A Book Review by Brother Christopher

Douglas E. Christie, The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013) pp 464, ISBN-13 978-0-19-981232-5

What makes The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology a significant and original contribution in recent spiritual literature is how it skillfully brings together traditional monastic contemplative thought and practice with the concerns of the modern ecological movement, renewing our awareness of the world as a sacred place. The author, Douglas Christie, is a professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. His first book, Word in the Desert, was a theological tour-de-force that demonstrated (against prevailing scholarly assumptions) how the early Christian desert monks were thoroughly steeped in the biblical word, and how theirs was a culture that was the product of monks meditating deeply on it. Through the course of that book he showed how the early monks used scripture in creative, non-fundamentalistic ways to deepen spiritual insight. Now, in this work, he applies his broad knowledge of patristic and monastic thought to his passion for the earth and for the precarious ecological state we currently find ourselves in.

            Convinced that the ecological crisis affecting us is at core a spiritual problem, his project is twofold: he believes that the contemplative traditions of the early Christian desert monks can be a spiritual resource that helps deepen and clarify the intuitions of modern ecological thinking. But equally, he believes that contemporary ecological thinking, which strongly intuits the sacredness of the world, can help reinvigorate and broaden our own contemplative traditions, sensitizing us to the panentheistic nature of reality. In his hands the relationship becomes mutually enriching and deepens both perspectives for the sake of a more conscious and engaged stewardship of the world.

            Christie sees this as absolutely necessary. The context for his concern is the widening rift he sees between science and spirituality that has had profound effects on the way we treat the cosmos. Unless we make a sustained effort to heal this gap, we risk reinforcing and solidifying an ignorant dualism that sees reality in terms of sacred/secular, material/transcendent, and which leads to inflicting ever-deeper wounds upon the earth. We need to experience the interconnectedness and interrelatedness of the world—both as human beings and as members of the whole created order.

            One of the risky but ultimately effective strategies Christie employs is to use his own autobiographical experiences as departure points for serious reflection in the nine chapters of the book. While avoiding making himself too much of a presence in the book, these vignettes help the writing from becoming overly intellectual and abstract, and they provide human poignancy to the destruction he sees being wrought upon the earth. They also reinforce the relevance of the spiritual teachings he explores throughout. What is particularly illuminating is how he brings into dialogue early contemplative masters in Christian monasticism with modern naturalists, writers, poets, scientists, and artists and shows how they resonate with one another. He also does not duck looking at naturalists such as Charles Darwin, who are often labeled as atheists because they could not in their time accept a myopic conception of God clothed in the language of Christian fundamentalism and literalism. While Christie concedes that Darwin in his maturity never described himself as a believer, he shows how Darwin’s attention to the natural world, and his patient and perceptive observation of different species, provoked awe and wonder in him and bear definite connections with a fundamentally contemplative attitude that is expressed throughout his work. It is no wonder why a significant number of contemporary Christian theologians have been able to use Darwin’s insights into evolution as part of a more cosmic recognition of how God is acting in the world, and to celebrate that.

             While Christie writes with skill and a certain poetic beauty, this is a demanding book that requires sustained attention from the reader from the get-go. After establishing a basic overview in the first two chapters of the book, the following seven chapters describe specific practices that Christie sees as central to a contemplative/ecological ethic with the power to facilitate real change in how we deal with the world. Each chapter contains a penetrating presentation of an early monastic contemplative practice, which is then balanced by a wide array of more contemporary voices from those who have been deeply moved in similar ways through their experience of nature. The result is a rich and creative synthesis that gives us inspiration to take these insights into our own spiritual practice so as to live more consciously and responsibly vis-a-vis the world.

            It is impossible to do justice to the scope and beauty of this book in a short review. I can’t remember when I have read a book that has been so insightful and challenging by relating two subjects that I deeply care about: the monastic contemplative legacy of the early Desert Fathers and the spiritual vitality contained in modern environmentalism and ecology. With sustained energy throughout the book, Christie shows how these two fields can help each other to address our current crises and shed much-needed light on a path into the future.