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| "Svalbard Global Seed Vault as Seen at Night," by Mari Tefre |
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A GREETING
I will sing of loyalty and of justice;
to you, O Lord, I will sing.
(Psalm 101:1)
A READING
He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
(Mark 4:26-29)
MUSIC
Sung in Latin, the lyrics for this composition are from Songs 6:4-5:
You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, comely as Jerusalem,
terrible as an army with banners. Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me!
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed
that is brought in yearly from the field.
(Deuteronomy 14:22)
A POEM
What sower walked over earth,
which hands sowed
our inward seeds of fire?
They went out from his fists like rainbow curves
to frozen earth, young loam, hot sand,
they will sleep there
greedily, and drink up our lives
and explode it into pieces
for the sake of a sunflower that you haven’t seen
or a thistle head or a chrysanthemum.
- from "Sunflower," by Rolf Jacobsen, translated by Robert Bly.
VERSE OF THE DAY
The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.
(Genesis 1:12)
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| "Flora in nightly rain -- flowers on Svalbard," by Kitty Terwolbeck |
Svalbard, Norway is a remote archipelago that marks the place where the Arctic Ocean meets the Atlantic. Northeast of Iceland, it lies half way between the northernmost coast of Norway and the North Pole. Inhabited by less than three thousand people, it is home to an ambitious project completed in 2008 — The Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
Storing more than 1.3 million varieties of seeds and built into a mountain range tunnel once used for coal mining, the seed vault exists to protect global food crops against decay, extinction and genetic modification, by preserving them in their pure form. Two hundred and twenty-three countries store food crop seeds in the vault, many coming from genebanks that exist in their home regions. Only the contributor or depositor can withdraw the seeds. The vault has been built to withstand a range of possible challenges resulting from climate change and is maintained at a temperature of -18 degrees celsius. The vault does not have a permanent on-site staff: access is by a single entryway, lit up by an art installation. (See picture above.)
Seeds are essential to the survival of humanity. Jesus uses seeds as metaphors in parables and in his storytelling. In today’s reading, he describes the wonder of a seed’s transformation from its invisibility under the earth to the time of harvest. The description is meant to also describe how God’s nurturing of our faith leads us to help nurture faith in each other.
Svalbard itself does not have much variety of vegetation. Its tundra landscape includes shrubs and ferns, grasses and mosses. In the midst of this wilderness, however, is a deep treasure of life-giving and nourishing seeds. How can we hear in this, the rich potential that each of us has to grow and thrive, even when our own landscapes feel barren and empty? How can we find faith in the future, even amid our fears and deep concerns for a changing planet?
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A STORY OF RESISTANCE AND HOPE
In her 2018 film, Wild Relatives, filmmaker Jumana Manna documented the return of seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, that were regenerated in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and were originally from Aleppo in Syria. The seeds had been stored in the vault but due to the war in Syria, it was not possible to grow stable food crops. Using the seeds grown in Lebanon, it was possible to re-establish food crops for Syria. Here is a trailer for the film.
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Resources in today's devotion:
Scripture passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version.
Ola Gjeilo is a contemporary Norwegian composer living in the US.
For more on his work, see his website.
Voces8 is an a cappella choir based in the UK. Read about them here.
This conversation (via Facebook) between composer Ola Gjeilo and the directors of Voces8 gives some background on the composition "Northern Lights."
The composer uses the image of love in Songs 6, that is both beautiful and overwhelming, as a metaphor for the northern lights.
For more on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, go here.
Rolf Jacobsen was a Norwegian poet who helped bring a modernist style to Scandinavian poetry.
Jumana Manna is a Palestinian/Israeli filmmaker and visual artist who has lived in Oslo and Jerusalem and is currently based in Berlin.
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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!