Coming Home to Mother Earth
with the Good Shepherd
By Sr. M. Teresita G. Figueroa RGS
“What man
among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the
ninety nine to search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his
shoulders with great joy ...” (Luke 15:1-4)
Speaking about the growing ecological
movement, Thomas Berry said, “We are returning to our native place after a long
absence, meeting once again with our kin in the earth community. For too long we have been away somewhere, entranced
with our industrial world of wires and wheels, concrete and steel and our
unending highways, where we race back and forth …”
My experience of
ecological conversion led me to a new meaning of being found by the Shepherd God. Indeed, it was a joyful coming home as I
reconnected myself with the source of my being and found my rightful place in
the whole community of life. Now I can
truly call Mother Earth my mother, the one who has sustained and nourished me through
the years. I continue to discover God’s
true identity and my personal call as I gain wisdom from nature, the primal
revelation of God. With new eyes and a
humble heart, I get to “see the sacred laws and wisdom in all life that
surrounds us.” It has given me a great
sense of excitement to accept that there is a lot not just to learn and but
also to unlearn. I now claim to be a
“student in the
Reinterpreting
Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep, I see us humans as the lost sheep among the
whole community of life. The ecological
crisis and the state we are in despite our advances in knowledge and technology
indicate that we have missed the mark. Failing to recognize our vulnerability, we have gone our own way, and
alienated ourselves from the other members of the community of life. We have also turned away from our creator God. God has been searching for us. God even had to become human to make us see
what we are called to image. As
As I recalled
my green story, I discovered the goodness of Mother Earth which I have taken
for granted for many years. Even my vocation has its root in finding God in the
garden. This realization made me feel so
grateful, drawing out the desire to return her love. My rediscovering God in the garden as I come
home to Mother Earth has strengthened my vocation. I have also discovered the answers to my
questions about life.
I am a
business graduate and have worked in the financial district of the
country. I had been very uncomfortable
with the principles of business which seemed contrary to the values of Christian
life. The principle of “serve, share and sell” struck a chord in my heart. I have been given much and it has been my
desire to give much too without expecting anything in return. As I experience Mother’s Earth generosity and
encounter the God of divine extravagance in nature, I realize that it is our
nature to give, that in fact, the more we give, the more we receive: “good
measure, packed together, shaken down and overflowing” (Luke 6:38). It is
unfortunate, that this is not what is taught in the classroom. In school, I learned more about competition
than compassion.
The new
universe story deepens my sense of worth as I realize how long it took to
prepare the earth for the arrival of the humans. The universe continues to grow. The latest discovery scientists have made is
that there are 300 sextillion stars (300,000,0000,000,000,000,000,000). I never before imagined such a huge
number. It simply is so mind boggling,
so overwhelming, so beyond my capacity to count. But that is precisely what God is, someone so
beyond our knowledge and understanding. Perhaps it is this mysterious quality of creation that instinctively
draws us to God during moments of encounter with nature.
We humans have
looked at Mother Earth primarily in terms of what we can get from her. We have
pillaged her resources and destroyed the balance of nature in the process. Ironically,
in the midst of this human conquest, so many experience boredom and
depression. We do need a new story that
will enable us to find meaning in life and direct our choices. Indeed, the ecological crisis is a spiritual
crisis. We need to rediscover the
reality that we are not the masters of the earth but just one of the members in
the community of life. Coming home in
the shoulder of the Shepherd would mean seeing the web of life as a system of
connections where everything is interrelated, interconnected and
interdependent.
“Our heritage
is also a task.” My deep affinity to Mother Earth finds its
roots in my family history. I come from
a family of farmers although education had alienated me from their closeness to
Mother Earth. I see my having a green
thumb as part of the legacy of my ancestors who worked with the earth. This
gift I now put to good use. I have found
joy from a deep connection with Mother Earth which I renew each day as I touch
the soil and nurture the plants. I now
see “waste” with new eyes knowing these turn into rich soil after
decomposing. I marvel at the
transformations I see in nature and sense the presence of the God who makes the
plant grow and the flowers bloom.
I feel blessed
to be called to the Great Work. With the
rest of humankind who are experiencing this great awakening, I wish to become
part of the undertaking “to carry out the transition from the period of human
devastation of the planet to a period when humans would be present to the
planet in a mutually enhancing manner” (Thomas Berry).
Photos were taken during the Eco-Retreat of Good Shepherd Sisters, apostolic and contemplative, in Villasis, Pangasinan. April 2010