Recovering mystery: Ecological encounters and practical theological ways of knowing

Abstract

Western ways of thinking about our ecological context have too often failed to nurture meaningful relationship with it. This failure is rooted in our assumptions about what it means to know. Approaches to environmental education (including environmental education in religious communities and beyond) that rely on rationalist and objectivist epistemologies fail to adequately address the emotional and relational aspects of forming ecological character and identity. Ecological encounter, as spiritual and pedagogical practice, grounds an integrated and comprehensive way of knowing, loving, and caring for a dynamic and mysterious world, and the place of human life within it.