“Ancient peoples read the Book of Nature as the first sacred text, the text of all of creation, inscribed and unfurled by a God present always and everywhere.”
Barbara Mahany, The Book of Nature: The Astonishing Beauty of God’s First Sacred Text
Beloved of God,
In March of this year a diverse group of church leaders, liturgists, scholars, and scientists from around the world gathered in Assisi, Italy, to talk about the possibility of adding a Feast of Creation to the ecumenical calendar of the church year. The questions they chewed on included: Could the celebration of a Feast of Creation become a pivotal point of the liturgical calendar in Christian churches? Could that celebration of God’s creation be seen as significant as the great feasts of Christmas and Easter? Could Christians learn from each other’s traditions to find a clearer understanding of the ties between the Biblical account of creation and the current environmental crisis?[1] Ignited in part by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical: Laudato ‘Si – On the Care for our Common Home, the ripples of recognition about mounting impacts of human choices and practices is a hopeful sign and welcome—though late in coming.
When I read about the conference I had to smile—for our congregation was an early adopter of the practice of marking a Season of Creation; of grasping the importance of connecting the dots between our worship life and the life of the natural world. Indeed, this month will mark the 15th year that we have celebrated the Season of Creation! Our theme for this year’s three week observance (June 9 – 16 – 23) comes from a book by author Barbara Mahany, The Book of Nature: The Astonishing Beauty of God’s First Sacred Text. She writes:
“Ancient peoples read the Book of Nature as the first sacred text, the text of all of creation, inscribed and unfurled by a God present always and everywhere.” God has “infused the natural world with symbol and meaning, and if only we read what’s there in the trees and the storms and the stars and the hives, we might more fully comprehend the Creator.”
Barbara organizes her book around three main foci: The Earthly, The Liminal, and The Heavenly. Following her lead, our three themes for this year are: Water’s Edge/Salish Sea (June 9); Wind & Weather (June 16); and Celestial Spheres (June 23). You can read more about the Season of Creation under OUR WORSHIP LIFE below. I’m pleased to share the news that Barbara Mahany herself will join us via ZOOM on June 16th, and we are very excited to welcome her.
Sometimes the church calendar and nature’s calendar dovetail beautifully. In this case, our focus on June 9th –- “Water’s Edge/Salish Sea”— coincides nicely with a series of minus tides which will take place June 6-10! Because of this co-incidence, we’ve made arrangements to have a Seattle Aquarium Beach Naturalist meet our group at Lincoln Park beach on Sunday, June 9th at 11:00am. We’ll set up a table and canopy down near the swings at Lincoln Park (below the south parking lot) where we’ll have sandwich fixings, etc., for a picnic lunch. You’ll be able to come straight from worship or meet at the park at 11:00am, make a sandwich, meet a naturalist for an orientation, and then begin your low tide explorations. (Remember appropriate footwear!) I hope you’ll put this special event on your family calendar for Sunday, June 9th. The Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture both provide us with inspiration. This month we open them both together, looking for connections which will help us discern how God is calling us to be mindful lovers, tenders, and keepers of the only planet home we will ever have.
With you on the Way
Pastor Erik
[1] P. Hitchen, Lutheran World Federation, article in The Christian Century, June 2024.
What does this mean?