Eastertide
May 24, 2014

Scripture Reading: Genesis 8:13-19 

Then God said to Noah, ‘Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.’ — Genesis 8:15-17 

My mother would have been 106 today. It does not seem possible that she has now been gone for seven years. Although I miss her, she did bless our lives for almost 99 years. One of those blessings for me was her dedication to the care of the earth. In her later years, my brother would stop by her little house every afternoon on his coffee break just to make sure all was well. One day he pulled into the drive and saw her lying in the grass. Expecting the worse, he walked over to her and I guess the sound of his footsteps awakened her. She sat up and spoke to him. He demanded to know what she was doing, had she fallen. “No” she said, “I was pulling weeds and got a little tired so I decided to just lie in the grass in the sun. Guess I fell asleep.”

Unlike my brother and sister, I did not inherit my mother’s love of working in the garden or even flower beds for that matter, but I did inherit a great sense that she took seriously God’s instructions for humans to care for the earth. We all need to take this seriously.

In our scripture today, the story of Noah building the ark and saving his family and all living creatures from the flood draws to an end. The water has receded and now it is time to get back to the business of assuring that all flesh may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply. God gave humans a second chance.

The issues impacting life on the earth are more complex today and require us to search for new ways of living that will sustain life into the future. I, for one, would rather do that now then wait for a cataclysmic disaster to force us into doing our job as stewards of the earth later. We might not get that second chance.

Prayer: Holy Gardener, you planted the first seeds and tended the first harvest teaching us to care for the earth. Guide us in this task and give us the will to accept the challenge. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.