Rituals offer room for change

"What you do, if you really don't know what to do... that's a ritual," theologian Erik Borgman leads the evening. He argues that the ecological crisis is not due to a lack of knowledge, but to the present relationship to the world we are part of. According to Borgman, in times of ecological crisis, this should be a remodelling of the species: a change in the relationship and association with the world around us. Rituals play a role in this. "Rituels create an area of receptivity, in the ritual there is a new association with nature and world." Borgman contrasts the modern relationship with that of the Catholic liturgy: "In liturgy, the world is experienced as intrinsically significant and valuable in its materiality. According to the modern world view, however, the world is meaningless and gets meaning through the use that people make of it."

Connect, delay, forgive

After the introduction the panel members will talk to each other under the leadership of moderator Daan Savert. Hans Alma, professor of mental care at the Vrije Universiteit, presents a humanistic perspective. That may suggest that it puts man at the centre, but as she herself says, man is not above nature but is an integral part of it. Helping rituals to reconnect with nature. Alma: "The core of rituals is that they slow down and put something against the ubiquitous, modern functional thinking." Professor Jan van der Stoep (WUR) sees that we can draw from a rich Christian tradition for inspiration in this time and the ecological crisis. For example, Christianity offers various rituals of forgiveness and gratitude, such as the well-known moment of thanks for eating - also that is a moment when we adopt a different relationship to the world. Theologian Rikko Voorberg works with new rituals. He tells about the glass greenhouse that stood in a number of cities, where people could go to light a candle. He finds that there is a great need for this; thousands of people came from it. He sees this as a nice example in which what has traditionally been done within the church can also be significant outside the church at this time. Voorberg: "By creating such neutral spaces for rituals, we can form community without moralisation or functional goals."

Old and new rituals in practice

After the break there is an opportunity to actually practice the rituals. There is singing together led by university lecturer and musician Hanna Rijken. Lysanne van de Kamp, working at Micha Nederland and author of the book "Scheppings" (t)rouw "Scheppings") encourages people to place an ash cross together. Then people can write on a strip of dust about what touches them personally - mourning or joyful - around nature. Those bars of dust all come to hang in a wooden tree, like a wailing willow.

Would you like to read more about green rituals? Around the symposium publishedFaithful, Dutch dailyandCatholic NewspaperOver.

The Green Religion Symposium was organized in cooperation between Green Churches, the Laudato Sisal Alliance and Socires. Within Socires-Program Structures of Sense we investigate where new forms and motives of togetherness and community arise, how they function and what this can mean for old social relationships.