Today April 27, 2018 is Arbor Day! To celebrate, read this amazing post by Lynne Baab —
I have always loved trees. They speak to me of God’s creativity, complexity, beauty and provision.
In high school, we had three young birch trees in our back yard. To me, they looked like young girls dancing, reflecting the joy of living in God’s beautiful world.
As a university student, I took hundreds of photos of the sun shining through trees. I particularly admired the translucence of maple leaves backlit by the sun, speaking to me of the beauty of the Light of the World.
I often remember the trees from places I’ve traveled. The first time I travelled to New Mexico and Colorado in the fall, the round, golden aspen leaves made me gasp with pleasure. The trees looked like they were covered with gold coins, a picture of God’s rich beauty and abundance.
The eucalyptus trees in Australia were a revelation. I had always loved the smell of eucalyptus trees when I visited Northern California, but I thought “eucalyptus” referred to one kind of tree. In Australia, dozens of species of eucalyptus fill the streets and parks, each species with a slightly different color or shape. Of the 700 species of eucalyptus in the world, most are native to Australia. Seeing all those different kinds of eucalyptus trees made me feel like a kid in a candy shop of trees, all of them intricately created by the Maker of all beauty.
Trees are used throughout the Bible as metaphors for various aspects of faith. The tree planted by streams of water in Psalm 1 bears fruit in its season and has green leaves even in a drought. Who is like that tree? A person who loves God, does what is right, and meditates on God’s law day and night.
The vision of God’s abundance described in Isaiah 55:12 talks about joy and peace, which will be so powerful that the mountains will sing and “all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” I read that verse for the first time as a very young Christian, during my photographing-trees-in-the-sun phase, and I posted the verse on my bulletin board because it was so vivid and joyous.
In John’s vision of heaven, recounted in Revelation 21 and 22, the river of life flows through the city, with the tree of life growing beside it, “and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:2). The nations so desperately need God’s healing. I wonder if those healing leaves look like maple leaves with the sun shining through them. Perhaps those healing leaves are gold, like aspen leaves in the fall.
Trees take simple ingredients – carbon dioxide from the air, water and minerals from the soil – and turn them into beautiful branches and leaves, as well as delicious fruit and precious oxygen. Because humans and other mammals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, trees give balance, providing the oxygen that is essential for human life. Without trees, the rising carbon dioxide level of the air would make life impossible for two reasons: lack of oxygen for mammals to breathe and ever increasing temperatures caused by carbon dioxide’s greenhouse effect.
Arbor Day focuses on planting trees, these miracles of beauty and oxygen. The first known Arbor Day was celebrated in 1594 in Spain. The United States celebrates Arbor Day on April 27, and many other countries have their own Arbor Day. This year, to celebrate Arbor Day, plant a tree. Draw a tree. Photograph a tree. Look out your window or go outside and enjoy the trees that you can see. And don’t forget to thank God for trees.
For further reflection:
The Arbor Day Foundation provides a wonderful webpage showing the benefits of trees. Take a look here.
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How they Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben will blow your mind. Did you know that trees communicate with each other? They do it through chemicals they release into the wind and through fungi and other plants in the earth. Take a look here.
by Christine Sine
Tomorrow Tom and I will help kick off the Inhabit Conference, one of our favourite events of the year. I relish the stories of good things happening in neighbourhoods around the world and rejoice with those whose lives are making an impact.
Here is the prayer that I will be sharing – as you can see it grew out of the prayer I shared on Monday as I reflected out what it would take to enable our neighbourhoods to flourish for all the inhabitants and for God’s good creation too. Enjoy
Sing praises to the God of all creation,
Shout aloud your delight to the Most High.
Choose to enjoy the glory of the everlasting, ever present One,
Who dwells with us here, and now and everywhere we go.
Our God is the God of all the earth.
Our God is the God of all our neighborhoods.
Let us center ourselves on God today.
Sit and listen to what delights God’s heart.
Breathe in the wonder of eternal love,
Dance to the rhythm of eternal breath.
Listening to the whispers calling you to slow down and take notice.
Our God is the God of all the earth.
Our God is the God of all our neighborhoods.
Let us center ourselves on God today.
Enjoy the beauty of divine presence, unfurling around us.
Gasp in awe at the fragrances, dance to the melodies.
God is renewing, restoring, resurrecting.
Until all becomes a fit place for us and for God to dwell.
Our God is the God of all the earth.
Our God is the God of all our neighborhoods.
Let us center ourselves on God today.
God is in us, God is around us,
Behind and before, on left and on right,
God who is One, God who is three,
This God is with us wherever we go.
Our God is the God of all the earth.
Our God is the God of all our neighborhoods.
Let us center ourselves on God today.
Amen
If you are going to be at the conference and would like to connect please email me at seasickdoctor@gmail.com
By John Birch —
Have you ever wondered what it would look like to welcome God home to an earth restored, transformed and made new? Have you ever thought about what it would take to transform our earth into a home that is fitting not just for humanity but for God?
Yes I know that God is present in all places and at all times, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that God finds all places and all times a comfortable place to reside.
This has been the focus of my contemplation over this earth day weekend. I have blogged about this before but stirred by Earth Day, I find it always returns to my attention at this time of the year.
Saturday was a glorious day here in Seattle with the sun shining brightly and warmly, burning away the lethargy and dullness that the last month of rain and cold has nurtured in me. As the sun warmed me, my thoughts kept returning to images of God’s new world. Beauty, peace, justice and compassion would surround us. Laughter, dancing, singing, playfulness and joy would be everywhere. Generosity, love, and unity amongst all people. Creation would be renewed and wholeness would flourish.
Is it possible? The imagery of the end of time we see in Revelation is of heaven coming down to earth, of earth restore and made new. Maybe total transformation is not possible in this present age but at least we can work for glimpses of it in anticipation of the day when Christ returns and all is indeed made new.
Revelation 21:1-5 The Voice (VOICE)
I looked again and could hardly believe my eyes. Everything above me was new. Everything below me was new. Everything around me was new because the heaven and earth that had been passed away, and the sea was gone, completely. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride on her wedding day, adorned for her husband and for His eyes only. 3 And I heard a great voice, coming from the throne.
A Voice: See, the home of God is with His people.
He will live among them;
They will be His people,
And God Himself will be with them.
4 The prophecies are fulfilled:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
Mourning no more, crying no more, pain no more,
For the first things have gone away.5 And the One who sat on the throne announced to His creation,
The One: See, I am making all things new. (turning to me) Write what you hear and see, for these words are faithful and true.
What is Your Response?
As we celebrate EARTH WEEK, this week, spend time contemplating your images of what our earth could look like if it was once more a fitting home for God. God’s presence is already with us always, but to make this earth a home for God we need to put all our efforts in to transforming – not just our physical environment, but our relationships and our inner selves.
Take out your journal and write CREATE A FIT PLACE FOR GOD TO DWELL in large letters.
Prayerfully contemplate your statement.
Decorate the letters, in whatever ways your creativity inspires you.
Make a list of “the perfect home for God“. Maybe you want to watch a couple of those popular home renovation programs to inspire you first.
How is God prompting you to respond? What could you do to make this world a more inviting place for God to dwell?
by Christine Sine
April 22nd is such an important day to celebrate the goodness of God in creation.
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to record this podcast with Beth Bond at the Evangelical Environmental Network for their Mom’s group. I hope you enjoy listening to it.
I have also been doing some more research on plastic and how to decrease its use in my life. As a result I have decided to do away with plastic milk bottles and go with glass. There is only one farm in the Pacific NW that does this – Twin Brooks Creamery . With the deposit on the bottles my milk will be no more expensive than in plastic and I love their mission statement. We are a family owned & operated dairy that exists to glorify God through the stewardship of the soil and animals He has entrusted to our care, in the best possible way.
I also came across this great video – recycling plastic as asphalt sounds like a wonderful way to get rid of so much of what now goes in the landfill.
The photo above may not have anything to do with my post but as we celebrate the goodness of God in creation on this important day I wanted to share it with you. It is magnificent, awe inspiring and huge (6″ across)
Epipphyllum Unforgettable – 6″ blooms.
When we try, and use a little of our God given creativity, we can all make a difference in surprising ways.
It’s Earth Day this weekend and I have to admit that I’m still on a big learning curve when it comes to taking care of our planet. Sadly, I didn’t grow up believing that planet care and care for the environment is a spiritual practice! I grew up in the “get saved and get raptured” South, which means that we were all about “getting to heaven,” and the Kingdom of God was off the planet not here. While I am still a big believer in heaven, I now know that as followers of Jesus, we are called to live out the Kingdom here and now! And part of that is taking care of this beautiful planet we call home.
This can still be a challenge when you don’t live around people who practice planet care, or when you move from a place where people really care about the environment, like in California and the Northwest, to a place that is still figuring out recycling like here in Nashville. When we lived in California, our recycling bin was twice the size of our garbage/trash bin. The recycling was picked up weekly along with the garbage. Here in the “IT” city of Nashville, recycling is picked up once a month and glass recycling is not done curbside at all. You have to take the glass to a recycling center. And plastic grocery bags, banished in many places on the west coast, are still used on a daily basis at most grocery stores here in the South.
It’s scary and mind boggling, but sadly there is still a bit of an
“us verses them” mentality here in America. In the South, too many people still see care for the planet and celebrations like Earth Day as “Liberal” causes and not celebrations and actions we all can participate in as people of God. I believe we are all called to be caregivers of Creation and we can all start and expand the spiritual practice of caring for creation, wherever we are on the planet! And as followers of Jesus we can be examples of living out love for our planet as well as it’s people.
But how do we start? or How do we start again? How do we expand our understanding?
Maybe you are interested in being more “planet aware,” but it feels overwhelming.
Maybe like me, you sometimes shut down because you cannot fix things, or you don’t know enough, or you are just so busy that planet care and sustainability feels like too much!
Like all spiritual practices, it TAKES PRACTICE to take care of the planet!
I am all about baby steps.
Starting small.
Paying Attention
Being willing to be willing!
Like any good thing, sustainability and planet care take time.
It takes time to recycle.
It takes time to buy food that is less processed and is in less packaging.
It takes time to learn from others who are experts in the field of sustainability and planet care.
We can learn a great deal from our international friends who are paying much more attention to planet care than we are in the States. And those of us in the South can learn a lot from our neighbors on the west coast who have already banned plastic bags and are working towards zero waste. In yesterday’s post, I learned about an organization doing great work against plastic waste AROCHA.
So where do we start?
- Be honest and Pay Attention and take a personal inventory. Like in Recovery/12 Step programs I first have to admit that I have a problem and confess that I need help with this problem. I confess that I am guilty of buying A LOT of stuff in plastic without even paying attention. I admit that I have an obsessive love of zip lock plastic bags! Just this week, I ran into Target to get some laundry detergent (in a large plastic bottle) and we needed eggs, but the “good eggs” were packaged in a 3 layer plastic container! Didn’t really think of this until I put the empty container in the recycling bin! That is an abundance of plastic for one dozen eggs! I will not be buying them like that again! Sadly, I’ve noticed that Costco likes to protect their eggs and fruit in plastic too! Wondering if we could ask Costco to change that? And maybe Target too? If enough voices yell loud enough, often change happens! Again, this involves paying attention, noticing and taking the time to care about little things that add up quickly.
- Start in your neighborhood. What can you do to stick up for the environment and for the health of your community? Can you pick up trash? Can you plant flowers? Can you fight for better recycling? Can you fight the developers who want to over build? Taking time to get to know your neighbors is the first place to start! and then getting to know your local leaders so you can take action together! My next step is to remind my neighbors that they can ask for more recycling bins! We are allowed 3 large bins but most people only have one, which fills up quickly when recycling only happens once a month!
- Be a Learner! Take some time to check out sites on the internet that can help you learn more about the environment and how to care for it. check out this video for a few simple ideas to try!
- Do ONE THING. Like I’ve said on many things, we have to start small and begin. What is one thing you can do to start making a difference for the planet? What is ONE NEW THING you can do to add to what you are already doing for sustainability and planet care? I learned living in California to take my reusable grocery bags to the store, but I am now going to invest in some re useable vegetable bags to use in the produce aisle. I also started taking a cloth napkin in my purse and in my back pack to use when I am eating on the road so I don’t use so many paper ones. And just recently I bought a new, bigger water bottle to carry with me wherever I go. My old one was too hard to clean so it often got left at home and I resorted to buying plastic water bottles that became trash/recycling.
- PRAY! Pray for our Planet. Pray for people around the globe to want to care for their neighborhoods. Pray for local and national leaders to make good choices for the Environment. Pray for ways you personally can be a better care giver of creation. For me it starts by saying I’m sorry. I’m sorry God, that too often I don’t see the needs around me. Too often I don’t take the time to care for the planet or to stand up for causes that protect the environment. Give me your eyes to see the beauty of this planet. Give me your hands to make a difference and help me to take responsibility for how I live here. Forgive me for the ways I have failed. Help me love creation as much as you do! AMEN
Give yourself permission to be on a learning curve. Give yourself grace as you learn to practice sustainability. Jesus wants us to love others and love the planet, one step at a time. What’s your first baby step? I’d love to hear about it!
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