Four Words for Earth Day 2013

For an hour yesterday, sixty neighbors and church friends fanned out through the parks, nature trails and public spaces around our neighborhood and collected 650 lbs of litter.

It was a celebration of Earth Day that I think would have made Earth-maker smile. Kids and parents had fun together, neighbors met or got re-connected, the landscape looks much better for our efforts, and the ducks, snakes and other wildlife in the area have a healthier habitat.

Call it a springtime facelift or an overdue winter cleanup, this little act of earth-keeping and creation care was a way of giving something back to the land that gives so generously to us all.

As a follower of Jesus, I'm taking Earth Day as a chance to say three words to my Creator – no, make that four.

The first word is an exclamatory “O”! What a marvelously complex gift so full of wonder and joy! Today is one for praise – I know that because at 4:30 this morning a cardinal was straining to teach me his canticle outside my window!

The second word is “Thanks”! Thanks for such a lavish and generous gift that keeps on giving. Thanks for the privilege of life amid such beauty and wisdom.

Thanks for the privilege and honor of being entrusted with such extravagant resources. I could sit at the top of the food chain like a little emperor, as if it was all for my benefit alone, but I can’t. I’m convinced that the gifts of advanced reason and language, culture and technology are given so that you and I, together with the whole cosmos, can give glory back to our Creator.

But that leads to my third word – “Sorry” – because clearly our tribe has done more than its fair share of hogging the spoils of the earth without regard to others – whether our global neighbors or the generations to follow us. This Earth Day for the first time, I think, I’m groaning a little in synch with the whole creation that groans under the oppressive weight of human recklessness and disregard, my own included. There is room for confession, lament and apology.

And so my last word is “Yes” – a joyful repentant “yes”!. “Yes, my Lord and God, I long to do your will! Yes, I will open my eyes to be more attentive and mindful of the gifts and mercy you give me every day, every hour! Yes, I will join you, generous God, in being a giver, not just a taker!

And Yes, I join with others who care about the well-being, the shalom, of the world you have given us!”

Yes, Yes, Yes! Happy Earth Day.

P.S. Three of these four words are inspired by Brian McLaren's Naked Spirituality - A Life with God in 12 Simple Words. 

On Being a Father

A few years ago, a grateful son wrote about his father,

A dad have I who is not perfect, never played for Yankees strong,

Feats and features cannot measure what it takes to be a man.

Fosbury’s bar will yet be raised by hopefuls and by champions

Yet ‘tis Redmond’s race that I remember

The father running to the son.

Redmond, of course was Derek Redmond, Britain’s record-holder in the 400-meter sprint. In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he was favored to win gold. But half-way through his semi-final race
Redmond snapped his hamstring and collapsed to the ground as the competition raced past him.

On Being a Pastor

When my wife’s friends heard that she was planning to marry a pastor, they cringed. They feared she would lose her vibrancy and relevance. In fact, I think her zest for life has made me a better pastor.

I love being a pastor. It challenges and stretches me and brings me deep joy. I would be a pastor even if nobody paid me to do it; it’s what I’m wired up to be.

The term 'pastor' comes from the world of sheep-herding, from biblical prototypes like Moses and David who made their living tending sheep and later became effective national leaders. Some pastors I know are kingdom-builders, dynamic visionaries, mobilizers and history-makers; others guide and shape souls one-by-one. Like teachers we’re largely catalysts in the God-energized growth of others.

Eastern Hospitality

Centuries before the magi visited Bethlehem bringing exquisite gifts fit for a king, a desert sheik spotted three strangers lingering a short distance from his tents. With the vigor characteristic of middle-eastern hospitality, he hurried over to them and offered them a quick drink of water.

In the conventions of hospitality, you make the initial offer so small that to refuse would be an insult. Then,

Getting Carried Away

Guest Writer – Kathy Legg

His voice was like the roar of rushing waters

 and the land was radiant with his glory. Ezekiel 43:2

The Singapore afternoon hung hot and muggy. But the green tangled rainforest where Kevin and I walked was refreshingly cool and full of moist, earthy smells. This 3 hour trek around McRitchie Reservoir was a favorite hike of his. We carried day packs with provisions: bottled water, dried mangoes, sketch books, money for the tea hut at the journey’s end. But long before the journey’s end we learned firsthand about rushing waters: the roar and the glory.

Drinking It In

Thanksgiving Gratitude Edition

Guest Writer - Kathy Legg

Land that drinks in rain often falling on it and produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. Hebrews 6:7

I live in a semi-arid zone, where rain does not often fall. And when it does the hard dry clay soil may not be well able to drink it in! It pools and puddles on the surface, or runs off in rivulets.

Harvest Providence

This week-end is Canadian Thanksgiving. . .

And this word from Psalm 65 seems like the perfect 'water' text for the occasion

You care for the land

and water it;

you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God

are filled with water to

provide the people with grain,

You drench its furrows

and level its ridges;

you soften it with showers

and bless its crops.

Psalm 65:9-10

Words of the Wise

Springs and fountains are wonderful gifts of nature that give access to the underground aquatic treasure of the earth. They can serve as apt metaphors of what  flows out of the human heart.

For example, Proverbs 10:11 says, ‘the words of the godly are a life-giving fountain, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence' . 

Our world is awash in words - tweets, blogs, books, whispers, broadcasts, advertizing, sermons, lectures. 

Waters of Unity

In the first twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus, thousands of people expressed their faith in him through the water-ritual of baptism. Baptism is laced with connotations of cleansing, forgiveness, repentance, resurrection and new life.

One early story of baptism adds another dimension that speaks especially into our fragmented globalized world.  Acts 8 tells about an African government official who had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was now travelling home by chariot, reading the prophecy of Isaiah. By coincidence he met a Christian named Philip who just happened to be on the same road. He offered Philip a ride and asked him about the text he was trying to decipher.

Icelandic Geyser

Last week I promised regular posts from Iceland on the wonder of water, but unfortunately the wonders of technology failed me.

Now that I’m back on-line, here’s a glimpse of one of Iceland’s most famous landmarks – a hot-water spring in the town of Geysir. That name comes from the Icelandic word for ‘gush’ – and gives its name to all geysers on earth.

Geysers occur when geo-thermally heated water becomes trapped in narrow fissures deep in the earth. Cool surface water flows down on top of this hot water and pressurizes it. The super-heated steam builds to the bursting point and then gushes upward, blasting out whatever volume of water lies above it.

A Well-Watered Garden

It frustrated God like crazy.  Folks were praying and practicing their rituals religiously but under the surface they had no heart for what really mattered to God.  God lamented their superficiality -

Day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
They seem eager for God to come near them -
or as The Message says,
'they love having me on their side.'  Isaiah 58:2

But their hearts were as dry as dust.  Their Sabbath practice was actually mal-practice, observing their fasts but living by their fists; they appeared humble on the outside, but inwardly they were proud, self-serving and exploitive. (v. 3) And God had had enough of it.

Isaiah sketched out for them what a God-honoring faith might look like,

As the Deer

Thirst is a powerful motivator.

Our bodies are 70% water, but since we’re always depleting our water supply to the functions of cooling, cleansing and even breathing, we can't go long without a drink. On average we need 2.5 litres a day - ten cups - usually more in the summer. It’s a compelling need.

When you’re healthy, your body regulates your fluid balance quite nicely. If you drink more water than you need, your kidneys dispose of the surplus. But if the fluid balance drops, your body sends signals. A 2% short-fall and you know you’re thirsty; a 5% deficit makes you confused and groggy; by 8% your muscles spasm, and 15% is pretty much fatal.

Song for Africa's Newest Nation

Tomorrow Africa’s newest nation will be born.

During my visit to South Sudan in 2008 I saw the ruins of schools and churches destroyed thirty years ago at the hands of their own government. I met young people born in refugee camps and listened as grand-parents spoke of their dreams of a re-building their nation.

Now thanks to international efforts, and a referendum in support of independence they have a fresh opportunity for peace and growth.

They need our prayers.

Thundering Hallelujahs

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Three times in the closing book of the Bible, we hear the cascading roar of rushing water.

The first ‘waterfall’ in the opening scene was the powerful voice of the Living Christ, giving the story-teller John a message of comfort and hope to his suffering church on earth.

The sound and sight of water cascading down rocks or thundering over the lip of a precipice does something to you. It soothes and energizes you at the same time. The water seems almost alive as it rushes forward and down – always down – almost like it was on a mission. Jesus, of course is the ultimate waterfall, plunging headlong into the mission of salvation for the whole of God’s creation.

Soaked and Soiled - the Joy of Serving

In first-century Palestine, it was courtesy to welcome guests to your home by washing their feet. Since most of the roads and laneways were unpaved, both in rainy seasons and dry, people’s feet would quickly be caked with dust or mud. Simple hospitality required a host to arrange for a servant to wash the feet of the guests when they arrived.

But as Jesus and his friends gathered to celebrate Passover, there were no servants to wait on them. And every disciple was jockeying for the right to sit closer to Jesus, acutely focused on his prestige in the group. No one moved to initiate this basic gesture of hospitality.

New Birth

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the most water-drenched of all C. S. Lewis’ Narnia stories. 
It tells about an obnoxious young boy named Eustace who took refuge from a rain-storm in a cave that turned out to be a dragon’s lair.  In the dim light of the cave he discovered hoards of gold and silver and jewelry. He filled his pockets and slipped a magnificent bracelet on his arm – and then fell asleep.

When he awoke, his arm throbbed because it had grown larger overnight and was covered with reptilian scales. Having fallen asleep “with greedy dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.”

A Cup of Cold Water

Today we celebrate – Post #100

Since this Wonder of Water blog launched last July, I’ve been drinking draughts from God’s deep well and trying to make each post a spillway of fresh cold water for you.

So please lift a tall glass with me and repeat these words of Jesus - "If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, . . . you’ll surely be rewarded.” Matthew 10:42 NLT

That’s one cool promise!

Radical Equality

Here’s a wonder of water – sunrise and rainfall support democracy!

Your Father in heaven causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45

Jesus says that God is a large-hearted, even-handed Giver. He points out that God is generous to us regardless of our degree of virtue or vice. Sunshine and rain are gifts from the Creator to his creatures with no moral pre-conditions. Jesus echoed the Psalmist a thousand years earlier who said “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all that he has made.” Psalm 145:9.

World Water Day - Imagine This!

Tomorrow, March 22, is the UN's annual World Water Day. This year's theme is "Water for Cities". 1000 delegates from 66 countries are gathered at a UN conference in Cape Town to address issues related to water, poverty, politics and urban issues.

The Bible describes a magnificent urban river scene in the last chapter of Revelation – a dazzling river with crystal clear water flowing down the middle of a great avenue.

The river flows from the throne of God which tells us that God loves this city* and sustains it as a place of refuge* and safety and where its citizens are being spiritually renewed* and nourished. Jesus is the spring of living water for the thirst and cleansing of the world.

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!

Guilt is a terrible thing.  But if there is something worse than guilt, its name would be Denial.  Denial is the paralyzing refusal to come to terms with the monster that is destroying you.

Helen Rynne as Lady Macbeth

A grim scene in Macbeth illustrates the destructive power of repressed and unacknowledged guilt:  Lady Macbeth sleep-walking the halls of her castle with a candle, trying in vain to scour the damning blood-guilt from her hands.

Yet here's a spot . . .

Out, damned spot! out, I say! . . .

Who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him? . . .

What, will these hands ne'er be clean? . . .

Here's the smell of the blood still:
All the perfumes of Arabia will not
sweeten this little hand.

Oh, oh, oh!

Her façade is cracking; denial is hard to sustain.