Tag Archives: Care of the Earth

God Will Do a New Thing In Us

Advent

December 23, 2022

Scripture:

Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12)

For to which of the angels did God ever say,
‘You are my Son;
   today I have begotten you’?
Or again,
‘I will be his Father,
   and he will be my Son’?
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’
Of the angels he says,
‘He makes his angels winds,
   and his servants flames of fire.’
But of the Son he says,
‘Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever,
   and the righteous sceptre is the sceptre of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
   with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.’
And,
‘In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,
   and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain;
   they will all wear out like clothing;
like a cloak you will roll them up,
   and like clothing they will be changed.
But you are the same,
   and your years will never end.’ –Hebrews 1:5-12

As freezing Siberian weather descends on us, we continue to deny climate change occurring all around us whether of human origin or not. I read with trepidation these lines from the above scripture,

‘In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,
   and the heavens are the work of your hands;
they will perish, but you remain;
   they will all wear out like clothing;
like a cloak you will roll them up,
   and like clothing they will be changed

I suppose it should not bother me since I accept that we humans perish and wear out. We still try to take care of ourselves and live as long and vital life as possible. Many of us have designated the donation of our organs to extend the life of others.  Caring for the earth is part of caring for ourselves.

The poet indicates that while the earth will wear out it will also be changed. My mother never, ever wasted anything. When our clothing wore out to the point it was no longer fit to wear, she carefully examined each garment and found the pieces of cloth that were not worn, clipped them out, and used them to make quilts

God created the earth and all that is on it including humans to flourish and care for one another. We should not take that responsibility lightly as we sojourn with God in the world we know today as we await our future with God.

Prayer: Creator God, open our hearts and mines to finding the ways in which we can care for your creation including each of us. 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.

The Climate is Changing

Living in the Spirit

August 14, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:49-56

He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? –Luke 12:54-56

Probably many of us have had our heads in the sand regarding climate change. Oh, I recycle my garbage that can be recycled, drive an energy-efficient small car, and adjust my thermostat to the most efficient level I can. That clearly is not enough. The signs of the impact of climate change are getting bigger and more serious but some of our leaders are unwilling to take the steps necessary to protect our fragile earth. We know much that can be done to slow down the onslaught before it is too late. How long have we been putting this off?

The Climate is Changing

The climate is changing! Creation cries out!
Your people face flooding and fire and drought.
We see the great heat waves and storms at their worst.
We pray for the poor, Lord — for they suffer first.

We pray for the animals here in our midst
who cannot defend their own right to exist.
We pray for the mountains and forests and seas
that bear the harsh footprint of our human greed.

We thank you for people who treasure the Earth,
whose faith has long taught them its beauty and worth.
We thank you as well for the children and youth
who look to the future and speak out the truth.

We thank you, for leaders, courageous and brave,
who know that the Earth is worth fighting to save,
who care about justice and what they should do,
who listen to science and work hard for you.

You love this good Earth, and you sent us your Son!
May we love our neighbors — there’s work to be done.
May we, by your Spirit, do all in our power
to care for your Earth in this critical hour*.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for failing to care for the earth you created for us. Amen.

*The Climate is Changing hymn to the tune of ST. DENIO 11.11.11.11 (“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”) by Winfrey Gillette See at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/new-hymn-lyrics-support-efforts-to-counter-climate-change/

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.

Garden of Love and Caring

Living in the Spirit

August 8, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

Let me sing for my beloved
   my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
   on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
   and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watch-tower in the midst of it,
   and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
   but it yielded wild grapes.

And now I will tell you
   what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
   and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
   and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
   it shall not be pruned or hoed,
   and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
   that they rain no rain upon it.  –Isaiah5:1-2, 5-6

I must confess I like wild grapes. They grew on the trees that skirted the creek running through our farm. I have a taste for sour and they are indeed sour. My memory is fuzzy, but I think we only gathered and ate them once a year and I do not remember my mother making preserves of them. Don’t think I inherited my taste for sour from her. My mother was a dedicated gardener. The first verse of the above scripture describes my mother well, although she had a garden, not a vineyard and she canned and froze produce rather than making wine.  

This scripture is an allegory. Isaiah is warning the people that God created and provided us with not only the good earth but also a way of being that required us to care for and cherish the gifts of God’s earth but also his love which sets an example for the way we could thrive if we followed the path of God’s love and righteousness.

During the summer in the cool of the morning, my mother would most often be found planting seeds and then hoeing weeds from the garden and gathering ripe vegetables. While for me the wild grapes were a treat for a few days, mom’s garden fed us year-round.

Prayer: Lord, teach us to love and care for one another as a way of being. 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.

Being Doers of the Word

Ordinary Time

March 1, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Ukraine demonstrating to the USA the importance of democracy is ironic as some factions in the USA are working hard at making us an oligarchy as Russia has become, ruled by the rich. We do not learn from history, yet we fear teaching it in our schools. Ask the Egyptians about how they fell from great power. Divide and concur politics, climate change,

The Ancient Egyptian Empire was one of the oldest and longest ruling empires in history. The empire spanned over 3,000 years. . .. However, history shows that even the mightiest empires can fall and after 1,100 BC, Egypt went into decline. There were several reasons for this including a loss of military power, lack of natural resources, and political conflicts*.

Divide and concur politics along with climate change, both primed by greed now assaults the USA. A periodic report of the progress of climate change was highlighted on the morning news today. The authors continue to say we still have a little time, but less and less, left to curb its worst impacts. How many years have we ignored that advice?

Part of our problem is we view ourselves as the escaping Israelites, not the empirical Egyptians.  Our ancestors in faith also failed to note the transition. We have a little time left, to turn around and follow God’s instruction to love God and one another which requires us to care for the earth and assure that all have enough to survive and thrive.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for burying our heads in the sand, help us to see and do what we need to be the people you desire us to be in the land you provided all your children. Amen.

*https://www.studentsofhistory.com/the-decline-of-egypt#:~:text=However%2C%20history%20shows%20that%20even,natural%20resources%2C%20and%20political%20conflicts.

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.

Sacred Trust

Living in the Spirit

September 30, 2021

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,
‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
   in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’ -Hebrews 2:10-12

I have a biological sister and brother, and we are markedly different, but even in that small sample, we illustrate that our differences complement one another. God created an interdependent world from the grass that feeds the cows to the rain that grows the grass. As children of God, we have been given a sacred trust to care for one another and the earth that sustains us.  Our failure to respond to that trust has landed us in a precarious place. One hundred and forty million* people live in poverty in the USA or are one major illness from living in poverty. If we do not address the challenges of climate change, we may not have an earth to sustain us. The findings of their review of more than 14,000 studies are clear: climate change is affecting nearly every part of the planet, and there is no doubt that human activities are the cause**.

My mother would describe our actions or lack of action as cutting off our noses to spite our faces. The COVID pandemic has impacted our lives in ways we could not have imagined before it struck. However, it has not caused near the damage as the pandemic of greed that has overtaken our land. In some ways, the devastation of COVID is being made worse by our greed.

Greed is an addiction and must be treated as such. First, we must recognize that most of us suffer from some level of greed. Second, we must work to remove it from our habits of life. Third, we must identify the ways it is controlling our society purging greed from our way of being and channeling the energy it burns into fulfilling the trust responsibilities God placed on all of God’s children.

Prayer: Lord, free us from the addiction of greed and open our hearts to fulfilling our sacred responsibilities to you, one another, and our earth. Amen.

*https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/about/jubilee-platform/

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.

Care of the Earth

Eastertide

April 25, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 10:11-18
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’

We are breaking Christ’s heart as we practice the art of divide and concur. Oneness is a common theme throughout his ministry but particularly highlighted in John’s gospel. The more I observe the earth and the challenges it and its people face, the more I think God created the world to be interdependent. When we extract ourselves from that relationship, we start running into ruin.

I just finished reading Four Winds, a novel by Kristin Hannah based on the depression and the impact of the Dust Bowl. I am well acquainted with the stories straight from relatives’ mouths, but I do not think I understood the challenges they faced until I read this book. My Dad was a young teenager during that time whose father had recently died. I remember Dad talking about the “feds” stopping by his family’s farm, reporting they would be killing cattle in a nearby pasture. “Feds” bought the animals at a low market value and then shot them. My Dad talked about him and his brother following the “Feds.” After the cattle were shot, the boys would butcher the cattle on the spot and bring the flesh back to the house where their mother and sisters canned or smoked the meat. There was no refrigeration available. My Dad was a great storyteller, and I heard what he had to say as a great adventure. It was not. It was survival.

As it turns out, we learned the Dust Bowl resulted from plowing the ground in flat, straight rows. With plenty of rain and no bad windstorms, straight-row planting resulted in more crop production in good years. Strategies that worked well in areas where the land was not flat. High winds sweeping across the Great Plains stripped the land of its topsoil, ruining crops. The recovery from the Dust Bowl marked the beginning of the use of contour plowing and the planting of trees at regular intervals to act as windbreaks. Today we comfort new challenges in climate change. Those decisions are rarely driven by what is best for God’s people across the whole earth. They more often involve fights on who makes or loses the most money and who has the power to move decisions to their advantage. We replace the wisdom of oneness among all God’s children with greed and lust for power to our peril.

Prayer: Lord, you care for us like a Good Shepherd protecting us and showing us the way to thrive based on your desires for us. Help us to work together to find the righteous way to care for the earth and all your people. 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.

Care of the Earth

Discipleship

February 15, 2021

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:8-17
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ –Genesis 9:8-11

I made a quick run to the grocery store today because a massive weather system is heading toward Oklahoma with predictions of a lot of snow and perhaps even a blizzard. My car data indicated it was 16 degrees outside when I backed out of my driveway. It dropped to 11 degrees by the time I parked at the store. I got my food and, hurrying back to my car, saw a bird perched on a grocery cart left stranded in the lot. The bird looked so cold and almost like it was in shock. I am no expert on birds, but it was medium-sized with various shades of brown feathers. Where do birds go in freezing weather? The news reported earlier this week that a mother dog and her newborn pups had been found, all frozen to death. Another litter of pubs had been tossed in a store trash can. Staff heard them and rescued them even though their little mouths were frozen shut when they were first discovered.

Climate change is impacting all creatures, great and small. Earlier in Genesis, humans were given dominion over the earth, 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.’ –Genesis 1:28 We are responsible for the care of the earth and all that is in it. Dominion means to rule over, which sometimes leads people to think they are authorized to use the world for personal aggrandizement. God, the Creator, is the ultimate example of one who rules. We are to follow his example of not destroying the planet.

Prayer: Lord, teach us how to care for the earth as you ordained us to do. 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.

Care of the Earth

Living in the Spirit

September 21, 2020

Scripture Reading: Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’

I was surprised to read that a shortage of water is one of the projected results of climate change* in my part of the world. Oklahoma is known for its investment in building lakes, probably because of the Dust Bowl. While we might view the Israelites as being whiners in the above scripture, they were realistic, having lived in an arid environment. Scientists project that humans can go without food for several weeks and survive. We die in three or four days without water**.

The Israelites miss the mark not from being frightened but from not being a part of searching for a solution. Moses and the elders went in search of an answer to the problem and found one. We tend to read similar scriptures as if Moses waved a magic staff, and all was well. Moses engaged with God in guiding his actions, but it took strength and fortitude, and hard work to implement the changes needed for the Israelites to survive and eventually thrive.

The Bible is the history of God’s working among God’s followers when one or some of them say to God, here is a problem, I am ready to do something about it and God responding “It’s about time, I am ready. Let’s go.” According to the story of the Israelites, they were enslaved for 400 years or so. We do not have that kind of time regarding addressing climate change.

Prayer: Creator God, you gifted us with the earth and all that is in it and charged us to have dominion over the planet in support of our needs. Forgive us when we have misused it and show us how we can restore it. Amen.

*https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/

**https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-12-humans-survive-food.html#:~:text=Generally%2C%20it%20appears%20as%20though,around%2045%20to%2061%20days.

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.

God’s Interventions

Living in the Spirit

September 7, 2020

Scripture Reading: Exodus 14:19-31

The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’ –Exodus 14:19-25

I lean toward the idea that God works through normal channels of our lives to effect changes needed to bring about God’s vision of our world. God has planted new insights in my thought patterns, opened my eyes to see a challenge differently, led me to speak when I was hesitant, and told me to keep my mouth shut when I should not intervene.  I also am aware of events for which I have no logical explanation except the intervention of God. The Battle of Dunkirk falls in that category as does the exodus from Egypt described in this scripture. I remember watching the scene as a child in the movie The Ten Commandments with wonder, and I have read theological studies trying to explain it away.

God created our world to be interdependent with sufficient resources for all. Thus, any time we break away from supporting that divine plan, we invite folly. Much of our weird and dangerous weather right now results from our failure to care for the earth resulting in climate change.  The Ebola outbreak may have been related to the loss of rain forests. We may be hearing something similar about COVID-19 in a few years. We do know that the availability of the oxygen we breathe is being impacted by deforestation along the Amazon. One out of every five children in Oklahoma is identified as food insecure. Many people across the USA do not earn enough to pay for housing in the wealthiest nation on earth. God’s sufficiently-resourced world was created so that everyone could have enough, requiring us to love one another enough to make that happen.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, open our hearts and minds to loving you by caring for the world you created and all that is within it. 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.

Chose Life

Epiphany

February 11, 2020

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. –Deuteronomy 30:19-20

When Europeans began arriving in what was then called the New World, they brought with them their ideas of land ownership. They did not seem to recognize that their New World was steeped in the ancient history of peoples who often referred to themselves in their native tongues as the people. In general, these peoples understood that the land belonged to God who provided it for their use and wellbeing and had no concept of land ownership. They seem to practice recognition of land assignment by tribes where they lived and lands where they hunted. They did not necessarily always agree on those land assignments and much like the history of the Israelites some tribes were friendly with each other and some were not.

In the 21st Century we are returning, some quicker than others, to the reality that the earth was provided by God to everyone and everyone is impacted by how we care for it. Indeed, we now have deeds and borders, and it seems we have always maintained friendships among some groups and not among others only we now call them allies and aliens. The ever growing truth is whether allies or aliens, borders and deeds cannot and will never stop the melting of ice raising ocean waters overtaking coastlines, the progressive heating of temperatures resulting in weather changes and impacting crops, or the presence of smog so thick masks must be worn to enable breathing.

The Deuteronomist who recorded oral history probably around 700 BC give us sage advice that is still very relevant today: Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him.  Learning to live together in love for one another will be the only way we survive.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our clinging to privileged self-centeredness. Help us recognize that all people are dealing with the same challenges regarding our earth and only all people working together can leave our world a place of life for our descendants. 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.