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| "Sea Ice Patterns." Beaufort Sea (Yukon/Alaska) Image by Kathryn Hansen |
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A GREETING
I commune with my heart in the night;
I meditate and search my spirit.
(Psalm 77:6)
A READING
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
(Matthew 5:23-24)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us--
and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
(1 John 3:16)
A POEM
A beluga rising
from the ocean’s muddy depths
reshapes its head to make a sound
or take a breath.
I want to come
at air and light like this,
to make my heart
a white arc above the muck of certain days,
and from silence and strange air
send a song
to breach the surface
where what we most need
lives.
- "What Whales and Infants Know," by Kim Cornwall
found on the website of Alaska Centre for the Book
VERSE FOR THE DAY
Return to the Lord, your God,
for God is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
(Joel 2:13)
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| "Cottongrass." Arctic Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Image by Danielle Brigida |
In today’s reading, Jesus encourages reconciliation among those who have conflicts. Before offering gifts to God, he tells the disciples to make sure that they are at peace with those in their world. Being in right relationship with God requires being in right relationship with each other. In our own lives, how much are we willing to be in right relationship with those we dislike or disagree with? When we are offended, how much is our instinct to try and heal wounds?
In the 2020s, the Arctic is perhaps the most sought after region of our planet by world leaders. With a sea bed rich in oil and other minerals, the Arctic Ocean in particular offers a vast potential for exploitation. The devastating changes that are being caused by climate catastrophe are bringing this forward: what was previously unreachable because of permafrost and sea ice has started to become more tangible, now that both are melting at such a rapid rate. In this way, a devastating ongoing climate impact has led to a spiked interest in mining the very fuel that has helped to cause the damage.
And yet, communities all over the Arctic are offering signs of resilience and hope. And so are Creation's creatures and flora and fauna. Over the next ten days, we will navigate the circumpolar countries of the Arctic to find those signs of resistance and resilience. On the way, we will also hear how Indigenous communities respond to the changes in habitat and livelihood.
The Beaufort Sea holds the international border between the United States and Canada, through its territorial waters extending outward from Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Over the past twenty years, that boundary line has been in dispute, but the two countries have always sought to resolve it peacefully. How will contemporary tensions affect that process? From Alaska to Maine, Canada has an uninterrupted coastal boundary. As more traffic appears in the Northwest Passage that may change. Right now there is no place for a non-Canadian vessel to regularly put to port or dock. The minute any country achieves land rights for that purpose, they become entitled to claim some land around that landfall.
This is the setting for our exploration.
As we bring the gifts of our love, commitment, and desire for right relationships to God, how will we feel moved to help protect this part of our world? At the same time, how much are we commited to follow Jesus' call to love our neighbour?
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AN IMAGE OF RESILIENCE
The beluga whale has the highest population of any whale species in the Arctic and especially in the Beaufort Sea. They migrate north and west to shed their skin in the waters surrounding Baffin Island. These whales exist amid the tensions of the Arctic: they enjoy the protection of the World Wildlife Fund, but are also hunted by the Inuit for whom they are a significant aspect of cultural life. They are increasingly threatened by underwater noise from ships which interfere with their communications to each other.
Yet they migrate, adapt and endure.
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Resources in today's devotion:
Scripture passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version.
Full lyrics for "No One But Thee" can be found here.
Calla Kinglit is a Baha'i singer/songwriter based in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Kim Cornwall was a Canadian-American poet who made her home in Alaska. She died in 2010.
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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!