Praying for the Earth

by Monk Gerasimos of the Community of Little St. Anne on Mount Athos

God is blessed because He is Love. When we live love we broaden our existence; it becomes something without end. “For love never ends” (I Cor. 13.8). There can never be too much love; there is no over-saturation of love nor a turning away from love. He who loves, gathers all things together under the shelter of that love. If a sinner, or self-centered person can feel even a limited love, then surely he is also able to comprehend how much greater that happiness would be if he broadened that love which brought him so much joy.

God, being the very essence of love, could not as an entity, possibly be single-faceted because love is a feeling directed to another entity of identical essence. Literally, it is a feeling expressed only between persons. Thus, the very nature of God as love unavoidably leads to the begetting of the Son, by the Father, before all ages, and also the emanation of the Holy Spirit. These are personal hypostases able to love the Father and one another, and be loved by the Father.

Love turned inward to one’s self, without loving another is to be sure, not love, and does not in such an instance therefore, give the true, precise meaning of the word. The love of God the Father, and the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity with Him, could not be limited to the limitless bounds of love between them. In this particular instance this does not mean that He would be a God dependent on others (for this would be blasphemy against God who in the fullness of His blessedness is self-sufficient).

Expressed in terms of human understanding, the meaning is that the overflowing of His love could not possibly take on a form of existence unless directed toward something capable of accepting this overflowing of His love. The quintessence of this overflowing love of God, capable of giving and receiving love, was the boundlessly abundant, personal, spiritual and body-spirit creation of angels and people, and the infinite creation of the whole universe to serve them.

The angels, spiritual beings composed of a spiritual essence different from that of God, are in a more immediate relationship with Him. Their exultation is expressed through the wondrous and incomprehensible majesty of their life, in that they are loved by the Triune God. In turn, they love Him by their unending glorification of Him and their immediate conformance to His will.

God’s Love for the World

Somewhat lower than angels, people were created by God in His image and likeness and were crowned by God with glory and honor. As such, they are capable of both receiving and returning His love, resulting in their true happiness. Indeed, the breadth of God’s love for us is manifested in terms of the limitless number of persons we are able to love and in turn be loved. People experience a taste of this love (the breadth of God’s love) when, irrespective of their religious credo, they realize the joy of loving and being loved by many.

God’s love for humanity is unsurpassed and cannot be equally reciprocated, since humanity turned its face from Him and from His love, whereas God continues to love us. This aforementioned love is even more unrivalled because God expressed the infinite richness of His love by the creation of a material world of incomprehensible beauty, variety and expanse. This was done for the sake of man who is comprised both of matter and spirit. When one considers all that is offered to man for his enjoyment in sight, sound, taste, smell and touch, it is more than enough so as to put us in awe before the benevolence of God.

The first-to-be-created human being was placed by God in a beautiful garden on planet Earth. But then again, the whole of Earth was adorned by so many such splendid things that the psalmist, citing but a few, concludes in total wonder, “How great are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all.” (Ps. 103 [104]). Even more so, it is to be found in the infinite richness of the visible microcosm, discovered through the aid of scientific instruments. And also, in the grandeur of the indescribable celestial universe whose dimensions we measure in millions of light years.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates one’s brother… that person cannot love God. (I Jn 4.20) Anyone however who loves one’s neighbor and God, becomes resplendent because of this love: ” …for all creation, for people, and birds, and animals, and demons, and for every creature … and one cannot bear or hear, or behold any harm whatever or any minor affliction occurring in nature. For this reason, this person offers a tearful prayer in every hour of every day for the animals (irrational beings), for the enemies of truth, and for those who would harm him, that they may be protected and receive expiation; and out of the great, immeasurable mercy, motivating the heart in imitation of God, prays as well for the reptilian species” (Abba Isaac, Ascetic Treatise 81).

If these feelings toward the whole of creation are nurtured by a monk who has abandoned the world and its cares, then what should a person who lives in the world feel as a sense of duty to Creation? Obviously, one’s first sentiment should be to give thanks and glorify God who granted us the whole of Creation for our use and enjoyment. This is especially so for that which is more proximate and which we call the environment. St. Paul gives us this charge when he writes: “Pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thess. 5.17-18).

In fulfillment of this charge, the Holy Great Mother Church of Christ has designated the first day of September as a world day of prayer for the environment. That is to say, for the creation granted by God to humankind, which instead of being protected, as commanded by God (Gen. 2.15), is often abused.