CREATION’S CORNER #40: FINDING HOPE DURING DARK TIMES
How are you doing today? For some of us, the past few days have taken a dark turn. At times like this, where does one look to find renewed hope? If you are like me, I often focus on what could be described as my “proximate” hope – hope that is caught up in the present...
CREATION’S CORNER #39: PRACTICAL EARTHKEEPING: CHANGING THE WORLD ONE MEAL AT A TIME
The following corner is re-printed with permission from the November 2, 2024 issue of The Ecological Discipline published by Circlewood, a Christ-centered Creation care organization on Camano Island. Dr. James Amadon, Executive Director of Circlewood has spoken to...
CREATION’S CORNER #38: AN OHIO SENSE OF PLACE
I suggested in an earlier issue of CC that some of you might be willing to share how you “connect” with Creation – as a composer, writer, poet, artist, or one having deep roots in a place where you experience God’s presence. Marilynn Strayer responded to this...
CREATION’S CORNER #37: THE PALOUSE
It is a wondrous site, this grand inland sea, extending from horizon to horizon as the gentle breeze creates apparent waves that drift across the landscape. But we are not speaking of a sea of water but rather of grain. The grandeur has been captured in the words of a...
CREATION’S CORNER #36 FOLLOWING OLD FOOTSTEPS
There are occasional events in one’s life that are cemented in memory. For me, those times have often involved wilderness experiences. Some people are “city folks.” Others like me, turn their eyes to Creation’s natural areas where human footprints are much less...
CREATION’S CORNER #35 – GIVING THANKS
Our family always has a blessing at meals. This has been a common practice throughout both Jewish and Christian history – Deuteronomy 8:10, Luke 24:30, Acts 27:35…. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus instructs us how to pray… “give us each day our daily bread…”. Gratefulness...
CREATION’S CORNER #34: SENSING GOD’S PRESENCE IN THIN PLACES
It was a cold, clear spring day in the Owyhee Mountains about 60 years ago. I needed a break from classes and this Saturday morning provided an opportunity. Frost was on the ground and patches of snow in the shade of the rocks. As I rounded a corner, to my right the...
CREATION’S CORNER #33 OUT OF SITE, OUT OF MIND – BUT THERE IS NO “AWAY”
Have you ever wondered where your trash goes once your “stuff” is picked up or when you leave it at the transfer station? Perhaps not. It just “goes away” – not your problem anymore! This past spring, I visited the Burk Museum of the University of Washington. One of...
CREATION’S CORNER #32 – HOW IS YOUR ECOLOGICAL HEALTH?
What is the size of your footprint? I'm not talking about the size of the shoes you wear, but rather the size of the footprint that you leave as you walk the paths of Creation. Humanity is shaping the surface of Earth and modifying the chemistry of the oceans and...
CREATION’S CORNER # 31 YOUR FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR, CALE
Hi neighbor. My name is CALE. More commonly, I am called Golden Paintbrush, but some intellectual folks have named me Castilleja levisecta, hence the abbreviation, CALE. I am the yellow ones next to my friend Chocolate Lilly in the photo. I have an interesting...
CREATION’S CORNER # 30 THE ART OF CREATION: GLORY TO YOU
This “Corner” continues the theme of different perspectives. Here we will consider a poem attributed to protopresbyter Gregory Petrov of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Petrov died in a Siberian labor camp in 1940 during the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. I have borrowed...
CREATION’S CORNER # 29 – A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
The last “Corner” examined how words make a difference. Today we will see that words also shape how you consider relationships and indeed reality. Recently I have been reading a national bestseller – Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Elizabeth Gilbert...
CREATION’S CORNER # 28: WORDS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
St. Francis Of Assisi Painted By Craig Johnson What thoughts come to mind when you look at this painting of St. Francis of Assisi by my friend Craig Johnson? Perhaps you recognize the setting -- Earth Sanctuary with a bit of artistic license and more non-human...
CREATION’S CORNER # 27: TAKING TIME TO SEE, LISTEN AND SAVOR
"The world is fairly studded with strewn pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But—and this is the point—who gets excited by a mere penny? …It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won’t stoop to pick up a mere penny. But if...
CREATION’S CORNER #26 God’s Provision: The Atmosphere, not to be taken for granted!
Morning Prayer Creator God, who set the stars in their places and directs the course of the planets; who robed this earth with a thin garment of air, making it a haven of beauty and life; who breathed into each of us the breath of life: We thank you for the gift of...
CREATION’S CORNER #25: Sacred Grounds, Holy Grounds, or both?
When you drive onto the Trinity Lutheran Church property, you enter Sacred Grounds – officially certified by the National Wildlife Federation. Earlier in 2023, TLC received Wildlife Habitat certification. Why is this significant? It recognizes that Trinity Lutheran...
CREATION’S CORNER # 24: MYSTERY – HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?
PILLARS OF CREATION from James Webb Space Telescope “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” -- Genesis 1:1. We also read the beautiful words of Psalm 19:1-2: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after...
CREATION’S CORNER # 23 FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
There is no question that these are human footprints. If you happened to find them, however, what questions might you ask? Who? When? Why? What would you like to know about the individual(s) who made the tracks? These tracks were recently discovered in White Sands...
CREATION’S CORNER: #21 ARE YOU DEALING WITH ‘SOLASTALGIA’?
New words are cropping up daily. Solastalgia is one of them. It is defined as “…a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change”. When you hear the all-to-frequent references to the global emergency of climate change, loss of biodiversity,...
CREATION’S CORNER #20: A FRIEND RETURNED TODAY
As the first rays of the sun broke through the lingering darkness of night, morning did not find me on the beach today. Salmon season ended on September 30th. My freezer is adequately filled for the year and my early mornings now have other pursuits. This October...
CREATION’S CORNER # 20 THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AND MY ORAL TESTIMONY IN CONGRESS
Perhaps you recall as a child gazing on the scene of Noah’s Ark decorating the walls of your Sunday school classroom. Have you recently thought much about that Biblical event? Is it relevant today, or just a childhood story? What message does that Biblical story tell?...
CREATION’S CORNER #19 REWILDING
This Creation’s Corner is a bit longer than previous ones. It is important. Bear with me…. What an awesome opportunity awaits humanity including you and me! Rewilding? What is it, and why is it necessary? Rewilding is defined by Webster as “an effort to increase...
CREATION’S CORNER #18: WHAT IS DE-EXTINCTION?
Sometimes, it seems like science fiction becomes reality. That appears to be close at hand with de-extinction. The previous edition of Creation’s Corner considered the triad of extinction. De-extinction aims to bring species back to life that no longer exist. How in...
CREATION’S CORNER #17 FRUITFULNESS VS. THE TRIAD OF EXTINCTION
A previous issue of Creation’s Corner addressed the recent loss of much of Creation’s megafauna at the end of the last ice age. What has happened to the mastodon, mammoth, dire wolf, short-faced bear, and hundreds of other large species of mammals that occupied Earth...
CREATION’S CORNER #16: THE WALLS TELL THE STORY!
THE WALLS TELL THE STORY! Have you recently walked the hallway in the youth wing of Trinity Lutheran? If not, you should take a stroll into a different world! The walls of the hallway have been transformed into a jungle scene created by Marcie Bovetz for the Vacation...
CREATION’S CORNER #15: CAN YOU IMAGINE?
We often assume that Creation was about the same when humans arrived in North America sometime between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago. During the last ice age (driven by the Milankovitch Cycle), when sea levels were as much as 400 feet lower than present, humans migrated...
CREATION’S CORNER #14: WILDERNESS IN SCRIPTURE AND TODAY
I am signed up for the 2024 Israel trip led by Pastor Jim. It is high on my bucket list! At the planning meeting on Sept 7, Pastor Jim showed pictures of the biblical wilderness – places that Jesus frequently visited for prayer and renewal. But why wilderness? What is...
CREATION’S CORNER #13: HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
My bumper sticker says, “If you love the Creator, take care of Creation”. How is it going for Earth’s non-human creatures? A central message in Genesis one is the fruitfulness of Creation. Is Creation’s fruitfulness being compromised and degraded? Remember pastor...
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES, YOU STAND ON HOLY LAND
Have you ever experienced a place where the sense of holiness was so overwhelming that you felt compelled to follow the Biblical injunction to “take off your sandals; you stand on Holy ground”? Those places are called “thin places” – where heaven is so close that it...
CREATION’S CORNER #11 BEYOND STEWARDSHIP?
What is the best term to describe our human relationship to the non-human Creation? This is the question raised in the recent book Beyond Stewardship: New Approaches to Creation Care edited by D. P Warners and M. K. Heun. A steward cares for something that belongs to...
CREATION’S CORNER #10: TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS – THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS
We have made great strides as a country since I was a child in St. Helens, Oregon, where raw sewage flowed directly into the Columbia River at the local Marina. Twenty-five miles upstream, the Willamette River flowing through Portland received sewage from Portland....
CREATION’S CORNER #9: SHOW NO FEAR
Have you ever imagined what Eden was like? The word “Edenic” has been coined to describe a place that seems to share the beauty, serenity, and peace of that original setting. Have you experienced such a place? As Adam and Eve strolled through the garden,...