The One Commandment

by Peter Gwillim Kreitler

Perhaps the most important statement of the 20th century did not come from the pen of a theologian, the oratory of a politician, or the prose of a Thoreau, but rather from the team of Lerner and Loewe, known for composing Broadway musicals. In the immortal words of every romantic who ever loved we hear Eliza Doolittle, in My Fair Lady exclaim:

“Words, words, words! I'm so sick of words. I get words all day through, first from him now from you. Don't talk of stars burning above. Don't talk of love, show me!”

This theological principle distills commandments, from all religions, for all time, into a final six, seemingly simple words – Don't talk of love, show me! No lofty complex concept to be pondered, only a clear directive to everyone who believes in a transcendent creator God, to do something on God's behalf – something like saving creation from collapsing.

Or, for Episcopalians in particular: Don't sing and dance in church about how much you love God's creation, get out there and speak truth to the power structures that are destroying the very fabric upon which all life depends.  

Earth Day is more than April 22nd, or a creed, or Eucharistic Prayer C, or few kind words from the pulpit, or planting a tree near the prayer garden – Earth Day is every day, and every day is being compromised by people in positions of power and trust. Environmental business as usual is not restoring and protecting God's garden, our fragile island home into which we have been welcomed as stewards.

If you love God's creation, you will challenge this administration, and any government administration that wantonly seeks to destroy God's creation. We need to speak truth to power directly, and immediately. Frankly, anyone who votes to keep in office this president violates the integrity of creation with that vote.

If you love God's creation, you will challenge this administration, and any government administration that wantonly seeks to destroy God's creation. We need to speak truth to power directly, and immediately. Frankly, anyone who votes to keep in office this president violates the integrity of creation with that vote.

At every level of our government today people are hard at work unraveling all the good efforts of the environmental community. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, when Ed Furia and Dennis Hayes began to hold a mirror to the culture and Senator Gaylord Nelson spearheaded a national awareness of one day dedicated to understanding the earth, millions of men and women have worked hard to support the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the likes of the Endangered Species Act. Now, after less than four years, everything from forests to wetlands is threatened as never before.

When you cut away the rhetoric and hyperbole from places we trust such as the EPA, the Interior Department, and President's Council on Environmental Quality, you have a force, a trinity if you will, destroying God's creation piece by piece.

Speaking truth to power is our tradition as Christian men and woman – that trinity is power and that power is influencing the collapse of God's creation. One person who speaks truth to power with the “facts” is Robert Kennedy. He is a leading voice for the environment and his illuminating and sobering article about what is happening to sound science today can be found on the Earth Talk Today website .

Every segment of God's intricate puzzle woven over billions of years is threatened today by an anthropocentric, self-serving human population with a few folks leading the way.   The church must speak truth to power as did Jesus in his day. His ministry was nothing short of risk-taking – to the ultimate degree of sacrifice upon the cross – for the good of the whole. We, inheritors of this tradition can do no less.

Do we have time to educate the public and our children to the importance of an environmental ethic? The answer is no; even though environmental education should be part of every single Sunday School curriculum and adult formation class. Of utmost urgency is to confront the “men and women in charcoal grey suits with pens in their hands.” Anything less is an admission of hopelessness.

Several years ago I gave an environmental talk in San Clemente, Calif., to a group of concerned Episcopalians. At the end, one “Generation X” young man announced with great pride that he had just purchased 600 acres of Costa Rican rainforest to preserve it in perpetuity. Everyone applauded. Tactfully, and without trying to burst his bubble because what he had done was very admirable, I said: Let us look at the concept of scale to see what we who care about creation are up against.

“Last week,” I intoned, “the government of Western Canada signed an agreement with Mitsubishi and Chugoku companies for them to be able to log 46,000 square miles of old growth forest to make up to 9 million pairs of disposable chopsticks a day.” The air in the room escaped with a notable hiss.

That is the modern story of David vs. Goliath on the fabric of creation. It is all about scale. Are we, people of a community of faith called to avodah and shomer creation, that is, to keep and serve the gift of the garden? Yes, we are, and we are called to risk as never before. God is calling all of us to address the power brokers – the multinational corporations and the government leaders – who are step-by-step liquidating God's assets entrusted to us. To not intentionally challenge them means we will be the generation known for being complicit in the collapse of God's creation. Logging our national forests at taxpayers' expense is a sin against God and God's whole family. Allowing the contamination of the breath of God, the ruach elohim , is an admission that man knows more than God about creation. Despoiling the waters of the world is tantamount to packing up our tent and moving to another planet – hope is gone for tomorrow's children if the land, sea, and air are compromised any further.

Some may say “it's the economy, stupid,” others may retort with a more accurate mantra, “it's the environment, stupid,” and those of us in communities of faith must find the courage within to speak truth to power, in all sectors beginning with the political arena, as did Jesus a few millennia ago.

Some may say “it's the economy, stupid,” others may retort with a more accurate mantra, “it's the environment, stupid,” and those of us in communities of faith must find the courage within to speak truth to power, in all sectors beginning with the political arena, as did Jesus a few millennia ago. Environmental conferences, committees and conventions are not getting the job done, and I dare say Jesus never attended any of the above, but with the Holy Spirit infusing him with a sense of purpose, He challenged the entrenched power basis with what? – Don't talk of love, show me – show me!

If God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, can we do anything less than to give our love in deed to preserving God's creation?

The only theological principle for this millennium is the preservation of the Garden of Eden, the metaphor for the whole of the Earth, for today's and tomorrow's children. If the waters are impure what good is baptism?   If the air is unclean how can the ruach elohim , the breath of God, empower us? If the land is contaminated and eroding how can we sustain life? If the seas are being depleted and compromised where will much of the world gain its protein? If the bees are gone who will pollinate? If the species disappear who will keep the eco-systems in balance?

OK, if you can answer these questions, I will keep quiet. Until the human family addresses these challenges, we will continue to compromise not our creation, but God's wonderful bounty entrusted to us. All of creation withers as the apathy of the entrenched power base loses sight of whose creation this is.  

I am a sojourner, here for awhile and gone. While I am here the Ten Commandments must be distilled to one commandment – preserve and protect the garden by action called love. All else is immaterial if the fabric unravels and hope is lost.

I love God so much that every action I take and every decision I make must be measured against conserving, protecting, and restoring this marvelous gift for all generations to come. Earth Day is God's day, day by day by day, and if it is not a part of our life every day we are not being the stewards we are called to be.

The Rev. Peter Gwillim Kreitler is the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles' minister for the environment, and is also a cultural historian, television talk show host, author, and businessman. His most recent book is United We Stand: Flying the American Flag , and he keeps a daily online journal at www.earthtalktoday.tv . Peter may be reached by email at pkreitler@aol.com .