“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. But the earth was chaos and confusion. Darkness was upon the face of the primordial depths. The spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.” The Bible translation by Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig begins with how we might imagine a desert wasteland to be—something is not yet in order; wildness still rages untamed. One of humanity’s tasks is to lead nature into cooperation with us humans. Every culture, in its beginnings, is this act of taming. Things get difficult when love and reverence are lost in the process of taming. Then the domestication of exploitation begins, leading to another kind of chaos and confusion. This applies to the sphere of interpersonal relationships, too.
So what does sustainability mean today? What experiences do we need in order to live sustainably? Appreciation. Shared responsibility. A culture that creates spaces where things can grow together again, where things can be healed. The experience of connectedness, of “I am Thou.” Our future can only ever be the future of the whole. We begin to tame it when we love.
Translation Laura Liska
Image Sekem, Egypt. Courtesy photo
