CREATION’S CORNER #61 – CLIMATE CHANGE AND ORANGE RIVERS
It used to be called “global warming”. Today, “climate change” is a better descriptor. It is far more inclusive than global warming. Earlier Creation’s Corners have shown that it is driven by human activities. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide is the primary, but...
CREATION’S CORNER #60 – A CRITICAL CURRENT EVENT
Originally written to publish November 18. As you read this, the COP 30 meeting is taking place in Brazil. COP 30 (UN Framework Convention on Climate Chage – UNFCCC) is the 30th annual United Nations climate change conference. It is taking place in Belem, Brazil from...
CREATION’S CORNER #59 – FINDING PEACE IN THE MIDST OF CLIMATE ANXIETY – PART 2
The above painting is by Rembrandt: The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. Imagine the anxiety of the disciples! This Creation’s Corner is part two of Veronica Frans’ article previously published in BioLogos - see link to the Biologos article in Creation’s Corner #58 (Part...
CREATION’S CORNER #58 – FINDING PEACE IN THE MIDST OF CLIMATE ANXIETY PART 1
By guest writer, Veronica Frans Many of us suffer from anxiety. It may be caused by environmental concerns including climate change, health issues, finances, family problems, aging for many of us, and more. Veronica, a former student of mine (Joe Sheldon), has...
CREATION’S CORNER #57 – PREDICTING KING TIDES
By guest contributor Barbara Bennett The dynamic power of God’s creation will be on display with the next cycle of king tides. How high will the December-January king tides be? To answer, we will be wise to predict with one eye looking at historic patterns and the...
CREATION’S CORNER #56 – GIFT ECONOMY AND FISHINISTAS
This morning, I left zucchini and cucumbers near the entrance to church prior to the 10 a.m. service. It is late August and zucchini season – but at TLC, we believe in “proper form” for the gift economy. You do not need to lock your car doors, fearing an unwanted gift...
CREATION’S CORNER #55 – IT IS GETTING NOXIOUS ON WHIDBEY ISLAND
Have you noticed the abundance of beautiful yellow wildflowers along the highways this summer? Earlier in the summer there was Scotch broom. Now what you are primarily seeing is tansy ragwort. Both species are listed as noxious weeds in Washington and in Island...
CREATION’S CORNER #54 – HOLDEN VILLAGE, A PLACE OF RESTORATION
Have you ever reached the point in your life when you needed restoration -- body, mind, or spirit? Has the tyranny of the urgent consumed you to the point where you just needed a break? I was at that point, and Holden village provided me with solitude, an environment...
CREATION’S CORNER #53: NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON’T
Have you ever watched a small piece of broken branch moving across the ground? I am not talking about a branch blowing in the wind. I'm talking about a piece of branch that gets up and walks away. Impossible? Well… you might be surprised if you encountered the larva...
CREATION’S CORNER #52: THE DAWN CHORUS
Have you noticed that creation seems to burst into song in April and May? For those of us who enjoy the spectacular beauty of birds, this spring chorus is music to our ears and is often referred to as the dawn chorus when many species of birds break into full song...
CREATION’S CORNER #51: CAN 175 ACRES MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Forgive the length of this post – it contains some big numbers! This story is about Pacific Rim Institute for Environmental Stewardship (PRI). PRI is a Christ-centered nonprofit found south of Coupeville, WA for which I serve as board chair. PRI’s mission is engaging...
CREATION’S CORNER #50: CONNECTIONS
Have you ever heard of the Y2Y corridor? This is a political/conservation effort to establish a 2000 mile-long mountain corridor from the Yukon to Yellowstone National Park that connects and protects one of the last major largely intact mountain ecosystems on earth....
CREATION’S CORNER #49: TRUST
I stepped out of the panga (small landing boat) onto the white sand of Las Bachas on the NW shore of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos. I was leading a group of college students to Ecuador for a month-long class in tropical ecology. We had spent a week in the Amazon Basin...
CREATION’S CORNER #48: TWO PATHS
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and...
CREATION’S CORNER #47: ARE DIRE WOLVES BACK FROM EXTINCTION?
Colossal Bioscience made a colossal announcement this week – the dire wolf is back from extinction! This is the same research group that is planning to bring the woolly mammoth and the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction. It was announced that 3 litters of dire wolf...
CREATION’S CORNER #46: WHAT IS TIME TO YOU?
What is eternity? Infinite or unending time? The widely accepted Big Bang theory points to the beginning of the universe approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Before the creation of the universe, there was no time since time is an artifact of the Big Bang! But if that...
CREATION’S CORNER #45: FEATHERED FRIENDS AND COLATERAL DAMAGE
We had just passed through Port Townsend heading west when I spotted a small brown object on the roadside. My curiosity got the best of me as I pulled over, opened the door, and walked back to what I thought was a small brownish bird – a roadkill, no doubt. When I...
CREATION’S CORNER #44: COLLATERAL DAMAGE
I was walking with a group of my students on a very wet rainy early spring night along a dark Highway in Pennsylvania. It was about 10 PM and we were scanning the road with our flashlights. Had we lost something? No. This was a mission of rescue. Every year,...
CREATION’S CORNER #43: THE GULF STREAM WEAKENING?
I have recently been hearing and reading about another potential climate crisis. Have you ever heard of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)? Perhaps not. It is part of a global network of interconnected ocean currents that carry water throughout the...
CREATION’S CORNER #42: THE DOOMSDAY GLACIER
Have you been hearing news recently about the “Doomsday” glacier and an impending sea level rise disaster? If so, then perhaps the following Corner will ease your concern – a bit. What and where is this “doomsday” glacier. Its official name is Thwaites Glacier in...
CREATION’S CORNER #41: IS A ZERO WASTE SOCIETY POSSIBLE?
When an act is morally right and economically justified it is attractive and easy to accomplish. But when it is not… caring for Creation is a first order responsibility! I have been thinking for some time about my impact on Creation. A previous issue of Creation’s...
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...