Sunday, September 8, 2019

Consider the lilies



“Fauna refers to all the living species on planet Earth—in the wild, in our lives and in our soils. In Genesis One, all living species emerge from Earth who is their common mother. In Genesis Two, the first human and all animals are created from clay and the breath of God. In Job 39, the kingdom of the wild is God’s special concern, no matter how remote or mysterious. . .
The kingdom of God and the kingdom of the wild complement each other, says Jesus. God provides for all and that should lead us to live in harmony with all and not be stressed about possessions and power.”[1]
Today’s psalm sings of God’s provision…
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
    and plants for people to use,[
a]
to bring forth food from the earth,
15     and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
    and bread to strengthen the human heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
    the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
    and lie down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work
    and to their labor until the evening.
“Let me recite another passage from Job 12:7-10. God says,
But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;  or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.  Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?  In the Spirit’s hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humanity. 
The Psalm tells that the earth has its own language, a voice not heard but yet a voice that goes out through all the earth. In Job, God instructs Job that animals will teach, the birds of the air will speak to you, and the fish will inform you.  In both passages, God reveals that whole universe is God’s speaking in a language more ancient than any scriptures or their languages. Creation is a more primal scripture, and that is why Galileo speaks of the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture, both sources of God’s speaking to us.
“Have you taken the time to listen to the natural world speak? Each morning I walk my dog, I take time to listen to biophonic sounds of life and/or the geophonic sounds of nature, the raining falling down, the brook streaming below our home, or the wind, sometimes soundless, or the trees rustling in the breeze.  Have you taken the opportunity to listen to the Spirit speaking through the environmental souls of the natural world? For our indigenous peoples, the Earth and the web of life are our older siblings to us. They listen to the mountains, trees, plants, animals, the streams and lakes, and so on require that be attention to siblings around us.”[2]
Jesus in the gospel is telling us not to worry about how we will be provided for, because God provides for all and he mentions the Lilies of the fields.
“The poet Emily Dickinson, from her Congregationalist heritage, found God manifested everywhere in nature, and she considered her garden as church.  Dickson had in mind these words of Jesus when she remarked, “Consider the lilies is the only commandment I ever obeyed.”  The greatest commandment for Dickinson is consideration of the lilies of the field.  It is not a commandment in words but a living parable. Lilies find God in the present moment, in the air they interbreathe, their presence and sheer colorful beauty speak of God’s amazing artistry in plant life.  The lilies incarnate a spirituality for us by providing us physical and sensuous  connections to God in nature. Ecotheologian Jay McDaniel observes, “But the lilies also have something important to say not in words but in sheer presence. In their naturalness and spontaneity, in their receptivity to the breath of life, they embody the heart of spirituality. They find God in their present moment.”
There is a lesson to be learned. Dickinson reminds us that our deepest calling is to be totally open to God in a distinctly human way as the lilies do in a lilies way.
“Lilies transport us into amazement and wonder of our Creator. The lilies provide an example how to be open to God in their own flora ways. They are attentive to their Creator, dependent upon the natural gift of the Earth, sun, water, and often human care.  They greet the sun with a burst of color, giving praise to God and totally dependent upon God’s creation gifts. Jesus instructs his disciples to imitate the lilies.  Certainly, that is what caught the spiritual awareness of Emily Dickenson.
But a little more about Emily Dickinson. She often skipped Sunday morning at her Congregationalist Church for Sunday during the summer months for the church of her garden. She writes;”[3]

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – 
I keep it, staying at Home – 
With a Bobolink for a Chorister – 
And an Orchard, for a Dome – 

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice – 
I, just wear my Wings – 
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, 
Our little Sexton sings. 

God preaches, a noted Clergyman – 
And the sermon is never long, 
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last – 
I’m going, all along.[4]
So I quoted my husband from a sermon he gave last week at the Nelson church but hey it was too good not too…
I am kind of envois of Emily Dickinson…if I could spend a day considering the lilies…I wouldn’t, I would rather spend the day considering the ocean, the river, the woods…I guess I like things a bit more, wild, not so controlled.
In today’s Gospel that is what Jesus is saying to me …let go, be wild, do not let worry and schedules and chasing the money consume you…God will provide.
In light of the theme of creation I cannot help but ponder the results of human worry and attempt to control.
We see the results in Toxic Algae blooms that are caused by fertilizer runoff into streams and ponds.  We see excessive cancer among landscapers and farmers who used round up on a regular basis. Coca cola is making millions by harvesting water, bottling it, and claiming they own it at the same time their plastic bottles are filling up our oceans.
“Our planet is warming faster than at any time in the past 10,000 years. With these changes, species have to adapt to new climate patterns (variations in rainfall; longer, warmer summers etc).
Global warming resulting from human emissions of greenhouse gases. The consequences include habitat loss; shifts in climatic conditions and in habitats that surpass migrational capabilities; altered competitive relationships.”[5]
It is scary what we have done in our greed and need to control and exploit our natural resources.
·       “The rapid loss of species we are seeing today is estimated by experts to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate.*
·       These experts calculate that between 0.01 and 0.1% of all species will become extinct each year.
·       If the low estimate of the number of species out there is true - i.e. that there are around 2 million different species on our planet** -  then that means between 200 and 2,000 extinctions occur every year.
·       But if the upper estimate of species numbers is true - that there are 100 million different species co-existing with us on our planet - then between 10,000 and 100,000 species are becoming extinct each year.”[6]
My heart breaks at what we have lost, not just the species we know about, the ones we are about to lose less we do something about it. This isn’t political yet we have politisized the science.  
This is sacred.
We have been called to be the caretakers of this planet to be co-creators with god to bring god’s kindom here on earth as it is in heaven and we have only wandered father away from the kindom as opposed to closer.
According to the international Union for the Conservation of Nature; “here are now 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List, and 16,306 of them are endangered species threatened with extinction. This is up from 16,118 last year. This includes both endangered animals and endangered plants.
The species endangered include one in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70% of the world’s assessed plants on the 2007 IUCN Red List are in jeopardy of extinction. The total number of extinct species has reached 785 and a further 65 are only found in captivity or in cultivation. In the last 500 years, human activity has forced over 800 species into extinction.”[7]
If that isn’t the definition of sin I am not sure what is.  
All of this is overwhelming and many times it seems insurmountable and yet there are simple things we can do to love our planet and work to bring a just and eco friendly society about.
·       “Use Reusable Bags. Plastic grocery-type bags that get thrown out end up in landfills or in other parts of the environment. ... 
·       Print as Little as Necessary. ... 
·       Recycle. ... 
·       Use a Reusable Beverage Containers. ... 
·       Don't Throw Your Notes Away. ... At the end of the semester, students are often stuck with notes they don’t need anymore, especially from GenEd classes that had little, if anything, to do with their major. The good news is that teachers that teach GenEd classes have to keep their material consistent with guidelines from the college/university. This means that students next semester will be learning basically the same material you learned from a class. If you took great notes, ask your teacher to connect you with students in a future class so that you can give them your notes. These notes will help students by being able to read what they are learning in the words of another student. It is beneficial to read things that are worded differently than what the teacher said. You may need to find a student on your own, depending on the teacher’s load for the semester. It will feel great to help others taking the same class! You can list your notes on online college boards. While some may be willing to buy the notes at a price, it will feel just as good giving them your notes for free since you are helping them out! Also, other student organizations may appreciate notes. At the community college I attended, the Veteran’s Club had a separate building for resources. They had an area for textbooks used by students, and they could check the books out for a semester, and many people would bundle notes in with the books. Ask around to see if any organization has something like this. If you can’t find anyone to give the notes to, at the very least, recycle the paper you used.
·       Save Electricity! ... 
·       Save Water. ... 
·       Avoid Taking Cars or Carpool When Possible.
…and yet when we are overwhelmed by all that is happening in our world today. We can still be blessed by what God has given us. Take time to really be in nature, seek out god’s gospel in the air, the water, the animal and the plants around you. Breathe just breathe and know God is with us, God is providing us with new inovations everyday to help us heal this planet, our relations, and the way the world operates.
Someday soon we may very we’ll see God’s kindom on earth as it is in heaven if we just allow God in…and let God inspire and provide…amen.




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[1]https://seasonofcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/liturgy-fauna-sunday-1.pdf
[2]http://www.mischievousspiritandtheology.com/blog/
[3]Ditto
[4]Emily Dickinson, "Some keep the Sabbath going to church" from (02138: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, )
Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited by R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)
[5]https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/wildlife/problems/climate_change/
[6]http://wwf.panda.org/our_work/biodiversity/biodiversity/
[7]http://www.endangeredearth.com

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