“Love Your Mother”
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established’ what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.” (Psalm 8:3-5)
A few days ago, the 50th occasion of Earth Day was observed, and my reaction was, “Where has the time gone?” It seems that it wasn’t long ago that my children were in school, taking part in special activities during a day of learning about our environment and the responsibility we all have for taking care of it. They were enthusiastic, interested, and developed an appreciation for their natural surroundings. Our whole family became more interested and aware of ways to live responsibly on the planet. Unfortunately, if there’s anything we’ve learned over the past 50 years, it’s that our environment continues to suffer because of our lack of care.
As God’s people, we are called to care for this creation as an act of gratitude for the amazing gift we have been given. The creation story in the Book of Genesis is filled with poetic words of beauty and strength. The writing includes the effective repetition of key phrases that occur over and over. The phrase, “God said” appears nine times in the 31 verses of the first chapter. The message of the creative power of God’s word is inescapable.
As each stage of creation is completed, we’re told “And God saw that it was good.” This sounds like a massive understatement, as we’d probably say, “That’s spectacular!” or “Awesome!” or “Amazing!” But good carries a meaning beyond nice or well done. It sounds to me as though this creation carries an essential goodness as part of its existence. This planet Earth is more than a thing, it’s a living, breathing entity. We’ve learned the hard way that entire species can become extinct, and that if habitats are destroyed they can no longer support an ecosystem.
The coronavirus pandemic is teaching us international environmental lessons in a most dramatic fashion. Yesterday, I saw images on television of the Los Angeles skyline, with a bright blue sky and sharply defined outlines of buildings. It hasn’t been that clear in decades! The canals of Venice are cleaner than they’ve been in recent memory, and satellite pictures have picked out other areas around the globe that previously were hidden under clouds of pollution and are now clearly identifiable. It boggles the mind to think that such a terrible thing as a deadly virus sweeping around the world is good for the environment!
As we struggle to cope with the health and economic issues of the pandemic, let’s also be more aware of the huge impact human behavior has on the world in which we live. The writer of the Psalms is filled with awe at the beauty of God’s creation, and realizes what a blessing it is to care for this great gift.
This is my Father’s world!
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers