I love to think of nature as unlimited broadcasting stations, through which God speaks to us every day, every hour…. How do I talk to a little flower? Through it I talk to the Infinite. And what is the Infinite? It is that silent, small voice … that still, small voice.
—George Washington Carver, The Man Who Talks with the Flowers
Black farmer and author Leah Penniman celebrates the faith of agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864–1943):
Dr. George Washington Carver was a devout Christian and had a practice of waking before dawn to go pray in the forest. He believed that nature was God’s broadcasting system and credited his conversations with plants as informing his numerous scientific breakthroughs and patents. He explained, “Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.”
In conversation with Penniman, Chris Bolden-Newsome, co-founder of Sankofa Community Farm in Pennsylvania, shares:
I am a practitioner of in-cultured African (American) Catholic Christianity…. So much of Catholic Christianity has its origins within an earth-based African context that existed way before its settling and redefinition in central Europe. The Catholic Church as a whole is catching up to its origins. Starting in 1971, with Pope Paul VI, the church has expressed ecological concern, which was amplified to an urgent appeal by 2015, with Pope Francis writing:
If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled. [1]
At its core, Catholicism—and this reflects the African Spiritual ethos in general, I think—is a practice of deep reverence for the intertwining of matter and spirit, and regard for the indispensable role of ancestors, be they blood ancestors, canonized saints, or cultural ancestors like Baba George Carver. At the center of this belief is our understanding that God chooses to connect with creation in Yeshua (Jesus). This essential unity of spirit and matter means that I can’t do anything earthly that does not have a spiritual ramification, and vice versa. I show the same respect for the spider and the snake as I do for people. They are valued friends….
When I see a snake in my garden, I feel so blessed, so I greet them in one of their ancient names and thank them. All creatures bring us God’s wisdom—they are agents and living sacramentals of the guardian spirits of the land.
References:
[1] Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Read here for the full text of this encyclical.
Leah Penniman, Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists (Amistad, 2023), 23–25.
Image credit and inspiration: Siska Vrijburg, untitled (detail), 2017, photo, Netherlands. Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. We gaze lovingly upon the trees, the light, the deer—appreciating them, then taking steps to protect them.
Story from Our Community:
The meditation on the sacredness of water (and everything else) resonated with me. Water holds a significant place in my creative world. My work centers around brokenness in beauty and the need to be more respectful. We can create heaven on Earth. We just need to open our eyes.
—Karen B.
