The Environment of Compassion: Ecology, Religion, and Embodied Story

The Environment of Compassion explores questions of what it means to be in relationship to nature, if and how it is a religious experience, and how understanding humans as part of nature alters theology. The book offers a performance perspective that looks at ritual, dance, and theatre as a means of presenting discussion of sacred values in the public realm. The premise is that performance may serve as an effective means for developing human sacred values that recognize the more-than-human world, as it increases intersubjective awareness to address issues of social and environmental justice. The author investigates religion and theatre as a means of better understanding how eco-consciousness requires an aesthetic of the sacred. Rather than separate religion, culture, and nature, the book presents an aesthetic looking at the relationship between them. It considers how an embodied theatrical story might develop an inclusive community of compassion. Weaving the chapters together is an account of The Garden: A Refuge, an eco-centered play based on the biblical book of Job. Ecotheology, aesthetics, and embodiment theories are examined throughout, with scholarship and examples drawn largely from the Jewish tradition. The book is relevant to scholars of religion and theology, particularly those with an interest in the environment, as well as theatre, dance, and performance studies.

Cia Sautter obtained her PhD from the Graduate Theological Union. She is a professional performer and has taught at several US institutions and seminaries.