 |
| Migration of the Baikal Teal. Image by Crom Shin. |
†
A GREETING
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God.
(Psalm 104:1)
A READING
God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’
And it was so.
(Genesis 1:29-30)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
I will make for you a covenant on that day with the wild animals,
the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground.
(Hosea 2:18a)
A REFLECTION
If we accept the popular vision that we are all headed to heaven someday, then it becomes easy to turn our back on the earth, because it doesn’t really matter. We will never foster an ecologically healing vision and practice in our lives as long we hold on to an unbiblical heaven-focused theology. Biblical hope, in Paul and throughout the canon, is decidedly this-worldly. Resurrection hope is always a bodily hope that encompasses all of creation. The Bible calls us to remember who we are: we are from the earth, we are for the earth, and we are destined for the new earth, where God will dwell with us. Or, in the language of Romans 8, we are the children of God who will one day be agents of creation’s liberation when our bodies are redeemed. This is language of resurrection, the language of hope. Throughout the book of Romans, the longing for resurrection found throughout the Scriptures is answered in Jesus.
- from Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice
by Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh
VERSE OF THE DAY
For the creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the children of God
(Romans 8:19)
†
 |
| Siberia. Image by Crom Shin. |
The seas of the Russian Arctic flow in and around islands and archipelagos before merging with the Siberian Sea toward the eastern part of the country. Here, on the shores of the Kolyna River, a father and son have attempted to try to bring back the ecosystem of an ancient age.
Today’s reading returns us to Genesis, where we are reminded that the flora and fauna were created before humankind was created. The very next verse is the creation of humans. God created all of the creatures of the earth before humankind and then gave humans “dominion” over Creation, a word which in its origin means “care.”
Today’s reflection by Sylvia Keesmaat-Walsh and Brian Walsh tells us that Paul’s vision of hope in Romans is one in which we must believe that the world can be healed. That longing for the restoration of the earth will begin with the earth, as the earth is at the very center of all climate change conversation. It is from the earth that we extract fossil fuels to burn. It is on the earth that humans and other animals make their homes. It is the earth that hosts waters and forests that are degraded by pollution and it is the permafrost under the tundra of the Arctic that is melting.
In the story below, we hear two Siberian ecoscientists describe their vision for how to protect and preseve the permafrost. Sergey and Nikita Zimov, father and son, believe that the answer lies in returning to the Pleistocene era, when herbivore creatures roamed in the thousands. Over twenty-five years, first father and then father and son together have created “Pleistocene Park”, a nature reserve on the Kolyma River in the Sakha Republic of Siberia, that replicates a grassland ecosystem in which the grazing “mammoth” animals prevented insulation from forming over the permafrost, exposing the ground to the cold air and keeping it frozen.
Siberia’s permafrost holds the most lethal quantity of carbon deposit of anywhere in the world. To prevent it from being exposed, the Zimovs have imported bison and yaks from other regions and already begun to see a conversion to grasslands. This kind of ingenuity is Advent thinking in a very Lent-like crisis. It is caring for Creation instead of trying to "fix" it. It is adjusting a life on earth for the sake of the earth. How can it inspire us? How can God’s deepest desire for the world and creative scientific ingenuity on the part of humankind help us to move the earth closer to healing? What role can we play, in our prayers and with our supportive voices, in helping to support those making innovative change?
* * * * * * * *
AN ECOLOGICAL DREAM AND A LIFE OF HOPE
There are a number of short and longer documentary films that have been made about Pleistocene Park and its founders Sergey and Nikita Zimov. A full length film of approximagely 1 hour and 40 minutes (a Saturday night watch perhaps) is well worth taking in. You can find it here. This brief video below gives a glimpse of the ideology behind the desire to recreate the Pleistocene Age.
* * * * * * * *
The next devotional day is Monday, March 17th.
Resources in today's devotion:
Scripture passages are taken from The New Revised Standard Version.
Sylvia Keesmaat Walsh and Brian Walsh are biblical scholars and theologians who live off the grid in southwestern Ontario.
The website for Pleistocene Park can be found here.
†
LC† Streams of Living Justice is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!