A Pentecost Reflection by Elizabeth Johnson

We should no longer think of God as having a set plan for the evolving universe, rather a vision. This vision aims at bringing about a community of love. The Creator Spirit is at the heart of the process, guiding and luring the world in that direction.

. . . Yet the on-going destruction of the earth through human acts is a deeply sinful desecration. We counter this destruction by the care, protection, and restoration of nature, even if this goes counter to powerful economic and political interests . . . and it does.

If nature is the new poor then our passion to establish justice for the poor and oppressed now must extend to include suffering humans and all life systems and other species under threat. "Save the rainforest" becomes a concrete moral application of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill."

Instead of living as thoughtless or greedy exploiters, we are called to live as sisters and brothers, co-creators, and children of this Earth which God so loves. . . . "The love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." And this love is universal, planetary, cosmic, and unceasing.

– Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ
Excerpted from Quest for the Living God
Bloomsbury Academic (Reprint edition, July 2011)

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Tongues and Souls on Fire
• The Spirit and the Faithful
• The Holy Spirit as Inclusive Community
• Gospel Leadership
• Pentecost
• A Prayer for Pentecost
• Strange Tongues

Recommended Off-site Link:
Pentecost: Divine Polyculture vs. Imperial Monoculture – Ched Myers (Radical Discipleship, May 21, 2015).

Image: Michael J. Bayly.