March 14

March 14

In Sikhism, today is Sikh Environment Day, and is associated with Guru Har Rai, the seventh guru, who was known for his knowledge and stewardship of nature and medicinal plants.

Today also marks the death, in 1977, of Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights and women’s rights leader in Mississippi. Her deep faith, hymnody, bravery and perseverance have inspired generations of activists and organizers. 

Reflection: 

Fannie Lou Hamer said, 

And

Fannie Lou Hamer’s most famous quote is probably, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” She was a freedom worker not from the intellectual or academic elites, but from the grassroots of rural Mississippi. Her wisdom and philosophy was formed in the Black church tradition and from generations of survivors.

I’m also mindful of this being Sikh Environment Day, and chastened that Christians don’t really have a similar tradition. There is a deep tradition of Christian reverence for the more-than-human world, from people like Saint Francis and Hildegard of Bingen, but the absence of a holiday honoring plant knowledge or stewardship of Creation is something I’ve thought about for years. Sure, individual churches may do a series of sermons on “Creation Care,” but modern theology seems to consider it an extraneous part of our theology, rather than essential. As Richard Rohr says, “the first Bible is the Bible of nature.”

Prayer: Creator God, we are all sick and tired of being sick and tired. Give us tenacity and insight that are more than equal to weariness, so that all Creation can be set free. Amen.