Spiritual Ecologies

This summer I have been privileged to visit and experience two distinctly different (some would say “opposite”) ecologies almost back to back in time. First, Jackie and I were in the Davis Mountains of West Texas—the wild desert beauty of that stunning landscape. And then we were for a week on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu where I experienced the “tropical paradise” of that lush land. Both are beautiful, both are unique, both have flora and fauna exquisitely adapted to the particularities of the local geography. One can, of course, compare and contrast each, but it would be a mistake to use the yardstick of one ecology to measure the “truth” of the other. Each has to be seen in its own right, its own fullness, its own amazing interdependent complexity.

The Davis Mountains are a rugged volcanic landscape filled with amazing cactus flowers and even ferns (yes, back in the valleys). Hawaii was another rugged volcanic landscape filled with ferns and flowers of an entirely different order unknown in West Texas. The whole system in each locale “worked” to the advantage of the entire ecological systems—and so it is spiritually.

We live, we grow up in, we benefit from a “spiritual ecology” adapted to a unique time and place in the history of humanity. Most who are reading this grew up within the spiritual ecology of the Christian tradition (with its many Islands of uniqueness, like Hawaii)… but reflecting a particular adaptation to the overall Life of the Spirit as it is expressed on this human planet. But there are other ecologies that seem exotic and “odd” to us… and yet which are perfectly normal and adapted to the particularities of a people, time, place, and history from which they benefit and which they serve.

If one ecology is not overly disturbed, if new invasive species are not set lose to over-run the delicate balances, then that ecology stays strong and healthy. But if there are too many “tourists” (experience junkies), who flock to view the exotic sights and sounds, unaware of the balances and delicacies, then what happens is a degradation of the whole system… something else emerges that begins to look like a hybrid that is neither one thing nor the other. Sometimes that new hybrid can adapt and become useful, but often it either overwhelms the whole, or unbalances the parts.

We each live in delicate spiritual ecologies. We can “visit” other realms and benefit from those visitations, finding delicious new aspects that will compliment our own understanding. But when we return to our own “land,” we can then see through new eyes into the beauties and balances into which we are inextricably interwoven.