Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

I. Introduction
The Baptismal prayer thanks God for
the gift of water, and leads us through
the role of water in our spirituality. 1
We are reminded fi rst that the Holy
Spirit moved over water in the beginning
of creation. This already puts water
in a unique place. Water precedes
creation. It is, according to Mircea
Eliade, the “reservoir of all the possibilities
of existence.” 2
It is pre-formal.
Because of this special characteristic,
it is through water that all form arises.
This includes re-formation. The re-formation
of the Hebrews from slaves to
a free people is accomplished through
water. The meaning of Baptism itself
is, as the prayer recites, that we join in
Christ’s baptism to re-form ourselves
through water. Thus, to make changes
in our lives, we must fi rst cast off old
forms and immerse ourselves in formlessness,
symbolized by water.
It is right, therefore, that
water should be at the center of our
conversation as we consider what
changes we must make to our theological
understanding in response to
the new relation that humanity has to
the earth. For most of human history,
Nature has seemed an overpowering
force—sometimes terrifying, often
beautiful, but always strong. Now we
fi nd that we are a danger to her. Fearing
the power of fl ood, for example,
we proudly built massive dams. In
bridling the rivers, though, we made
changes that we did not understand,
destroying some of the ecosystems
that these rivers supported, and putting
others at our mercy. We must
re-form our theology to meet this new
relation. We can no longer afford to
1Book of Common Prayer, pg. 306.
2 M. Eliade, Le Sacré et le Profane, pg.
112.
VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007
think of the creation as something to
be dominated. Instead, our stewardship
responsibilities require that we
face our interdependence with Nature
and work in community with her. The
unique quality of water as a symbol of
creative possibility offers hope for this
re-formation of the way we understand
ourselves in the world.
Water is at the center of the
secular conversation about the environment
as well. We all need water,
human or non-human. The shortages
of water that are increasing in the
world, as well as the rising tides that
may come as the earth warms, are crises
for every community of creatures.
Water, therefore, is both an essential
symbol of the spirit, and also essential
to physical life. If, as I have heard it
said, we fi nd our calling where our
own deepest character crosses the
world’s greatest need, then, with
respect to environmental issues, the
symbol of water calls to us as Christ’s
people. A theology of water may be
the way for us to begin to think about
the world differently in order to care
for it better.
Dr. Mollegen, in whose memory
we meet today, believed strongly
in dialogue between the spiritual and
the secular. This belief seems to apply
especially to the subject of water,
which is so central to both worlds.
Bishop Griswold in his talk has offered
us insight into spiritual and scriptural
aspects of water and theology. My talk
comes from the other direction, the
other partner in the dialogue, and is
drawn from my experience as an environmental
attorney in New Mexico,
specializing in water law. I want to
share with you how that experience,
starting with the most secular possible
analysis of the question of environmentalism
and the environmental
laws of this country, leads, through a
consideration of the special character
of water, back to a place where the
calling of the secular and the spiritual
become one calling.
To do this, I will talk very briefly
about some of our nation’s environmental
laws. These laws have helped
some, but not enough. Relying on
concepts of private property, they have
not led to the deeper changes needed
to make sense of our new relation to
the world. But in the law, too, there is
something special about water. Because
water fl ows, so that every water use affects
every other, the concept of private
property so important to our society
does not work well as an approach to
water law. Instead, in a purely secular
context, the development of water law
has forced people to face their interdependence,
and to create a system
in which all water users, including nonhuman
water users, participate. From
this secular direction, therefore, water
shows our interconnectedness with
creation in a literal, physical way that
serves as a metaphor for the spiritual
changes that we must make in response
to our new relation to the earth. Water,
as both a spiritual symbol and a physical
evidence of our interconnectedness,
is the outward and visible sign of the
inward and spiritual grace of community
with Christ, a community that, we
discover more and more, must extend
to all of God’s creation if we are to care
for it rightly.
II. The Theology of
Environmental Law
The coldest and most secular way to
look at environmental issues—the way
that most often gets into the courts—
has to do with property rights. From
that point of view, the problem with
environmentalism, and the reason it
makes some people angry, is that it
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