Social Affairs

Thinking Anew – ‘Walk lightly on the earth as other guests do’

The challenge we face is huge and time is short

For the poorest of the poor, the price of food is a matter of life and death. Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images

Gordon Linney
Sat May 14 2022 - 11:20

The British economist and writer Barbara Ward (1914-1981) – a woman of faith – had an international reputation as a promoter of sustainable development long before it became more widely accepted. We have forgotten, she said, how to be good guests and “walk lightly on the earth as other guests do”. It is true to say that we are more aware of the issues today but the challenge we face is huge and time is short.

This is a major issue for the farming community with its unique role in caring for the land – a responsibility often complicated by the demands of the rest of us for quality food that is cheap and plentiful.

Teagasc – the Agriculture and Food Development Authority – is a national body which exists to provide support and advice in these matters. Their website has an interesting piece highlighting the importance of field margins as "important habitats and networks for nature that provide corridors for the movement of wildlife and a place for native flora to flourish". It goes into some detail about the benefits for bird and insect life which play a vital role in keeping the land healthy and productive.

There is an interesting connection between what Teagasc is saying and tomorrow's reading from the Book of Leviticus. This third book of the Old Testament is largely but not entirely concerned with the regulation of religious ceremonies at the Temple in Jerusalem. Tomorrow's reading, however, deals with land management and in particular field margins: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God."

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Two thousand five hundred years ago or more Leviticus, like Teagasc, was concerned about field margins but for a different purpose, namely the entitlement of the poor and the alien to a fair share. This was not an open invitation to be generous or kind but rather an instruction to observe basic human rights. That is important as we contemplate food shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine, a major grain producer.

We in Europe may complain about price increases and possible shortages but for the poorest of the poor, especially in Africa and Asia, who cannot afford higher costs, it could mean starvation and death. Gandhi said that this should not be so: "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."

The Leviticus reading tells us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus adds an extra dimension to this ancient commandment by saying “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

This is close to what we read in Leviticus but note the addition of “as I have loved you” which for him meant giving his life. It was total self-giving; tokenism would not do. For the follower of Jesus, saving the planet and caring for “the poor and the alien” demands a fundamental change to the way we live.

In his book Less is More, Brian Draper echoes Barbara Ward’s idea of walking lightly on the earth: “If you walk with bare feet across wet sand you can see your own unique footprints for a short while. And then, before your very eyes, they begin to disappear, leaving no trace, in the end, of where you have been. The tide will always come back in. The sand will always shift in the end. And that’s how it should be, isn’t it? We were not created to stamp on the earth and take what’s not ours, but instead to live with it, deepening the relationship we have to each other, to the Spirit, to ourselves, and to creation.”

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