Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take
charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth,
and all the crawling things on earth.”
Genesis 1:26 (CEB)
As travel has resumed in this world transitioning from a pandemic to an endemic state of being, we’ve had more than one weary traveler spend the night at our apartment in New York City because of canceled flights. While the airline industry has been plagued with problems of staffing and fuel shortages, our air mattress dwellers were all there because of one reason — weather.
As maddening as travel interruptions are, part of me is grateful for them. We are actually beginning to be inconvenienced by climate change — and that tends to be when Americans rally for change. We really hate to be inconvenienced. And since bad weather in Atlanta or Chicago or Los Angeles can affect travel across the country, no one is immune.
Of course, it would be great if we all took care of our planet because God calls us to and because we want to leave the earth better than we found it for the generations that come after us, but come on! Life is ridiculously absurd right now. It’s hard enough just to get from week to week without being responsible for stuff that happens in the future. Some of us are barely keeping our heads above water and have not the time nor the energy to monitor the rising tides.
As people who lead busy, hectic lives, we do need a wake-up call from time to time. May we heed these calls and make care for our planet a priority.
Action: Do one thing to lower your carbon footprint this week. Learn more about your carbon footprint and what you can do to reduce it here.
Prayer: Creator God, in the midst of our busy lives, help us pay attention to, revel in and care for your good creation. May we be mindful of its many gifts and never allow ourselves to take our world for granted. Amen.
Anne Russ is an ordained pastor with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She has a heart for small church ministry, Christian camping and the power of the Web to spread the Good News of the Gospel. Anne is a fiercely supportive theater mom, a loud laugher and a lover of good stories. She is a displaced Southerner living in New York who pastors through her online platform, DoubtingBeliever.com.
This year’s Path of Peace reflections are designed to help participants explore peacemaking efforts addressing some of the major issues of our time. The theme for the 29 days of the 2022 A Season of Peace is Led Forth in Peace: Critical Areas of Engagement for Peacemakers. With these daily reflections, we are invited to reflect upon ways to practice peace by engaging the following critical areas:
- Climate change
- Nonviolence
- The intersection of poverty and racism
- Immigration/migration