Author:

Keywords:

Experience of nature, Agapeic service, Transformative liturgy, Value-action gap, 2204 Religion and Religious Studies

Abstract:

© 2016, all rights reserved. The liturgy forms an important motif within Eastern-Orthodox Christian ecotheology. In this article, we will explore the manner in which the notion of the liturgical may be meaningful beyond a theological framework, to interpret certain spiritual experiences within the natural world. The philosophy of Jean-Yves Lacoste and William Desmond will prove key in clarifying different aspects of what will be called a liturgical-metaxological experience of nature. The ontological gratitude, originating from such experiences, may engender transformational processes fostering an ethics of generosity. Ascesis, closely linked to the liturgical, provides insight into the behavioural changes made in view of the communion of being. Together, the liturgical and the ascetic form a dynamics that appears to positively alter the discrepancy between environmental values held and actual behaviour, the so-called value-action gap.