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| St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Image by Shore Zone. |
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A GREETING
Your word is a lamp before my feet
and a light for my journey.
(Psalm 119:105 CEB)
A READING
When I look up at your skies,
at what your fingers made—
the moon and the stars
that you set firmly in place—
what are human beings
that you think about them;
what are human beings
that you pay attention to them?
You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
crowning them with glory and grandeur.
You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,
putting everything under their feet—
all sheep and all cattle,
the wild animals too,
the birds in the sky,
the fish of the ocean,
everything that travels the pathways of the sea.
(Psalm 8:3-8 CEB)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
I will walk around in wide-open spaces,
because I have pursued your precepts.
(Psalm 119:45)
A POEM
Notes in staccato igniting instrumental waves of burning wood,
a fiery spark over and speck dust played in harmonics,
as a coot hovers over a brook dives in comes back with a fish.
No one would ever know its true beauty and calmness,
the setting sun across an arctic lake, unless it is witnessed.
As speckled day owls, brants, and mergansers float in the sunset.
- from "A Year Dot," by dg nanouk okpik
VERSE OF THE DAY
The people who love your Instruction enjoy peace—and lots of it.
(Psalm 119:165a)
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| "Spectacled Eider," Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska Image by Domenic Sherony |
The flow of the waters of the Arctic region bring us almost fully circumpolar back to the border of Russia and the United States at the Chukchi and Bering Seas. The international boundary line falls to the west of St. Lawrence Island, an Alaskan island that is physically closer to the shores of Russia than to Alaska. St. Lawrence Island is believed to be some of the last land mass remaining of what was once a bridge of land between the two continents during the Pleistocene era — the ecosystem of which was the focus of Day 10’s ambitious Siberian farming project.
There are no trees on St. Lawrence Island and no vegetation higher than a foot. However, the island is host to an abundance of marine birds, whose number and variety are growing as a result of climate change. As sea ice melts, and natural predators like whales change their patterns of movement, fish become more and less available accordingly. For instance there are species of Albatross, Gannet and Auklet that have been using the island since 2006 but not before.
In today’s reading, the Psalmist reminds us that in the Creation of the world, God offered human beings the role of providing care over all that has been created, including “everything that travels the pathways of the sea.” In our contemporary tensions in North America, we are rightfully concerned about the coming changes to the costs of commerce on our seas and highways. But how much do we care about the changing pathways of the seas for the birds and fish that live there?
In Lent, we often speak of re-orienting ourselves and our faith back towards the primacy of Jesus and of God in our lives. How much does that re-orientation include a recommitment of care to what God has made? How can we be God's hands in our care of the earth?
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A STORY OF TRANSLATION
In this video, the Yupik people of St. Lawrence Island come together with non-Indigenous missionaries to create a Yupik translation of the New Testament in the language of Akuzipik. In doing so, they find meanings they would not otherwise have in either the English or the Russian that many speak. "The Akuzipik translation comes from the Lord," one member says. "I want to be up in heaven and praise God in my own language," says another. What are the ways we can find to renew the meaning we find in Scripture?
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Resources in today's devotion:
Scripture passages are taken from The Common English Bible.
Full lyrics for Establish the Work of Our Hands, by Porter's Gate can be found here.
dg nanouk okpik is an Inupiaq-Inuit Alaskan poet. Read more about her here.
The Yupik New Testament can be found here.
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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!