St. Andrew’s Creation News

November 16, 2023

Human Interaction

Today’s Creation News created by Pat Milliren

WE PROTECT WHAT WE LOVE

"I offer you the choice of life or death, blessing or curse.  Choose life and  then  you and your descendants will live; love the Lord your God...: that is life for you...."  (Deuteronomy 30:19b-20a) "God so loved the world...."  (John 3:16)

As we come to the end of our Creation Season 2023, may we take some time to consider the human intersections with our local and world-wide precious, precious earth environment-- the web of life we are so dependent upon and interwoven with for life itself--as well as the Holy One whose Creation we are so intimately a part of.

In the scientific realm we are learning more and more about the consequences of our actions over the past decades and centuries: harming-helping, ignoring-studying, destroying-protecting, uncaring-loving.  In the spiritual realm (and they are growing closer through time),  let us remember Jesus : Bread of Life, Light of the World, giving Living Water. Baba Dioum (Senegalese conservationist) wrote back in 1968, "In the end, we will conserve only what we love...."

Two things I hope we can remember from this Creation Season:

*We are intimately woven  into the interrelationships of the whole world; we cannot survive without the gifts of creation and perhaps a lot of creation cannot survive without the gifts of love we offer it.

*God loves, is interwoven through Christ Incarnate with the whole earth and each tiny part, including each of us.

A Prayer for Creation

Dear God, Holy One,

We ask your mercy and forgiveness for all we have done out of self-centeredness and ignorance, harming your beloved community of life and love, leaving unfulfilled the fullness of life you have dreamed for Earth, and harming our relationship with You.  We ask for healing, for new  beginnings.  We thank you deeply for this beautiful spot of heaven on earth we call home and pray we may come closer to loving and knowing You as we grow in caring for, belonging to, and loving this precious home.   Amen.

Some Quotes for Consideration

"It could be said that God's footprint is so vast that this entire earth is but a field on His toe, and all the forests in this world came from the same root of just a single hair of His.   What then is not a sanctuary? Where then can I not kneel and pray at a shrine made holy by His presence?"  [St. Catherine of Siena (1300s) / Daniel Ladinsky]

"There is no good faith or mutual trust, no knowledge of God in the land.....Therefore the land shall be dried up, and all who live in it shall pine away, and with them the wild beasts and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea...."  (Hosea 4:1-3 or 4)            AND

"Then I will make a covenant ...with the wild beasts, the birds of the air, and the things that creep on the earth, and I will break bow and sword and weapon of war and sweep them off the earth, so that all living creatures may lie down without fear.  I will betroth you to myself forever...."  (Hosea2:18-19)'

"We now turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the Gifts of Creation.....Now our minds are one,"   (Thanksgiving Address, Haudenosaunee Confederacy)

The Web of Life

An ecosystem is made up of all the living animals and plants and the non-living matter in a particular place, like a forest or lake. All the living things in an ecosystem depend on all the other things - living and non-living for continued survival - for food supplies and other needs.

In some ways, the actions and reaction that take place within an ecosystem are like a spider web - when one strand is broken, the web starts to unravel. What affects one part of an ecosystem, affects the whole in some way.

"Without the WORD of God no creature has being.  

God's WORD is in all creation, visible and invisible.  

 The WORD is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity

This WORD manifests in every creature."

 [Hildegard of Bingen (1100s)/Gabriele Uhlein]

And as we prepare for Advent and Christmas a quote from Sigrid Undset, a Norwegian novelist:  

"And when we give each other gifts in His name, let us remember that he has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth, with its forests and mountains and oceans and all that lives and moves upon them.  

He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit--and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused --and to save us from our own foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to Earth and gave us Himself."

Ways to Worship with Us

Wherever you are in your journey of faith, you are welcome at the Lord's Table. For those who cannot attend in person, the service is offered via livestream on our Facebook page or anytime on our website.

• St. Andrew’s Sunday Worship - 8 am and 10 am. Sunday School (all ages) at 9 am. Nursery care available.

• In Forks at St. Swithin's -  Each Sunday at 2:30 pm - We meet at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church for Holy Eucharist or Prayer.

• Mid-week Worship Service each Wednesday in person at 11 am.

  If you need assistance in accessing our worship services, please contact our office 360-457-4862.