Institute of Marine Research, June 24, 2003

When the scribes and Pharisees once asked our Lord for a heavenly sign, He warned them by way of response, stating:

“This generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matthew 12.38-39)

It would be wise for us, therefore, in our genuine search for a sign in regard to the role that the Churches have to play in the environmental crisis that we face, to heed these words of Christ. They contain the seed of our contribution toward a solution, without which we would only continue to be a part of the problem. Christ refers to a sign, to the power of prophecy, and to the person of Jonah.

There is a profound iconographic depiction of this seed in an eighteenth-century icon at the Monastery of Toplou in Crete. The iconographer of this sacred image is Ioannis Kornaros. It is truly a theological statement in color. The icon assumes its title from a prayer found in the Great Blessing of the Waters chanted during the Feast of Epiphany on January 6th each year, and also repeated during the Baptism of every Orthodox Christian:

“Great are You, O Lord, and wondrous are Your works; no words suffice as a hymn to praise Your wonders!”

At the far left of this image, created nature is portrayed as a woman, reflecting the concept of “mother earth” that indigenous peoples throughout the world – be it the Indians of North America or the Aborigines of Australia – have respected and retained for centuries. Nature holds her arms open in a gesture of receptiveness and embrace of all people and all things.

The icon also reveals the reality of urban life (with the scene of two cities, that of Samaria and that of Niniveh, in the background) as well as of agricultural life (with farmers tilling the soil on the mountain slopes). There are rivers and there is vegetation. Human beings are shown beside a number of animals of a wide diversity, while a vast rainbow extending over much of the icon itself reflects the eternal covenant between the Creator and His creation.

While this icon is abundantly rich in symbolism, sacredness and significance, there are two scenes that are of particular value for our discussion of fisheries in the North Sea. The first of these scenes depicts Jonah being cast out of the mouth of a large beast of the sea, in accordance with the Biblical story. This is of course a powerful and profound image of the resurrection of life and the renewal of all things by the Risen Lord, who desires the salvation of all people and the life of the whole world. As it is well-known, one of the early symbolisms of Christ, through which Christians recognized and greeted one another, was the sign of the fish. In Greek, fish is denoted by the word ichthys, a term whose initials spell out the phrase:

“Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.”

The fish, then, is a soteriological statement of faith. Christ has been intimately and integrally identified with the fish of the sea. Therefore, any misuse or abuse of fishing and fisheries relates in a personal and profound way to Christ Himself. It leaves a scar on the very Body of Christ Himself. The image of the fish has from the earliest of Christian times also been appreciated and accepted as a prophetic sign of salvation and resurrection. The Church, then, is called to protect the fisheries of the world and to speak with clear voice and prophetic criticism against any kind of over-fishing and every form of pollution of the world’s fisheries. The way we treat our fish in the waters ultimately reflects the way that we worship our God in the heavens. Fishery and liturgy are closely connected and inseparably interrelated.

The second scene depicts the slaying of Abel by Cain. This is a violent and cruel representation of the negative and destructive impact that our current practices and policies bear upon future generations. We can no longer remain passive observers – or, still worse, active contributors – to the merciless violation and destruction of the natural environment and its resources, as well as to the unnecessary and unbearable extinction of the numerous and diverse species of flora and fauna.

Until we can perceive in the over-fishing of our seas the very portrait of our brother and sister, we cannot hope to resolve the inequalities of our world. Indeed, until we can discern in the pollution of our fisheries the very face of our own children, then we shall not be able to comprehend the immense and lasting consequences of our attitudes and actions. We must place limits on our insatiable desires that are so obviously encouraged by the prevailing philosophy of the consumer society that we have learned to take for granted.

The consumption of the resources of our seas is more than a matter of dietary or culinary delicacy. It is a matter of social justice and delicate behavior toward our neighbor. The riches of the North Sea – its fisheries and sea farming – are not a matter of commercial or financial development. They are a spiritual problem that affects the very survival of our children and of our planet. We cannot even imagine a future for our planet without some form of sustainable – or, more correctly, restrained – development.

Finally, the very notion of icons introduces yet another aspect of our relationship toward the material creation and the natural environment. We all know that this world was created “good,” indeed “very good” by a loving Creator, who has permitted and even commanded us “to serve and to preserve” (Genesis 2.15) the resources of our planet. Yet, we are called to do more than simply preserve nature or conserve the world. It is inappropriate for us either to control or manage God’s creation in a utilitarian way or even to conserve the natural environment in a passive way. Nature is not an object for our use or abuse.

Human beings are endowed with the distinctive gift of freedom. It is the freedom to create a new environment. It is the possibility to assume this ephemeral world and to render it eternal by referring it back to its source and creator, namely to God. Human beings are, therefore, called to transform nature into culture.

This is precisely what happens in the event of the icon, which takes the material resources of wood and egg and paint, finally transfiguring these through prayer into a sacramental encounter and experience of the living God. In this way, humanity embraces nature and does not simply manage it. In this way, the whole world assumes the proportions of a cosmic liturgy, where each of us individually – and at the same time, all of us communally – celebrate the gift of life that sustains the whole world.

Finally, this communal or liturgical dimension underlines the critical ecumenical imperative of our contemporary ecological endeavors. If we are – as individuals or as Churches – to behold the sign of Jonah, humility is a necessary prerequisite and condition. Ministers, politicians, scientists, media, and every member of public and civil life are required to look to and work with each other for answers. Together, we can hope and pray for the healing of the world. Alone, we can only wound and worsen the situation. No individual person, no single society, and no isolated church or religion can hope to resolve or reconcile the crisis that we are facing without cooperating with all others, with all other professions, and with all other disciplines.