Living in the Spirit

August 22, 2023

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 51:1-6

Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness,
   you that seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
   and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
   and to Sarah who bore you;
For he was but one when I called him,
   but I blessed him and made him many.
For the Lord will comfort Zion;
   he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
   her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
   thanksgiving and the voice of song. –Isaiah 51:1-3

In our crazy, money-driven world, reading this scripture from Isaiah gives hope. I am trying to transition to be more responsible for the care of the earth as it relates to climate change. I have recycled since my first little blue box was delivered some years ago. I now fill a big green garbage container on wheels and put it out for the city to empty more than the blue garbage container for stuff that cannot be recycled.  I am taking the warnings about climate change seriously, and I still have a lot to learn and apply. My state is going in the opposite direction. In 2022 the Oklahoma legislature passed a bill outlawing the state from investing state employees’—my—retirement money with any company that no longer handles investments for oil companies as they do their part to address climate change.  Oil companies have a lot of experience in many areas to which they could transition and should be encouraged to transition so they could thrive in business as the use of fossil fuels declines. Our legislature should support those companies in that transition rather than reducing state employees’ retirement reserves, some retirees are already living in poverty.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when greed drives us to take advantage of others and help us see a better way to ensure all have enough.  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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.