As I write this, several million homes are without power on the East Coast due to Hurricane Sandy. Except for natural disasters like this one, it’s easy to forget our connection to the weather, nature, and the rest of Creation. Even for those in the midst of the hurricane, modern comforts — like Netflix, which experienced a boost in online streaming in the areas affected by severe weather — help take the edge off of the danger outside.
In the most recent episode of Mars Hill Audio, Norman Wirzba discusses his new book Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating. He quotes Wendell Berry, from his essay “In Distrust of Movements,” on the subject of our modern separation from the reality of the world:
Educated minds, in the modern era, are unlikely to know anything about food and drink, clothing and shelter. In merely taking these things for granted, the modern educated mind reveals itself also to be as superstitious a mind as ever has existed in the world. What could be more superstitious than the idea that money brings forth food?
When the stores are sold out of food and all the bridges and tunnels are closed, the tenuous connection between money and food becomes clear.
Still, we don’t usually expect the wind and the rain to try to kill us. The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson suggested on Monday that we might be naïve for assuming all will be well in our relationship with Earth:
FYI: Earth has always been supremely hostile to life. That’s why more than 95% of all species that ever lived are now extinct
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 29, 2012