Earth Day ~ by Jane Reedy
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1: 1-2, 29-31
Recently, I saw that April 22 was Earth Day. The first Earth Day was held in 1970. Today, more than 50 years later, millions of people around the world participate in Earth Day activities to bring attention to environmental issues.
We don’t celebrate Earth Day in church. In fact, I don’t ever remember hearing it mentioned during worship. I realize that it’s not a Holy Day on the Christian calendar, but if we open the Bible to the first chapter of the first book, we read that God created the Earth and everything in it. If we read on, we learn that Adam and Eve were evicted from the garden because they misused the precious gift that they were given.
Fortunately, God didn’t give up on mankind; instead, He made us stewards of His creation. Even though we all have a huge responsibility, there is much disagreement on the best way to meet our obligation. Should we: Use cloth or plastic bags at the grocery? Heat our homes with solar energy or oil? Drive electric or gas-powered vehicles? Or does climate change even exist?
Regardless of our personal opinions, we can all do something to improve our planet: plant a tree, walk to an appointment, pick up litter from the road, catch a bucketful of rain to use in the garden or make a note to help on May 4 at the St. James spring clean-up day. At the very least, we can say a prayer of thanks to God for giving us this big, wide, wonderful world in which we live.
Dear God – thank You for giving us this beautiful gift – the day and the night, the sky and the land, the plants and the animals, life itself. Help us to honor You by taking care of this irreplaceable gift. Amen