In the biblical creation story human beings are created last. God then instructs Adam and Eve to be stewards, to care for the rest of creation. How biblical people understand our human role in the world depends a lot on our understanding of one Hebrew word, sometimes rendered “dominate” or “rule” or “govern.” Personally, I prefer “steward.” We humans are to care for the earth and all living things.

Obviously, most of the time, we humans have understood the word differently. We have had the idea we are to “dominate” the creation, which has resulted in our current environmental and ecological challenges.

Somewhere years ago, I internalized the idea of a heavenly and earthly hierarchy. God was at the top; of course. Next came angels. They were with God in heaven but had permission to return to earth to tend to assigned tasks. Then came humans, “a little lower than the angels.”

But not all humans were on the same level in the hierarchy. Men were on top. Then came women. (Even though in Genesis 1, men and women are created at the same time, throughout history the story of Eve created out of the rib of Adam has prevailed, putting Adam on top). Below them both were children. Below humans were the creatures, all manner of animals; the four legged earthbound, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea and all crawly things. Below the animals were the plants, the trees of the forests and the fields of grasslands. Below the plants was the earth. And below the earth was hell!

In such a hierarchy, the challenge was to avoid hell and ascend to heaven. In order to do that, you might have to stand on the shoulders of everything below you, but the creator ordered it that way so no harm done. For many it was “survival of the fittest;” a “dog eat dog” world.

I once saw an ecological pyramid. Once again, humans were on the top. The problem was, if you lost the block near the bottom of the pyramid that stood for the coral reefs, the pyramid began to tilt and nearby blocks that stood for certain fish stocks began to disintegrate. It was all connected in an ecological whole. The only block that was expendable without parts of the pyramid collapsing was the one at the very top; the human beings.

I was remembering those different ideas of our place in the scheme of things as I read a short article by Diana Butler Bass, as she writes about how the great chain of being, which was hierarchical, has evolved into a great web of belonging. She reminds us that even our ancestry is web like. As I have tried to trace my family tree, I have discovered all of these intersecting relationships. One branch seems to come from two trunks while another gets lost in the distance with no seeming end. It reminds me of a recent picture of coastal mangrove trees. Their root systems are extensive and intertwined.

What if God is not some transcendent being in the heavens but rather immanent in the creation? What if ultimate being is present in the poinsettias behind the pulpit? What if God is in the puppy at the pound? What if God is present in the problem child in juvenile prison? What if God spins a wide web connecting all of creation in harmony together, and has asked us to keep it whole? What if the creator is in all of the created?

As Diana Butler Bass writes: “The great chain of being has been replaced by a ‘web of life’ or ‘web of belonging.’ Our conception of reality has shifted from top-down chains of authority supported by technical expertise and mechanical organization toward living systems of interrelationship and interdependency knit together in a web of life, the great web of belonging.”

We live in a time where there are those who would have us believe in organizing our common life in a top-down fashion. They emphasize systems that give power and authority to a few rather than systems that empower and give voice to us all. They promote autocracy and strong-willed leaders. They undermine trust in the neighbor, especially if the neighbor comes from different ancestral roots or religious persuasions. They divide to conquer and demonize to destroy. Some are placed in the hierarchy at the foot of the almighty, when in reality, they are a spider lost in the web of life and looking for prey.

As the Genesis story suggests, we have choices. We can live in harmony in our Garden of Eden if we will. We just need to avoid the snake, tempting us to stand outside that great web of life and all of its relationships.

And as theologian Paul Tillich might say, the ground of our being has come down to earth. Let us rejoice and be glad. That creative power is all around and in us!