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Meditations on Creation in an Era of Extinction (Ecology & Justice Series)

Meditations on Creation in an Era of Extinction (Ecology & Justice Series)

Kate Rigby

$36.00 USD
$36.00 USD
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978-1-62698-550-6

                 


★Advance Praise and Reviews★

     *Catholic Media Award Winner - Faith and Science*

“This is a powerful, insightful, and hopeful (if realistic) book. A single reading will inform the reader of critical issues facing humanity as occupants of the earth. Subsequent engagement, slowed to the pace of deep deliberation, will enrich the mind and spirt of the reader through recognition of the bounty of God’s creation, the inseparability of man from creation, and importance of recognizing and honoring that connection and the responsibilities of stewardship.”– Neil Fulton, Catholic Book Review

 

"Kate Rigby’s book is a stunning contribution to our understanding of extinction and its myriad challenges. It is a brilliant weaving of Christian theology, personal reflection, and environmental action. One of the most engaging books I have read in some time – destined to become a classic.” – Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-director, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology

 

"Kate Rigby’s book, ‘Meditations on Creation in an Era of Extinction’ explores the evolution of humanity's environmental impact on creation and the colonial lens and cultural biases destroying our world. The ecological crisis in Australia and around the globe is of critical concern to the First Nations people. We consider ourselves the original conservationists and our culture, law, ceremonies, and relationship with the Spirit Creator are founded on our connection and relationship with our Country. First Nations people have protested against mining, pastoral destruction, and farming erosion on our lands for centuries and our protest has fallen on deaf ears. The Western empire in its pursuit of power and wealth stole lands, committed genocide, raped, and committed all manner of atrocities and in so doing separated themselves from the Spirit Creator and creation. Land has lost its spiritual and relational value and has been replaced as an economic commodity. History clearly records the growth of empires and the destruction of land, waterways, and seas. Empire’s greed has disconnected them from the Spiritual life force of ‘Mother Earth’. I highly recommend this book as it highlights the First Nations people's relationship to land, gives rise to their voices, and provides a soul-filling and life-giving perspective." – Professor Anne Pattel-Gray, Professor of Indigenous Studies and Head, School of Indigenous Studies, University of Divinity, Naarm (Melbourne)

“In this brilliantly creative and lucid book, Rigby takes the ancient concept of the Hexameron found in early Church literature, and then brings it to life in dialogue with reflections on current eco-social issues. As the title suggests, the author is not content with simple description, but, by entering the text through personal meditation, touches the hearts of readers while also engaging the intellect in careful dialogue with scholarly works in ancient literature, contemporary sciences, ecotheology, and indigenous traditions. Rigby does not turn away from prophetic witness when considering the darker aspects of our earthly condition, and, step by step, walks the reader through scholarly material that is both profound and richly provocative. Woven into this narrative are moving stories arising from interviews of the author with those who have committed themselves to care for other creatures. There is a mystic quality to this book that is both ancient and deeply moving, since it draws its sources from contemplative practices, leading to a deep reflection on the demise of creatures that are being lost in our own lifetimes. This is a beautifully written and novel book that deserves wide readership.” —Celia Deane-Drummond, director, Laudato Si’ Research Institute and senior research fellow, Campion Hall, University of Oxford

"We live in a time when the sacred body of the earth is marred by a multitude of extinctions. And each extinction is decreation. In a deeply lyrical and personal manner, Kate Rigby leads us on a spiritual meditation along the creaturely paths of conservation, loss, and hope. Voices and faces of animals, fragile humans, and hidden divinities intertwine in this spiritual hymn to the ecologies of the sacred, producing one of the most surprising and intimate works of contemporary environmentalism." —Serenella Iovino, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

 

Practicing an ancient form of theological reflection on creation—the hexameron—this book attends to the entangled crises of global climate change, toxic pollution, biodiversity loss, social inequity, and ecological unraveling. Rigby takes each day of the Genesis 1 creation narrative as the launching point for critical theological engagement with earlier commentators like Basil of Caesarea, Augustine, Abelard, and Thomas Traherne, in the contemporary horizon of planetary imperilment and ecological injustice. Informed also by both Western science and indigenous knowledge, this book highlights faith-based initiatives from around the world that are contributing to the healing of human relations with our fellow creatures and shared earthly environs. By attending to planetary well-being and eco-justice, Rigby’s unique and striking approach to the hexameron captures both the industrial-era devastation of our common home and the precious hope for salvific healing in Shalom.

Kate Rigby is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Environmental Humanities, University of Cologne, where she directs the research hub Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies in the Humanities (MESH). Her interdisciplinary research interests include environmental literary and cultural studies, environmental philosophy, and religion and ecology.

 

 

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