Druids, Nature And God
At Halloween the main UK TV news featured Druid, but not Christian celebrations. For the first time since Christendom the Charity Commissioners have recognised a Druid Order as a beneficial religion by assuming that its devotion to Nature is equivalent to devotion to God. A Druid spokesperson said that they become attuned to Nature, unlike religions whose gods impose things on people.
Have we (Druids, Christians and Don't Knows) got this quite right? In Celtic Christianity we see no difference between tuning in to the Source of all that is, and calling that Source a God of All-Compassion who helps us to understand when we are attuned and the damage it does when we are not. We share with many Druids a horror of the violation of nature by humans. In fact, we take this so seriously that we accept that a radical solution is needed. Humans need to be redeemed from this deeply embedded life-style of violation. We believe that is why Christ came and still comes to us.
We Christians also need to say sorry to Druids and others because so many of us have fallen into the trap of abusing our faith by abusing creation.
In 'Liturgies from Lindisfarne' (recently published by www.kevinmayhew.com in UK and www.mayhewbrodt.com in N. America) we celebrate Halloween with these words: 'We place into your hands the season we leave behind and winter's patterns which you call us now to live.... May light shine in the bowels of the earth. May light shine in the ghouls of the air.'
On Halloween one of Aidan and Hilda members led his congregation at Escombe up the hill and lit a fire in the vicarage garden. Then they celebrated Samhain in the church.
