Groundlings and Earth Sunday

 Ruth communing with a huge pine tree

Happy Earth Sunday, Groundlings everywhere! This Wednesday is Earth Day and over the years an increasing number of Christian congregations have dedicated the Sunday closest to April 22nd as a celebration of creation and God, the Creator. This appreciation of creation is not Creationism, the scientifically unsupported notion of a young Earth and a literal six-day creation. Our celebration is a recognition of the abundance and diversity of life which God has brought into being and which we are called to respect and cherish. 

Yesterday we visited the 900-acre very rural farm of long-time friends. The house and barns are still well maintained but no one lives there and we were alone on the property in. There is a mix of fields and woods, running to the Mississippi River (Canadian version) with a long cascade called Ragged Chutes. 

It was the best sort of isolation, although we didn't feel alone with deer and grouse and wild turkeys making appearances, towering maples and pines around us. The roar of the river was almost mesmerizing, and it too seemed to be a living entity.  It made me think of  the late Thomas Berry's comment that  "The universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, Not [a collection] of objects to be used."

                                              Ragged Chutes

We walked and sat for a couple of hours and gave thanks to God for the beauty around us, something we do virtually every time we venture out for a walk, or paddle or cycle. We've come to realize that this intention, which we do with a brief ritual each time, is a helpful and important exercise in gratitude and humility. 

This Earth Sunday isn't quite what Trenton United, our congregation, had in mind for this year. After Lent/Holy Week/Easter Sunday Rev. Isaac would have taken a well-deserved rest and I was scheduled to lead worship on the theme. Instead we cycled along the Bay of Quinte before the rain and appreciated the signs of Spring.

Thanks be to the God who chose to be present to us as the Groundling, Jesus, while we acknowledge that every day is Earth Day. 

Oh yes, on yet another walk this past week Ruth coaxed me to do an improv stand-up reflection which she filmed with her phone. I found a passage from Isaiah and shared some thoughts It's on the Trenton United twitter feed now and only 3 minutes. 

https://twitter.com/TrentonUnited