Joy

Third Week of Advent
Tuesday December 17, 2013

 Read: Ezekiel 47:1-12

 I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on one side and on the other. [The Lord] said to me, ‘This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes.
                                                                                                                                        —Ezekiel 47:7b-9 

The Ouachita Mountains were glorious the last week of October. The sun was breathtaking, glistening through leaves of ever hue dotted with rain drops. Beavers Bend Lake looked like the palest blue ice, pristine and clean. This is what God saw as good. This is what gave me joy as I sat and gazed out across that lake in the early morning when I meditated on the wondrous gift of nature our Creator God has bestowed on us.

 God gave it as a resource for our nourishment and wellbeing, but he gave it with a caveat as stated in Genesis 1:27-28:  So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ Dominion does not mean license. God blessed us by giving us a sacred responsibility to care for all living things on the earth.

 I am a novice regarding environmental issues. Recently sitting in a legislative hearing regarding wastewater, I truly was out of my element. What I did glean from the hearing was that water is a precious resource to not only the oil companies for drilling, but also to farmers for irrigation. It is also important to me for drinking.

 My dad was a farmer who pumped oil wells on the side. I remember when wastewater was stored in ponds made of dirt and rocks located just off a ways from the pump. Those ponds would catch on fire sometimes.  There was enough oil scum in them to cause blazing flames to appear on top of the water. That was not responsible use of the land.

 We have learned from our early experiences, but we must learn more to assure that our water is not stagnant wastewater and apply what we learn with prudence so that we can continue to take joy in God’s handiwork and fulfill our responsibility to care for it.

 Prayer: Creator God, show us the ways we can be more responsible in fulfilling our commandment to take care of every living think that moves on the earth. Amen.

All scripture passages are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version.