The Ants Who Went Underground

By Rex. B. Reyes

Yesterday, I observed millions of ants trooping down a mahogany tree. The constant movement of the tree may have made them decide it was not a good place to stay. On it, they were too vulnerable to the elements. My attempts to derail them merely delayed their march but did not prevent them from re-grouping and proceeding. At some point, they rested. Eventually, they disappeared under the carefully arranged stones where boy scouts have lit their campfires. There, they will neither be threatened nor pestered by meddlesome people like me.

In this reflection, I simply want to invite the reader to recall certain Christian principles or concepts.

"And God saw that it was good"

Let us journey back to the Old Testament to that fantastic story of creation. We are told the world was void and without form. Then the Creator went to work, preparing the environment for what would be the greatest work of art -- the universe. One after the other, the Creator started filling up his creation, first with plants yielding seeds and trees bearing fruit (Genesis 1.12) and then the inhabitants of the seas and the winged creatures (Gen. 21). The Creator went further and placed animals upon the earth and other creeping things (Gen. 25). Finally, the Creator put human beings, the last and made in the image of the Creator.

From the beginning it was "good." Yet in what sense was it good?

Whether plant, animal or human being, each is a producer and consumer at the same time, each need the other. This symbiotic relationship is essential in preserving that balance, hence we talk about the balance of nature. A third element of that orderliness is that all those created elements are dependent on the one who created them all.

First, there was order. The Creator had a plan - the environment first thereby ensuring a habitation for what would follow. Food for the living creatures followed. Then the big-time consumers -- the flying, swimming, walking, crawling and creeping creatures. Human beings were the last, mainly because creation was eventually meant for them. But this orderliness is not to be seen only in terms of sequence. It is also to be appreciated in the apparent interrelatedness and interdependence of all that was created. Whether plant, animal or human being, each is a producer and consumer at the same time, each need the other. This symbiotic relationship is essential in preserving that balance, hence we talk about the balance of nature. A third element of that orderliness is that all those created elements are dependent on the one who created them all.

Second, each creation is a reflection of the Creator. The life and substance of each created thing is a description of the character of its creator, like any work of art manifests the personality of the artist. While each has a life of its own, each is also related to the other especially in the recreation and sustenance of that life. Being so, the life of that created thing is sacred because it required effort on the creator.

Among all creation, human beings were created in God's image. Whether the act of creation is magical, like it is presented to us in the Bible, we know that in many cases, the process could be bloody. Just consider the birthing process. The habitat of all these created order, by virtue of having been created by the same Creator is likewise sacred. Thus, indigenous people would say, we live in a spirit-filled world and life is a balance of the maintenance of harmony not only between the spirit, the mind and the body, but also of the so-called natural order of things. Un-wellness is a result of that imbalance.

What affirmations can we recall as we consider these issues? I suggest the following:

1. God is the ground, the foundation and the base of life. God is the ultimate creator and disposer of that creation.
2. If we live in a spirit-filled world, we ultimately die a physical death and the spirit lives on. "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." The process of dying is part of that balancing act, thus part of the natural process. It becomes unnatural when death is caused deliberately. In any case, death becomes that final act of passing on the present to the next generation. If this is the case, then there is truth to the saying that we have merely borrowed the present from the future. It is not ours to possess. It is ours to use but nurture in preparation for the next.
3. In practical life, we are then called to be faithful in taking care of what we borrowed. That includes everything in this universe. If this is the case, then the earth cannot be left in the hands of some greedy, power-obsessed businesspeople. Nor even politicians.

Greed, power and control by those created in the image of the Creator are causes of

the unnaturalness in this earth. All through the Old Testament, we not only read of the Tower of Babel but also of the stories of conquests by kings and even of God's own violence. What does one say of the philandering ways of those leaders? What does one say of those marching orders to kill and destroy everything, including children? This could be the subject of another reflection later. What is significant for me now is the fact that greed, power and the obsession for control violate the so-called integrity of creation because it subverts the will of the Creator. Those who aspire for greed, power and control aspire to play god, and that is idolatry.

This greed for the world's elements and obsession for control of both human beings and resources are expressed today in globalization. It is an insidious effort to put the rest of the world under the control of one country in the guise of a so-called global community or democracy under that one powerful country's terms.

This greed for the world's elements and obsession for control of both human beings and resources are expressed today in globalization. It is an insidious effort to put the rest of the world under the control of one country in the guise of a so-called global community or democracy under that one powerful country's terms. I would like to suggest that ecumenism is a form of response for globalization.

Globalization and ecumenism both speak of one world. But, that is where the similarity or convergence ends. Where globalization speaks of one single global economy, ecumenism speaks of an undivided church of a whole faith (Matthew 24.14). Ecumenism is not just about Christian unity, but is a process that is oriented towards the eventual salvation of the world. Where globalization speaks of the subjection of all nations to the most superior worldly force, thus of a superpower, ecumenism speaks of the subjection of all things to the one who created them all. Where globalization speaks of control, of slavery and of exploitation, ecumenism is directed at the proper stewardship, caring, nurture and conversion of the universe to the will of its maker. Where globalization speaks of human happiness in terms of personal bank accounts, malls, private ownership and material things, ecumenism speaks of community and of being in community. Where globalization is directed at the worship of mammon, ecumenism is directed at the true worship of God. Where globalization spells death and destruction, ecumenism spells life.

A final word about the ants. They could have chosen to remain on top of the mahogany tree. But they chose to come down to the ground. In fact, they went further. They trooped underground.

Ed. Note: This essay is based on a paper presented at a Basic Ecology Course for the National Council of Churches of the Philippines held at Mount Makiling in June 2003.

The Rev. Rex R.B. Reyes, Jr., is general secretary for the National Council of Churches of the Philippines. He is an Episcopal priest and a long-time advocate for social, economic, and environmental justice in the Philippines.