Praise God for the World's Wetlands

This is World Wetlands Day! Hurray! (cue streamers and noisemakers) Okay, wetlands may not be a source of excitment for lots of people, but around the planet they are essential ecosystems playing an important role in purifying water, stabilizing shorelines, and processing nutrients.

Because humans have a propensity for doing the wrong things when it comes to stewardship of the Earth we have drained marshes, swamps, wetlands through the centuries, destroying habitat for a myriad of creatures and removing protection from flooding. Everywhere from the coastal wetlands of Louisiana, to the marshes of Israel, to the bogs of Ireland, these sensitive areas have been drained and diverted. Now expensive rehabilitation and protection projects are underway in many places, including Southern Ontario, because they are vital to biodiversity.

Pharaoh's Daughter and Moses -- Marc Chagall

There is a well-known biblical wetland story in Exodus when the newborn baby Moses is hidden in the riverside reeds or bulrushes from death-dealing Egyptian soldiers. He is rescued by an Egyptian princess, grows up under her protection, and eventually leads his people to freedom from oppression through marshland, the Sea of Reeds. Where would our story of faith be without Moses?

At this time of year our local wetlands are frozen but in a couple of months we will be exploring them again in kayaks and canoe.The spring peepers and the wood ducks and the herons will proclaim the fullness of Creation. Do I admit that coming alongside a snapping turtle is a religious experence? As Summer unfolds we will give thanks for the cattails and the dragonflies and the muskrats and... Thank God for wetlands!