>\n
Rolheiser says our spirituality is about what we do w\/our excess desire. Either we\u2019ll learn discipline or we\u2019ll experience dissipation.<\/p>\n
Discipline is training our desires, stewarding our lives toward God\u2019s desire for them (vocation).<\/p>\n
Dissipation is wasting by misuse, amusement, or self-indulgence; synonyms are words like \u201cbinging, going on a bender.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discipline leads to stewardship.<\/p>\n
Dissipation leads to exploitative practices.<\/p>\n
Humans seem to have unlimited desire in terms of what we would like to make this planet do. When that desire is not disciplined, we will act in ways that exploit the planet. This exploitation leads to dissipation, which is exactly what we are seeing in our world.
\nThe church\u2019s problem is that we have no spirituality of creation. Because we have no spirituality of creation, we have no disciplines that guide and limit the way we steward the planet.<\/p>\n
So what we do instead is pivot to the ideology of culture. We pick a side with conservatives or liberals, abdicating our vocation as stewards of creation. And this has led to the dissipation of God\u2019s good creation. God has not abdicated God\u2019s rights concerning the earth. We might have dominion, but we do not have ownership. The earth is the Lord\u2019s & everything in it. We are held accountable for how we use it. We cannot be cavalier & arrogant about the planet.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not an environmentalist so much as I\u2019m a Christian\u2026 so I don\u2019t need to save the planet. But, I do need to be faithful. Concern for the planet is a matter of faithfulness. While everyone else in the world seems to be ruled by their desires, the Christian needs to find discipline. The church needs a spirituality rich enough to fund faithfulness in regard to God\u2019s good creation, otherwise known as stewardship.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you know what scientists commonly call ecological studies? Dissipation studies: Terrestrial field dissipation studies, soil dissipation studies, habitat dissipation studies, natural resource dissipation studies, petroleum, forest, reef, fisheries dissipation studies\u2026 The Catholic theologian Ronald Rolheiser says that to be human is to live with an excess of desire. \u201cDesire is always stronger than satisfaction,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":4248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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