Greetings in the name of God who reveals self through all that God has made!
1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the skies proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voicegoes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19)
20 Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; (Romans 1)
These words of scripture remind us that the heavens and the earth are a significance means by which God speaks into the world and into our lives. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3) he instructed Moses, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” I wonder, is not all of creation “holy ground”? And the skies “holy space”? If God speaks through earth and sky and makes himself known through all that God has made, and if earth and sky proclaim and reveal God, then we must answer those questions with a “yes!”
This truth increases my awareness of how important it is to care for the earth and all that God has made. Earth Day is an important reminder that we are caretakes of God’s good creation every day. To care for creation, is a spiritual experience and is one way we help to awaken ourselves and our neighbours to the presence and reality of God!
Holy ground and holy space are all around us. God is speaking to us and reveal self. I offer a few suggestions as to how we open ourselves to receive God’s presence and listen for God.
- Slow down as you walk or sit in nature. Be attentive to all that is around you as you listen and watch for signs of God!
- Look closely at a flower, a bush, a tree, a sunrise or sunset, the day or nighttime sky.
- Feel the warm sun, the changing winds, the gentle and heavy rains.
- Watch the changing seasons and observe how they parallel the seasons of our lives.
As war rages in our world, as the presence of Covid continues, as health challenges confront us, as anxiety remains, and even grows for many, creation around us reminds us that God is still with us, and that God still cares. Invite God to make himself known and then slow down, watch, and listen through the earth and sky and all that God has made.
Pastor Ray