Jonah at Nineveh by Gustave Doré 1866
In the third chapter of the book of Jonah in the Bible we read about God sending the prophet Jonah to the city of Nineveh to warn the people there that unless they change the way they live they are headed for disaster. The people listen to Jonah. They proclaim a fast and everyone puts on sackcloth which in ancient Israel was a sign you were in deep mourning and filled with grief.
There's a scene in Josiah Neufeld's book The Temple at the End of the Universe where the author is alone in the Sonoran desert on a spiritual quest. After several days of fasting, he carries out a ritual of lament for what humans have done to the earth. He places a lit candle in a drinking glass and begins to create a pile of stones around it.
As he puts each stone in its place he names an ecological disaster like the endangerment of bird species, the destruction of old-growth forests, islands lost to the rising seas and the thousands who have become climate refugees because of drought and subsequent famine. Josiah begins to cry as he contemplates the many ways God's creation has been harmed.
Josiah's experience reminded me of the people of Nineveh covering themselves in sackcloth as they lamented their wrongdoing.
Just as the people of Nineveh hoped God would intervene to save them, Josiah thinks the actions of people of faith can unleash a similar kind of power. He reminds readers of the words of Saint Teresa of Avila "God has no hands but our hands."
If people of all faiths and countries work together we can protect the earth and build new relationships with creation. Together we can find ways to grow food more sustainably, save forests and rewild rivers.
Josiah says our faithful actions can inspire new sacred stories that may forge a major ecological shift.
Note: This piece first appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of the publication Rejoice
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