The community of nature

[Luna Arjuna]

The community of nature.

Columbanus wrote, If you wish to understand the Creator, then first understand his creation'

In other words, the way to understand the mind of an artist is through his picture, a potter through her pottery, an author through her writing, and so on. The Celtic missionaries saw God as the master craftsman who sculpted the mountains, painted the sunset, engineered the storm, stirred the sea. They did not pretend to understand scientifically, but intuitively and emortionally knew that nature belongs to God.

Today with horror we use phrases like ozone layer, greehouse gases, genetic breeding, factory farming, deforestation. Scientifically we have begun to understand the oneness of nature, that to abuse one area will affect a whole chain of events, and we are learning that we cannot behave as though nature is ours to pillage. The Celtic missionaries went with the flow of nature, working with the cycle of the days and nights, the seasons, the tides and the weather. They respected the Druids' sacred groves, refused to fell trees unnecessarily, and revered sacred wells.

Then there was an understanding that the Genesis story of Creation when humanity is told to have dominion over the earth, that authority was to be exercised in the same way as Jesus exercises his dominion (lordship) over the church - in selfless service and sacrifice, giving himself for the sake of the church (mankind).

Text taken from The Celtic Resource Book by

~ Martin Wallace