Morning musings, Rev. 12.16, "But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river the dragon had poured from its mouth."
Caught my attention, this reference to earth.
Good old earth, dear old earth.
Coming to the defense of the woman.
Swallowing the hate and malice of the dragon.
The earth is good, said God.
And good it is ... in all of its incredible pieces.
Mountains and rivers; deserts and oceans.
Field and forest; sea to shining sea.
And the winds come, and the rains fall.
The sun shines, and the earth is dry.
And human beings come along.
In the image of God.
And we bend and we twist the good old earth.
To suit our fancy and fit our needs.
Needs sometimes out of bounds.
Needs that seem dragon-like in their writhing.
How good is the good old earth.
How is seeks to cope with evil.
The dragon's evil, of course.
But our evil is another matter.
The good old earth tries to swallow our evil.
Our malice and our greed.
To serve the LORD and save us.
The good old earth tries so hard.
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Let the Nations Know - Psalm 96
Faith meanderings, Psalm 96.10-13 ...
Let the nations know, the world is on a firm foundation ... "it shall never be moved!"
And when God arrives to judge the earth, earth will rejoice.
And if earth should rejoice upon God's visit, then we might pay a little more attention to the causes of such joy - in the heavens, upon the earth ... for the sea and all the life that fills it ... for the field and all that it grows ... the forests and all its trees ...
Some serious environmental theology going on here ...
Without getting too dramatic, mountain-top-removal is not bringing a whole lot of joy to God's good earth ... or to the folks who live by those shattered mountains.
Nor is clear-cutting ... or fracking ... or limestone mining in the Upper Peninsula ...
How about the laying waste of the Amazon Basin ... or the desolation of the Niger Delta ... not to mention the horrors of industrial warfare, unexploded ordinance that will pollute the earth and maim the children who "toy" with the junk left behind by the greed of the nations ...
I doubt if the field and forest and the butterflies are too pleased with Monsanto's manipulation of all things living ...
Anyway, that's enough for the moment ...
Let the nations know, the world is on a firm foundation ... "it shall never be moved!"
And when God arrives to judge the earth, earth will rejoice.
And if earth should rejoice upon God's visit, then we might pay a little more attention to the causes of such joy - in the heavens, upon the earth ... for the sea and all the life that fills it ... for the field and all that it grows ... the forests and all its trees ...
Some serious environmental theology going on here ...
Without getting too dramatic, mountain-top-removal is not bringing a whole lot of joy to God's good earth ... or to the folks who live by those shattered mountains.
Nor is clear-cutting ... or fracking ... or limestone mining in the Upper Peninsula ...
How about the laying waste of the Amazon Basin ... or the desolation of the Niger Delta ... not to mention the horrors of industrial warfare, unexploded ordinance that will pollute the earth and maim the children who "toy" with the junk left behind by the greed of the nations ...
I doubt if the field and forest and the butterflies are too pleased with Monsanto's manipulation of all things living ...
Anyway, that's enough for the moment ...
Friday, November 7, 2014
Psalm 148 - Healing and Truth in Praise
Just read Psalm 148, the Psalm of total praise - let everything, anything, the whole of the universe, and all of the earth, praise the LORD.
And why?
Because God is some neurotic being that needs constant praise in order to survive?
Hardly.
Rather, it's a function of truthfulness and healing.
There is healing in praise, especially for human beings who are so easily centered within themselves, so easily convinced that we and our efforts are mighty and grand, that the world is beholding to us, and we can do with it as we please.
Praise opens our eyes to the glory around us - glory we didn't create, and glory given to us by the hand of the Creator, and in praise, we ponder our relationship to the world around us. It's not ours, but we're certainly its caretakers, and if caretakers, than we acknowledge that it belongs to another. And that recognition, that acknowledgement, is healthy for us, as it puts us into a mutual relationship with all creatures, great and small, and the mountains and the seas and deserts and the wind and the rain, that yearn within themselves to praise, to sing joyful and freely in their realms.
And if the whole of creation belongs to another, then we're accountable to the Other who has been kind enough to entrust creation to us, trusting enough of us to put what's precious into our hands, and we might, from time-to-time, ask ourselves: What does the Creator require of us? What does care for the creation look like? What are our daily tasks as we care for this world - from the stones beneath our feet to the creatures of the hills and to the persons beside us?
And herewith a sobering realization - how can the earth praise God when it's pillaged and spoiled by human disregard?
How can air and water praise God when they're despoiled and fouled by our irresponsible behavior, driven, as it often is, by our greed, our fear, our rapacious spirit, our drive to own and make it our possession?
Praise liberates us from the illusions of our own grandeur and power and places us into direct and responsible relationships. Praise is healing for our troubled spirits, too long drunk on our own power and presumed place. Praise lifts our spirits to another level where the wind blows free and clean. Praise is truth: we are not our own, but belong, to a faithful Creator who gives this to us all, for our caretaking and our use, a careful use that promotes the welfare and fecundity of the world.
It's good to offer praise to another human being - who knows, they may need it now and then to lift their spirits and encourage them. And we need to offer praise, to step outside of ourselves, to see beauty and goodness, and to simply say, Thank You!
There's healing for our soul in such moments of simple acknowledgement, and it's the truth that sets us free!
Thank You, O LORD. Thank You!
And why?
Because God is some neurotic being that needs constant praise in order to survive?
Hardly.
Rather, it's a function of truthfulness and healing.
There is healing in praise, especially for human beings who are so easily centered within themselves, so easily convinced that we and our efforts are mighty and grand, that the world is beholding to us, and we can do with it as we please.
Praise opens our eyes to the glory around us - glory we didn't create, and glory given to us by the hand of the Creator, and in praise, we ponder our relationship to the world around us. It's not ours, but we're certainly its caretakers, and if caretakers, than we acknowledge that it belongs to another. And that recognition, that acknowledgement, is healthy for us, as it puts us into a mutual relationship with all creatures, great and small, and the mountains and the seas and deserts and the wind and the rain, that yearn within themselves to praise, to sing joyful and freely in their realms.
And if the whole of creation belongs to another, then we're accountable to the Other who has been kind enough to entrust creation to us, trusting enough of us to put what's precious into our hands, and we might, from time-to-time, ask ourselves: What does the Creator require of us? What does care for the creation look like? What are our daily tasks as we care for this world - from the stones beneath our feet to the creatures of the hills and to the persons beside us?
And herewith a sobering realization - how can the earth praise God when it's pillaged and spoiled by human disregard?
How can air and water praise God when they're despoiled and fouled by our irresponsible behavior, driven, as it often is, by our greed, our fear, our rapacious spirit, our drive to own and make it our possession?
Praise liberates us from the illusions of our own grandeur and power and places us into direct and responsible relationships. Praise is healing for our troubled spirits, too long drunk on our own power and presumed place. Praise lifts our spirits to another level where the wind blows free and clean. Praise is truth: we are not our own, but belong, to a faithful Creator who gives this to us all, for our caretaking and our use, a careful use that promotes the welfare and fecundity of the world.
It's good to offer praise to another human being - who knows, they may need it now and then to lift their spirits and encourage them. And we need to offer praise, to step outside of ourselves, to see beauty and goodness, and to simply say, Thank You!
There's healing for our soul in such moments of simple acknowledgement, and it's the truth that sets us free!
Thank You, O LORD. Thank You!
Friday, January 3, 2014
The Praise of God's Creation
Part of the daily lectionary (#PCUSA) quite often, Psalm 148 - here's a piece of it that caught my attention this morning:
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
For the Psalmist, EVERY voice is important - sea monsters, snow and frost, cedars, wild animals, creepy things, kings, peoples, princes, the young and the old, women and men … and everything else.
Herein I find reason to care for my environment, which is, finally, the entire global eco system …
When a species is lost to wanton human behavior, a voice of praise is forever silenced, and the choir of praise is diminished, and while we might be oblivious to the missing voice, God knows that a joyful sound is missing.
Mountains and hills, too, and I think of mountain-top removal coal mining in West Virginia and oil drilling in the Niger Delta - where the earth suffers cruelly, and though the people there lament loss of home and habitat, those making wanton decisions for profit silence the earth, condemning the earth to sorrow, and there is no praise from the ground and water, but only tears.
And to the kings and princes and rulers of the world, whatever pride of place may infect their thinking, their voices are simply part of the choir, right along with wild beasts and stormy wind. If there's ever a prescription for the sins of pride and power, this is it.
Let all the voices of God's choir have their place and their part … the vast choir of God's creation deserves to sing, and when God created humankind, it was only, God hoped, to create a creature that could provide life-sustaining care for the choir, so that all of creation might sing with joy.
Praise the LORD!
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
For the Psalmist, EVERY voice is important - sea monsters, snow and frost, cedars, wild animals, creepy things, kings, peoples, princes, the young and the old, women and men … and everything else.
Herein I find reason to care for my environment, which is, finally, the entire global eco system …
When a species is lost to wanton human behavior, a voice of praise is forever silenced, and the choir of praise is diminished, and while we might be oblivious to the missing voice, God knows that a joyful sound is missing.
Mountains and hills, too, and I think of mountain-top removal coal mining in West Virginia and oil drilling in the Niger Delta - where the earth suffers cruelly, and though the people there lament loss of home and habitat, those making wanton decisions for profit silence the earth, condemning the earth to sorrow, and there is no praise from the ground and water, but only tears.
And to the kings and princes and rulers of the world, whatever pride of place may infect their thinking, their voices are simply part of the choir, right along with wild beasts and stormy wind. If there's ever a prescription for the sins of pride and power, this is it.
Let all the voices of God's choir have their place and their part … the vast choir of God's creation deserves to sing, and when God created humankind, it was only, God hoped, to create a creature that could provide life-sustaining care for the choir, so that all of creation might sing with joy.
Praise the LORD!
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