By Karen Wilk
Earth shalom,
The call of this poem,
While glaciers melt
And ocean reefs swelt,
Chemicals cloud the atmosphere
And plastics pollute, far and near
God’s precious creatures going extinct
And all of it, all of us, intricately linked…
Yet no confession, no lament,
No remorse, no clothing rent
Deaf to the cry, the lament of the wild
Deaf to the sound
Of anxious parent, vulnerable child
What will be left? When will we stop?
On a collision course but does anyone care?
The forest, the garden, all laid bare
Because of us, the land moans (Hosea 4)
Wasting away, drying up, creation groans (Romans 8)
The beasts of the field, birds of the air, fish in the sea
So far from shalom the way it should be
no acknowledgment of holy ground
The sacredness of all of life, all around…
Yet yeast still grows in kneaded dough
And mustard seeds even in rocky ground can grow
When will we hear? How will we go…
Not just with platitudes
But with reformed actions and attitudes
Justice, passion, respect and gratitudes
Creator has named us stewards, made to till and to tend
Image-bearers, who also on earth do depend
How will we once more all creation, befriend?
Letting go, giving up our over- consumption,
Accepting and embracing the need for disruption
To our systems, our politics, economics, corruption
Finding our way back to harmony, equity, love’s eruption.
Shalom in our hearts, our heads and our hands
Shalom for all creatures, all waters and lands
Shalom with Creator, creation invitation, participation spans
The whole universe, all life, can we see it? -In Eternity, she stands.
Jeremiah 14:2
“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
Hosea 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel,
for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or loyalty
and no knowledge of God in the land.
2 Swearing, lying, and murder,
and stealing and adultery break out;
bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who live in it languish;
together with the wild animals
and the birds of the air,
even the fish of the sea are perishing.
Romans 8: 22a We know that the whole creation has been groaning…
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