This month my parishes are having a worship series on “Celebrating Creation,” following the “Season for Creation”resources developed for worship by the Episcopal church. This week look at the urgency of dealing with the climate crisis from the perspective of Jesus’ teaching that to accept a child in his name is to accept him. In placing such value on the life of a child, often devalued in that society – and our own – he was challenging his followers to foster the beloved community he was forging, in which children, the elderly and infirm, the poor and the marginalized, are seen as gifts to be nurtured, not resources to be exploited.
Or course, that is also how we are invited to see this creation God has made and set us into, as shared creation, gifts to be cherished, not resources to be exploited. And if people actually put the lives of their beloved grandchildren first, we wouldn’t be in this crisis in the first place. Leaving a place better than your found it should be foundational for human beings. Yet we are the only species who “foul our own nest,” whose declared devotion to those very grandchildren of whom we will quickly whip out pictures seems not to reach beyond our own departures from this planet.
What does it mean to leave an inhabitable planet for our descendants? Here are some requirements:
- breathable air
- sufficient and potable water
- good soil for growing food
- safe housing
- safe places for recreation and play
What are we willing to do, and stop doing, in order to leave a habitable and beautiful world for those beloveds who come after us? Be specific!
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
No comments:
Post a Comment