Mother Nature

This week we celebrated Earth Day. In keeping with that theme, we started a six-week series at Firstfruits called Gift, Gratitude and Joy. It focuses on the Catholic social teaching of Care of Creation.

I have been caring for creation a bit more than usual lately. I desperately needed some color in my garden. I couldn’t wait any longer, so the day before Easter when I saw these primroses, I just couldn’t resist. (See photo.) I planted them in my containers with some tulips and began a new daily routine. I move them on the rolling cart into the garage at night and out again in the morning. It’s the only way to protect them from the unpredictable Wisconsin spring.

It’s worth it though. (I know you aren’t all agreeing with me.) Look how beautiful they are. See what they have done in appreciation for the care.

We owe a debt of gratitude to nature for the part she played in helping us through this last year with its isolation and mind numbing shut downs. I can’t tell you how many times during the last year that I found comfort and sanity in nature. Whether it was watching the bird feeder with its array of customers, laughing at the squirrels chasing each other in circles up a tree, or marveling at the turkeys seeking shelter at our front door. The gradual budding of the tree outside my bedroom window gave me a sense of order in a world that seemed so out of order.

Nature was/is there for us. We need to be there for her.

I came across a quote from Sherri Mitchell, a Native American attorney and sacred activist for environmental protection and human rights that said; ”We cannot see ourselves as having dominion over the land, the water, or the animals. We can’t even see ourselves as being stewards of the Earth. We are only keepers of a way of life that is in harmony with the Earth. Every day, we must act in ways that acknowledge that we are part of one living system, a unified whole.”

We are to work together with nature. That was a new concept to me and I like to think about it in that way. We are in relationship with all of creation. That is how God intended it to be.

Truth Be Told Bible study ended this week. A summary of all we learned about being biblical disciples is in the video below. As part of our discipleship, we are called to put our faith into action. And that action is love. And that love includes creation.

One of the women in the Gift, Gratitude and Joy group said something that none of us had ever thought about before. If all of humanity died off, nature would be just fine. In fact, she would flourish. But if all of nature died off, humanity would die also.

Who is taking care of who? No wonder she’s called Mother.

Joan

Truth Be Told Video – Session 3, Week 6

Truth Be Told
Session 3, Week 6
Led By the Spirit
Acts 15:1-12 The Council in Jerusalem
Acts 20:18-38 Paul’s Farewell to Ephesus
Acts 28: 17-31 Paul’s Final Speech