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,...
CREATION’S CORNER #8: REFUGIA FAITH
REFUGIA FAITHTrinity Lutheran Church is a refugium that demonstrates Refugia faith. What are Refugia? The kinds vary, but we will primarily concern ourselves with spiritual refugia and ecological refugia. Both are essential and both are discussed in Debra...
CREATION’S CORNER #7: TAKING TIME TO LOOK
My ecology class was often scheduled at 8 a.m. As students wandered into the room and I looked into their eyes, I often had the impression that “nobody was home”. Indeed, one of my former students from 30 years ago, now living in Maine, growled at me when I greeted...
CREATION’S CORNER #6: Climate Mismatch
The climate is changing. In the Pacific Northwest, bird migration time is shifting as well as the flowering time of many of our native plants. For many of us living in our maritime climate, a little more warmth in the winter would be welcome – but the downside is...
CREATION’S CORNER #5: Nature Deficit Disorder
Many of us live in an artificial world of our own making. We have shaped our lives in ways that intentionally or otherwise isolate us from natural Creation that God has called us to “know” and to serve. Our homes are warm and well insulated. The sounds of the spring...