Fellow Earthkeepers,

I first learned the verses above as a sung table blessing when I was a child.  They were bookends: the verses from Psalm 145 (following Brother Martin’s suggestion) served as an opening grace before we ate, with Psalm 103 following our meal as benediction.  The “all,” of course, includes not only the human species but all the creatures of earth sea and sky.  This simple prayer affirms what we know intuitively: that this world God brought into being, this “pale blue dot”[1]of a planet on which we find ourselves, contains all that is needed to “satisfy the desires of every living thing.”

According to Genesis, our first vocation as human beings is to be earthkeepers (Gen 2:15).  Recently, Kai’s kindergarten class had a shared assignment.  Each student was responsible for coming up with way of improving the habitat of an animal that lived in the vicinity of their home.  A variety of creative projects took place, several involving house pets.  Kai’s involved fixing a broken bird feeder and remounting it outside our kitchen window.  Now we eat breakfast with the sparrows once more.  You could say he and his classmates were acting out their “first vocation.” Kai’s project wasn’t graded, but it sets me to wondering—if God were handing out grades to us humans based on how we’re performing in our first vocation, what kind of marks would we get?

The ongoing drama and tragedy of the Gulf oil spill has commanded headlines for over a month now with no end in sight,[2] but there are less visible but even more ubiquitous, human-generated problems assaulting the creation. A five-mile stretch of the lower Duwamish River remains a federal superfund cleanup site due to industrial wastes embedded in its bottom soils,[3] and the constant stream of “nonpoint” source pollution running into Puget Sound threatens organisms on all scales—from the microscopic to the largest.  Example: the necropsy performed on the gray whale that washed up in April on the beach just below our home revealed stomach contents that included: more than 20 plastic bags, small towels, surgical gloves, sweat pants, plastic pieces, duct tape, and a golf ball.[4] Chemicals that can be found in Elliot Bay, such as DDT; PBDEs; and PCBs and metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, have found their way into human breast milk.[5] The list goes on and on.  (And I didn’t even mention global climate change!)

Are these issues worth a mention in a church newsletter article?  Do the facts above have any bearing on our life in Christ? My answer, unequivocally, is YES. Christian theology in the Western world has mostly failed, through the centuries, to connect the dots between our lives as people claimed by Christ and our lives as citizens and stewards of planet earth.  But in recent decades, awareness and the desire to focus on “first article” faith have been on the rise.  Churches all along the spectrum, from mainline to evangelical, conservative to progressive, have established initiatives and task forces that lift up the stewardship of creation.

During the month of June our worship life will focus on lifting up the sentiment and the substance of our first vocation.  Through resources and liturgies first developed by Lutheran pastor and theologian Norm Habel and his colleagues “down under,” we will celebrate a new Season of Creation.[6] Eldon Olson and I are working together with the worship planning team to bring leadership to the effort this year.  If you feel drawn to this endeavor, you are invited to join us.  The themes associated with Year C (our current year) focus on wisdom in creation, and have the following themes:  Ocean, Fauna, Storm, and Universe.  Through hymnody, spoken word and symbolic gesture we will evoke the truth to which the Psalmist testifies: that our whole lives are an exercise in honoring and tending to God’s presence and providence within creation.

Blessings,

Pastor Erik

[1] A phrase used by astronomer Carl Sagan to describe the vulnerable nature of planet earth.  See my sermon by that title at: http://www.peacelutheranseattle.org/?page_id=49&sermon_id=24

[2] http://www.seattlepi.com/business/1310ap_us_gulf_oil_spill.html

[3] For more details visit the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition’s website: http://www.duwamishcleanup.org/

[4] For more details about the necropsy go to: http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/WSeattle-ER.htm

[5] See article by Florence Williams in New York Times Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/09TOXIC.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=toxic%20breast%20milk%202005&st=cse

[6] Find more information about the Season of Creation at: www.seasonofcreation.org