Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision

I read this book for a class in Seminary, the following is the review and summary I wrote for the class. In Shalom and the Community of Creation the author uses story and scripture to demonstrate that the concept of Shalom is a more expansive thing than just peace. It is a community of harmony made up of all of God’s good creation. The author argues that we can see the Creator’s intention for us to live in harmony with not just other humans, but all of creation communicated in the Scriptures and the sacred stories and traditions of indigenous people. From the scriptural traditions of sabbath laws to a theology that connects with place rather than the clock, the author lays out ideas that lead to an understanding of humanity’s place in creation that is in responsive harmony. The path towards restoration that the author sees is through Shalom, the Church will have to give up ideologies and theologies that focus on economy and efficiency, and turn instead to story and wholeness. This is not expected to be easy, and will require the dominant white culture of the west to spend time listening and learning from the indigenous cultures around them; and celebrate unity in diversity rather than uniformity.