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| Antarctica. Image by Andreas |
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A GREETING
Forever I will sing the wonders of your love, O God,
proclaiming your faithfulness to all generations!
(Psalm 89:1 TIB)
A READING
God then said to Noah and his family, “I hereby establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you—birds, cattle, and the earth’s wildlife—everything that came out of the ark, everything that lives on the earth. I hereby establish my covenant with you: All flesh will never again be swept away by the waters of the flood; never again will a flood destroy all the earth.” God said, “Here is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature for ageless generations: I set my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, my bow will appear in the clouds. Then I will remember the covenant that is between me and you and every kind of living creature, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh.16 Whenever my bow appears in the clouds I will see it, and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature on the earth.”
(Genesis 9:8-16 TIB)
MUSIC
This immersive experimental composition was written for operatically trained voices, but is mixed with recordings from a journey the composer Gordon Hamilton made to Antarctica that include the sounds of the ship breaking ice. The video is almost 17 minutes long and has not been trimmed because of the cinematography throughout. If time is limited, minutes 7:30 - 10:00 give the essence of the piece.
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
I have called you by name, you are mine.
(Isaiah 43:1b)
A PRAYER
Some days I prefer
to ignore your assurances,
pave my own path, lose my own way,
cross quicksand if I have to --
anything but
relinquish my will.
Remember the blistering, narcissistic desert,
the devil who taunted you there?
You know it well - the desire, the drive
to conceive and control, predict and prevail.
You, too, have wrestled the egoistic impulse,
the credit-hoarding greed of spirit
that flares within and keeps me,
on some days, from offering praise,
stops me from seeking your face
or following your excellent way.
I'm left to my echoing solitude,
murmuring my own name.
Jesus, teach me to pray. Lend me your hand,
Talk to me of forgiveness until
all my dear falsehoods fall way.
Mend the cracked compass of my mind,
and guide me to my true desire.
- from "All My Dear Falsehoods" in Oblation: Meditations on St. Benedict's Rule
by Rachel M. Srubas
VERSE OF THE DAY
All of your paths, O God,
are full of love and faithfulness
for those who keep your Covenant and Testimonies.
(Psalm 25:10 TIB)
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| "The first sighting of Antaractica from the ship" Image by Andreas |
All of today’s scriptural verses and readings are about covenants. The making of commitments is a primary way of being in right relationship: when we covenant with each other, we make promises to uphold the wellbeing of all involved. The Noachic covenant between God and Noah on behalf of all creatures on the earth, is both a commitment to uphold life and also a promise to control the impulse for retributive anger. God is saying that even God will be reminded by the bow in the clouds of God’s promise to not ever willfully destroy what God has made.
In our own world, sometimes such promises manifest as treaties. Treaties only work if both sides observe the agreement as holy space, in which the promises set out are a priority and not something that offers convenience. In Canada, those who are working toward reconciliation and right relationship with Indigenous peoples have been required to reckon the treaties that were made in good faith among Indigenous and settler communities in other eras, that were nonetheless broken by settlers — mostly through occupation.
Now in 2025, treaties are coming increasingly under review. The respect for territorial boundaries and sovereignty, the commitment to upholding trade agreements and other pacts among nations, is under stress. The distinction between convenient arrangement and a commitment of conviction is being tested in some cases as not ever before.
The Antarctic Treaty System was crafted at the end of the cold war decade of the 1950s to help protect the region from military activity and nuclear testing. It has since evolved into a commitment to uphold mutual scientific exploration and experiment, with mutual respect and non-interference. It governs a land that has never known a native human population, but has been very much populated always by creatures.
God promises to put a ‘bow in the clouds’ whenever there have been storms, to show God’s faithfulness to us. But what are our own signs of faithfulness to God? How much is our commitment to care of Creation an expression of the holy space of covenant — and how much do we sometimes treat it as an arrangement of convenience?
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A JOURNEY OF COMMITMENT
Students on Ice is a Canadian non-profit organization that seeks to increase experience and education of earth's polar regions, particularly the Arctic and Antarctica. In this video summary of the 2022 expedition to Antarctica, students, scientists and artists explain how much a mission to help Canada become a part of the Treaty means a chance to deepen connections among many peoples from all over the world.
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Resources in today's devotion:
Scripture passages are taken from The Inclusive Bible.
For more on Australian composer Gordon Hamilton, go here.
Rachel Srubas is a Benedictine Oblate, spiritual director and Presbyterian minister, currently serving Mountain Shadows Presbyterian Church in North Tuscon, AZ. To learn more, go here.
For more on Students on Ice, see their website. (We will be visiting with them again this week.)
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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!