Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 5; Isaiah 4:9-20; Matthew 8:18-27; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Psalm 65
Two entries ago, I railed about one of my biggest frustrations in the development of our tradition. That was the energy that entered our tradition when the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and set in motion energies that threatened to stamp out diversity within our faith tradition. One of today’s readings raised another frustration of mine about the development of our Christian tradition as well. The second frustration has to do with the way some Christians have come to view the physical world around us. Some have read the accounts of creation contained in Genesis and concluded that since God gave humanity dominion over the created order we could do with it as we liked. One of the tragic results of this approach is global warming. The 65th Psalm provides another model for how we might view creation. Starting in Psalm 65:9, the psalmist cries out: “Oh, visit the earth, ask her to join the dance! Deck her out in spring showers, fill the God-River with living water. Pain the wheat fields golden. Creation was made for this!” (The Message). What beautiful words! Today, I invite you to think about how you approach the physical world. Do your patterns of consumption further tax an already overburdened planet, or do your actions (i.e. your simplified lifestyle and your commitment to recycling) point the planet toward a long overdue time of healing and reconciliation? My hope and prayer today is that we all grow in our appreciation of the natural world so that we might ask the earth to join us in our dance of redemption. Til next time…
Two entries ago, I railed about one of my biggest frustrations in the development of our tradition. That was the energy that entered our tradition when the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and set in motion energies that threatened to stamp out diversity within our faith tradition. One of today’s readings raised another frustration of mine about the development of our Christian tradition as well. The second frustration has to do with the way some Christians have come to view the physical world around us. Some have read the accounts of creation contained in Genesis and concluded that since God gave humanity dominion over the created order we could do with it as we liked. One of the tragic results of this approach is global warming. The 65th Psalm provides another model for how we might view creation. Starting in Psalm 65:9, the psalmist cries out: “Oh, visit the earth, ask her to join the dance! Deck her out in spring showers, fill the God-River with living water. Pain the wheat fields golden. Creation was made for this!” (The Message). What beautiful words! Today, I invite you to think about how you approach the physical world. Do your patterns of consumption further tax an already overburdened planet, or do your actions (i.e. your simplified lifestyle and your commitment to recycling) point the planet toward a long overdue time of healing and reconciliation? My hope and prayer today is that we all grow in our appreciation of the natural world so that we might ask the earth to join us in our dance of redemption. Til next time…
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