“Wisdom cries aloud in the streets: in the market she raises her voice”
Proverbs 1:20
What is Wisdom saying to us today, as we live and work, play and go to school in the city of Toronto? Our city lies at the edge of a great lake, where beavers swim and garbage washes up on beaches. Wild animals, such as coyotes, are having to adapt to city life because their natural habitat is disappearing. The parks are oases of green amidst the growing numbers of high rise condo’s. Perhaps Wisdom, along with the earth, is crying out for care and respect Creation is indeed “groaning in labour pains” [Romans 8:22].
A sign of hope for me, is the fact that we celebrate “Earth Week”, not only in Canada but all around the world. There are growing numbers of people who are finding their voice and crying out against the devastation we are reaping on our earth home. There are many individuals and organizations that are turning their concern into action.
God calls us to “live with respect in creation” and this Sunday and the following, April 18 & 25, we will be exploring how we can respond to this call.
So what does it look like to care for creation? Perhaps the words of this poem “Back to Earth” by N. Eslom might help:
when I weep for
the beluga
the peregrine
the giant panda
when I mourn for
the amazon
the queen charlottes
the Canada north
when I chafe under
acid rain
nuclear snow
and torn ozone
then I will remember you
little girl
that rain spattered morning
I spotted you
finger-tip flipping
rain battered earthworms
from the gutter
back to earth
Let us all come back to earth.
Blessings,
Karen
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