Streams of Mercy

Last Thursday, April 22 was Earth Day. This annual international celebration began in 1970, out of a growing concern for the future of the planet as our home. I remember special programs and activities at Centre College only weeks before graduation that year. I was so sure I would make a difference in the world in many ways, and caring for creation would certainly be one of them!

The next year I was teaching Third Grade in the little town of Narrows, Virginia, near Roanoke. (The town name came from the way the New River ran through the gap or “narrows” of the mountains.) My class walked through the community picking up trash, and we planted some trees in the town park. Fast forward 48 years, and I realize how little I’ve done to address our call to deal with such important issues.

As Christians, we are called to consider our relationship to the Earth and to all living things. According to the Book of Order (W.7-5000.) “God calls the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit to participate in God’s work of creation and preservation. God has given humankind awesome power and perilous responsibility to rule and tame the earth, to sustain and reshape it, to replenish and renew it … As stewards of God's creation who hold the earth in trust, the people of God are called:

• to use the earth's resources responsibly without plundering, polluting, or destroying.

• to develop technological methods and processes that work together with the earth's environment to preserve and enhance life.

• to produce and consume in ways that make available to all people what is sufficient for life

• to work for responsible attitudes and practices in procreation and reproduction

• to use and shape earth's goods to create beauty, order, health, and peace in ways that reflect God's love for all creatures.”

Our denomination addresses these concerns through the work of “Presbyterians for Earth Care,” a national eco-justice network that cares for God’s creation by connecting, equipping, and inspiring Presbyterians to make creation care a concern of the church. “Presbyterians for Earth Care” began as “Presbyterians for Restoring Creation,“ founded in 1995 as a national, grassroots organization to support people of faith working towards “environmental wholeness with social justice.” PEC helps the church to fulfill its current environmental policies, to create new policies and practices and to energize and educate church members about eco-justice -the well-being of all humankind on a thriving earth.

I came across a Presbyterian Hunger Program Post that has much to say. Written by the Revs Bruce and Carolyn Winfrey Gillette - “The Lord’s Prayer and Creation Care- a Litany of Confession”:

Loving God, we remember that Jesus taught us to pray saying, “Our Father ..”

You created us, you made this world, and you called your Creation very good.

Yet often we forget that you are our loving Parent who continues to bless your world.

Jesus told us that you are “…in heaven…”

Yet, we fail to live in awe of you. We take you for granted, and we don’t see the awesome beauty of the world you have made. We pray “Hallowed be your name …”

We confess that our reverence for you does not always lead us to care reverently for your earth, sky and sea.

We pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …”

We confess that we often put our own interests first, exploiting your Creation and living for our own convenience and self-interest.

We pray, “Give us today our daily bread.”

We confess that we consume more than our share of the world’s resources, while billions go hungry every day and your whole Creation suffers.

We pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

We confess that we see these words only in spiritual terms, while the Bible is filled with teachings about economic justice and Creation care.

We pray, “Save us from the time of trial.”

Help us to resist the temptations of spending more, using more, acquiring more, and wasting more.

We pray, “Deliver us from evil…”

Free us from greed and self-centeredness that separate us from you and others.

We pray, “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.”

Help us to know that by caring for your wonderful world, we are working for your kingdom, being good stewards of your creative power and giving you glory.

We pray, “Amen.”

We end our prayers with “Amen,” a word that means “let it be so.” We know we can be faithful disciples by your grace. Amen!

Amen! Let it be so!

Elizabeth