What’s Love Got to Do with It? (Kelly Wellman)
What’s Love Got to Do with It?
By Kelly Wellman
As a geographer, I look at the nuances and patterns of how humans interact with their physical world. I am one of those fortunate people whose day job leading sustainability initiatives in higher education perfectly aligns with my love for the natural world and puts my stewardship into action.
In the age of the Anthropocene, our current geologic time, where human activity has dominated the climate and the environment, it is abundantly clear that we are intimately connected to one another. On a planet that provides everything we need to thrive – air, water, and food – it is a gift to be accountable to the planet and all its inhabitants. To recognize that we are not above nature, rather, we are an essential partner in the physical and spiritual web of life.
Whether it is oceans, lakes, rivers, mountains, piney woods, or estuaries, I have always been inexplicably drawn to the outdoors. There is something about nature that soothes me in a way little else can. The wonder of being outside quiets my racing thoughts (there are so many!) and reminds me that I am a small part of something infinitely wonderful. For this reason, I have always experienced the natural world as being sacred and divinely inspired. It is the anchor for my spirituality.
As an LGBTQ person, that nature-bound spirituality comforted me while my personal journey led me away from an organized religion that would find my identity too imperfect and unfit for participation. When the Christian Church could not provide, I always knew that Creation and the Creator would. For me, stewardship of our environment, and all the creatures within it, has always been a bedrock principle that drives me.
In the early 2000s I was preparing to become a mother. The desire to find a faith community where my children would learn Christian values with a strong appreciation for Creation care became too powerful to ignore. I began visiting local churches in hopes of finding a church home. During this time, I found myself enjoying lunch with a dear friend and co-worker when we stumbled onto the topic of dominionism. My friend was a very active and dedicated member of their church, so this was a great chance for me to learn what to expect from their faith community. Surprisingly, I found myself stunned to silence when, as a simple matter of fact, my friend summed up dominionism as having the ability to shoot a dog at their pleasure. For my friend, that was what it meant to be granted dominion over every living thing that moves over the earth. I was perplexed that someone I knew so well – or at least thought I did – wholeheartedly believed this interpretation of scripture, and I was even more perplexed that this theological teaching existed.
Even if I subscribed to the idea that I could take the life of another creature at will, would this please God? The message on display was that humans are apart from nature, rather than a part of it. Furthermore, this theology presented humans as superior to nature.
Christianity calls for us to protect, shepherd, “and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28). One danger with seeing humans as superior to nature is that we center ourselves when making decisions that affect the natural world rather than consider the harm being done to entire ecosystems.
The environmental movement has historically been associated with tree-hugging hippies hoping to save the polar bears. Although the plight of the polar bear is a cautionary tale for what to expect for our own species if we continue our abuse of the natural world, environmentalists have learned that it is challenging for people to care about things that are so far removed from their daily life. In a sobering twist of fate, when we elevate ourselves over nature and devalue creation, we commit unimaginable harm to ourselves. More concerning is that this mentality is a short hop to devaluing our neighbors.
In recent years environmentalists have awakened to the reality that our neighbors of color have been denied justice through systemic racism. You may wonder why we took a sharp turn from care for the earth to the tense topic of racism. These two critical challenges of our time are intricately intertwined, two sides of the same coin. When we see God’s creation and become accountable to it, that not only extends to the earth and her creatures, but it also extends outward to our fellow humans.
Although few of us have witnessed the destruction of polar habitats, many of us have seen or experienced the harm wrought though racism and discrimination. When we follow the two greatest commandments to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:36-40), we take a step toward justice. When we see what is plainly in front of us, that our neighbors, whom God loves equally, include every person and creature of this earth, we understand that we are fully part of nature.
We are called to speak out against injustices toward all marginalized communities. When we lift the voices of Black, Brown, LGBTQ, and disabled members of our community we move toward fulfilling the commandment to love our neighbors. When we make efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions by conserving water, using alternative transportation or renewable energy, or reducing our waste, we start loving our earthly neighbors.
An occupational hazard of working in the environmental field is that there is an endless supply of bad news: drought, wildfires, intensifying hurricanes, glacier melt, destruction of coral reefs, sea level rise, escalating greenhouse gas emissions, and the list goes on. Abiding by that commandment to love our neighbors can turn the tide on both environmental and social injustice. Genuine acts of love for creation and for one another are the best chance to save all of us.
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Kelly Wellman’s interest in the environment began during college when she interned in the sanitation operations of a mid-size municipality. That job nurtured her fascination with the numerous human and environmental relationships that society experiences daily. Kelly graduated from Texas A&M University with a BS in Geography with an Environmental Studies in 1995. She later earned her MBA from the University of Phoenix and is presently working on a Master of Jurisprudence in Environmental & Energy Law from the Texas A&M School of Law.
In her early career, Kelly served as the Environmental Director for a municipality of 68,000 where she spent 12 years in the fields of Water, Wastewater, Solid Waste & Recycling, and Environmental Compliance. In 2008, she became Texas A&M University’s first Sustainability Director. Kelly continues to serve in that role where she is charged with identifying key sustainability initiatives, working with students, faculty, and staff to develop a comprehensive program, overseeing the Aggie Green Fund, and implementing the Sustainability Master Plan goals.
This piece is part of our Spring 2022 collection, Dominionism.
