Earth Day 2020

Earth Day, April 22, 2020 

Waking to the sound of the dawn chorus, in its bubbling jubilance of it,  and hearing the sound of the rain gently pattering on leaves…. it seems to me there’s good reason that we find peace and joy in the sounds of nature, the lapping of waves, the breath of the orcas, the whisper of wind in the treetops, for we are ourselves ‘earth creatures’.   

The  book of Genesis tells us we were created of the earth[1] the and that we were created to care for the earth, our  marvellous and wondrously beautiful home. We read in this first book of the Bible, of our creation in and for relationship with God, the earth, and each other.  

The harmony of the world as it was created to be is far from what we experience now, as we live with the effects of climate change, human violence, and tragic loss. But the original beauty and harmony of the world is not forgotten. I think we sense it, and long for it intensely, even now, amidst all that is,  when we hear the birdsong, when we listen to the wind, marvel at the unfurling of the huckleberry buds, and maple leaves:   sounds and sights that lift our hearts with joy and hope.  

Today as we mark the 50th anniversary of ‘Earth Day’ I would invite you to remember your original calling, our human ‘vocation’, to tend for and care for the earth; to give thanks to God for the goodness of creation; to pray for the whole community near and far.  

There is so much violence done to the earth and to our fellow humans who walk this earth together with us.

So let us this Earth Day pray for Peace, for the deep ‘shalom’ of all things, of all people.  

May the Peace of God be with us all.  

Sarah T 

Rev’d Sarah Tweedale 

 [1]  (the word human comes from latin humus, and ‘man’ from the Hebrew adamah meaning ‘ground’)