EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Nine, Number One November/December 1999 Columbia River — A Sacramental Commons Reflections on a River Humans constitute one species among a multitude of living organisms that inhabit the Columbia River Watershed. Our Christian tradition teaches that the human species, whose members are images of God, has a particular responsibility to care for God's creation. As we study watershed land, air and water and become aware of other members of the biotic community through scientific discoveries and the traditions and insights of regional peoples of the land, we come to know of the interrelatedness of all life, and the relationship of different lives with the environment in which they dwell. We speak of the "web of life" or the "circle of life" to describe our lives in relation. We are indeed a community of life, a family of God's creatures. As such, we should seek to enhance our relations not only with other members of the human communities around us, communities of distinct ethnic groups, social classes, political ideologies and religious beliefs, but also with other lives and with the landscapes we inhabit together and on which we depend for our needs. We share with other species a common origin in the creative acts of God that began billions of years ago and continue to unfold around us, and we share a common bond as participants in the dynamics of our planet. We must work to effect a sacramental commons in the Columbia watershed. In the commons people will care for God's creation, celebrate the diversity of life, and equitably share the Earth's goods. Plants and animals, fish and birds, will dwell in the habitat they require for their well-being and relate to each other and to people in ecological balance. Excerpts from the reflections on "Living Waters in the Sacramental Commons of the Columbia Watershed," by Archbishop Alex Brunett (Seattle WA), Archbishop John Vlazny (Portland OR), Bishop Thomas Connolly (Baker OR), Bishop Eugene Cooney (Nelson BC), Bishop Michael Driscoll (Boise ID), Bishop Carlos Sevilla, SJ (Yakima WA), Bishop William Skylstad (Spokane WA), and Very Rev. John Darragh, Administrator of the Pastoral Letter 2000 Project (www.columbiariver.org). Home     Table of Contents