EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Eight, Number Two January/February 1999 THE CRIPPLED BEAR by Rev. Finley Schaef In my dream a black bear was standing in the river rapids, staring at the salmon flying into the air. The bear watched patiently. Suddenly, with her head thrust to the side, she grasped a fish firmly between her mighty jaws and hobbled off toward the shoreline. On the shore, as she tried to subdue the fish, I saw that one of her legs was hardly strong enough to stand on or to hold the fish firmly on the ground. My dream bear could not roam in the grand manner of bears; she stumbled along on three firm legs and one scrawny one. I approached her carefully. "Come with me," I shouted over the din of the rushing water, "I know where we can get healing for your leg." We walked for a long distance, my companion limping but not complaining, until we approached a hospital with all sorts of physical therapy and friendly nurses inside. With expert assistance, my dream bear began to walk on her lame leg, lift weights with it, and eat a better diet. Her withered leg began to grow. Eventually she was discharged and we walked off into the wilderness, the two-strong-legged and the four-strong-legged, healthy and happy! "That bear is the Christian church," I realized upon waking! All these years she has been struggling to survive with three legs ö three sources, or avenues, of Spirit: one from within, one from neighbor, and the third from the social order. But the fourth, the source of spiritual strength from nature, has never been honored, and hardly ever used or exercised. The time has come ö the new Millennium ö when we must exercise the fourth leg and make it strong, that it may become a powerful new force for love in the world. Through Eco-Church Circles the North American Coalition for Christianity and Ecology (NACCE), without neglecting the other three, is focusing on that fourth leg ö the human-earth relationship. For more on Eco-Church Circles write Rev. Finley Schaef, President of NACCE, 87 Stoll Rd., Saugerties NY 12477; 914/ 246-0181. Home     Table of Contents