The key to addressing sustainability, he suggests is a return to the roots of of our moral theology.
Virtue: Justice, temperance, fortitude, and prudence exercised in harmony. Cultivating these and collaborating with others who seek them is the goal. The church’s distinctive touch are the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love.
Furthermore, he points to the Transition Towns initiative as a way forward, with which I heartily agree. The Transition Towns concept is not about legislation or top-down change but local networks doing what they can to spread awareness and changes. The governments, the systems, are not going to save us.
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I’m terribly impressed! He covers a lot of ground. I thought it might be handy to have a more concise summation for those who are impatient and I checked the link to Ekklesia at the bottom–they did not mention the virtues even once!
I think that–to an extent–consumerism has simply very naturally filled the void left by the general collapse of community and the full spiritual/liturgical/sacramental life. So, for most people, Christmas is one hour of church; there is not much made of Advent, there is no I and II Vespers, no long Matins before Mass and Lauds afterwards. Surely the rest of the day must be filled up? But how? Ah, well, thank goodness that we have Amazon and Best Buy. Now I can sit there and open boxes, and derive a little more, in all honesty, joy. This is a vastly over-simplified example, of course, but perhaps you understand what I am trying to say?
My Lord of Worth is quite right, but he must provide an alternative for those Nike enthusiasts that he refers to.
Very true, Paul. It’s an issue of where we find meaning, and the churches in a post-Constantinian age, I fear, have fallen down on the job…
As we both know, restoring the rota of liturgies won’t bring it all back, either—that’s not to say that it might not be a place to start, though.
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