Living in the Spirit
November 5, 2014

Scripture Reading: Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

He turns rivers into a desert,
   springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
   because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
   a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry live,
   and they establish a town to live in;
they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
and get a fruitful yield. — Psalm 107:33-37

I heard a lot of candidates running for office this week talking about turning things around in our government for the sake of our children. Those ads were juxtaposed against the release of the report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which to say the least was grim. I do not think I heard a single candidate discuss climate change as an issue. We do like to keep our heads in the sand.

The poet who wrote our Psalm today saw a world where God saved the land and returned it to viability where food could once again grow. We have the opportunity to assure that we continue to have land where food will grow, if we assume the role of having dominion over the earth assigned by God. We must treat that role as a sacred trust given to caretakers rather than exploiter. We in Oklahoma know all too well what can happen to a land that has been mistreated and over used. It blows away when the rains do not come. It was called the Dust Bowl. That will seem like a minor storm in comparison to what we might face with such devastation covering the whole earth.

Let us make the effort to discern the consequences of climate change not just for those of us who live in the USA but also all our brothers and sisters across the whole world and let us join as one to return the earth to a point where it will be viable.

Prayer: Lord, give us the courage the face our own fears and challenges and to rise up as one to return the earth to a place of fruitful yield. 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.