What is the role of sustainability, indigenous knowledge, and religion?

A Thousand Suns tells the story of the Gamo Highlands of the African Rift Valley and the unique worldview held by the people of the region. This isolated area has remained remarkably intact both biologically and culturally. It is one of the most densely populated rural regions of Africa yet its people have been farming sustainably for 10,000 years. Shot in Ethiopia, New York and Kenya, the film explores the modern world's untenable sense of separation from and superiority over nature and how the interconnected worldview of the Gamo people is fundamental in achieving long-term sustainability, both in the region and beyond.

One of the issues that the film raises (and it's not a long film, less than a half hour, so go check it out) is the importance of a holistic worldview. In most, if not all, indigenous cultures, a systemic understanding of the world around them and how they as a species fit into that larger picture is a critical component to their lifestyle. Through a deep connection with nature, these cultures have an ingrained understanding of sustainability - especially in relation to agriculture. One of the challenges is that with the rise of western religion, an emphasis (whether theologically correct or not) has been placed on the distinction between heaven and earth. One side effect from this distinction is that earth and its resources suddenly became viewed as things to be 'used' and set apart from holy - a realm that existed in heaven and the afterlife.

But is this consistent with a christian perspective? I guess it depends what kind of christian you talk to. Personally, I feel that it is largely written into the verses and books of the bible to be responsible stewards of the planet, but it really comes down to one key thing for me. As I wrote in the previous post, I believe there are two key lessons to take away from the bible: love god and love your neighbor.

Being wise stewards of the environment around us is a direct way of showing our love to both god and our neighbors - and this is where sustainability starts to come into the picture.

God is described as the creator of the universe and planet, and that all that we see around us was placed here as a gift to us. As with any gift we receive from a close friend, we tend to treasure it by taking care of it and perhaps displaying it prominently on a shelf in our bedroom. It doesn't matter if it's a standard off-the-shelf picture frame that you could easily replace, you tend to place higher importance on a gift from a loved one simply because of it's designation as a gift, and because you want to show love back to that person who gave it.

At the same time, all of god's creation, and all of our neighbors (both locally and globally) find themselves living on this great gift from God. And as we are all completely dependent on the land we live on, it's imperative that we seek sustainable solutions that responsibly care for our natural resources that so many around the world depend on. Loving our neighbors cannot stop at offering to babysit the neighbor's kids for an evening. It cannot stop at us taking time out of our busy schedules to share a meal with a community member going through a tough personal situation. And it can't even stop at donating money and resources towards humanitarian groups providing food to the hungry.

Loving our neighbors requires so much more - and it's not always the easy choice. Loving our neighbors requires us to deeply and sincerely look at our own lives and see how the actions we take and decisions we make impact those around the world. And it's sometimes difficult, uncomfortable, and messy to analyze those actions and decisions, but if we truly believe in loving our neighbors, then we would be willing to overcome any barrier, regardless how difficult.

Sometimes the hardest part is making the decision to simply start digging just a little bit deeper...