Spring has surely arrived, in all its glory. The cold, gray days of winter fade into a distant, rather unpleasant memory, and our environment is awash in a virtual explosion of color and beauty. Our senses are almost on overload, as we see blooming trees here, clumps of tulips and daffodils there, and – oh, my goodness! Are the lilacs already popping out? We feel a powerful pull to be outdoors, to soak up the sun and feel the mild air.
Last Sunday, the families participating in the Sunday morning learning and sharing time took advantage of a perfect day and went outdoors to plant pansies in front of the church. Busy young hands dug holes, carefully took the little plants, placed them in their new homes, and watered them gently. We’d heard a couple of stories about the amazing gift of God’s creation and had sung some joyful songs, and as the day’s project wrapped up, we paused for a couple of minutes for a prayer, thanking God for these plants, and for the sun and rain that would make them grow. No one was in much of a hurry to leave, seeming to feel that these sweet times of planting, sunshine, and children playing are to be savored and appreciated.
Year in and year out, we go from winter to spring, to summer, to fall, the lovely, predictable rhythm which we can easily take for granted. The complexity and variety of our environment, however, is actually more than most of us can wrap our minds around. Scientists can tell us about the “hows” and the “whys” of our own planet, the solar system, even the cosmos. If it is simplified enough, I can get the gist of the explanation, especially with the help of pictures and diagrams. Knowledge and understanding are invaluable in teaching us to be good stewards of the earth.
The dramatic story of God’s destruction of his creation by a great flood is told in the Book of Genesis, and in chapter 8, after Noah, his family, and the creatures on the ark survived the flood, we are told that “. . . the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.'” I’ve read these words any number of times, and had always understood that God made this promise to Noah, but look closely – the Lord said this in his heart – a promise to himself. Interesting, isn’t it, that vowing to preserve the earth became part of God’s relationship to his creation.
So here we are, every one of us blessed to live as part of this beautiful earth, and how fortunate and privileged we are to care for it.
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers