Today is a new day.  My drive to work is a long one.  An hour.  I wake up at 5, get on the road at 6, and get to work at 7am.  Our Savior’s is in the beach city of San Clemente, CA.  This summer has been an odd one for weather.  The sky is beyond grey.  It is positively dreary.  Of course, the mild summer has been a good thing for my family, as Sheri and I are expecting a baby in November.  So the absence of very high temperatures is relief.   Yet, I do worry about the weather, in terms of Global Climate Change.  What is so bizarre about climate change is how little is known about what the outcomes will be.  The science behind the cause of it is pretty straight forward.  Because of carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases, heat is trapped inside the earth and cannot escape from the atmosphere as it once could.  This causes the overall climate of the planet to…change.  So the beach in southern California is cooler, while other places experience prolonged drought (the beaches by the way experience drought too).  Other places will have increased rainfall, and flooding.  Nobody knows for sure what will happen, I know that I don’t.

The theme for Vacation Bible Camp this year is, “Keeping the Earth.”  It is derived from Genesis 2:15, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”  I like lifting up this verse as a model for how people should care for the earth.  It is an intentional departure from “subdue,” or “dominion” (Gen 1:28).  That verse isn’t all that bad either, if some critical thought is used.  But what I like about, “keep” is that it is fresh. It is not so alarmist as “save the Earth” or so anthropocentric as “subdue the Earth.”  To keep the Earth is to acknowledge the long term status of the Earth.  In this sense, to be a person of faith is to care for Earth, and to take care of it for the long haul.  A good grounds-keeper does not let things run amok until the owner returns.  A good grounds-keeper keeps the grounds running and beautiful in the absence of the owner.  There is something to be said for thinking of the Earth as belonging to God, and for humanity to be keepers of it.  In this sense, to keep is not paternalistic, as if the Earth somehow needs humans to micro-manage every aspect of nature.  How absurd!  But it is to acknowledge that humans are part of the intricate web of life and that we have a role and responsibility in that web.

How exciting to learn about the environment, God’ creation, and our place within it!  What is so great about learning about the environment is that it creates a holistic model for seeing life in general. This interconnected view could help us in many other challenging issues in the world today.  What if we saw the following not as us/them divisions but as members of the same web of life: liberal/conservative, gay/straight, corporate/activist, military/civilian, adult/child/teen?  What is your role and responsibility in the web of life?