Tod Bolsinger

Green Saturdays: Care for the Earth is Care for the Poor

“Damage to the environment makes the life of the poor…particularly unbearable.” 
Pope Benedict, August 27, 2008

Today, on this particular Saturday when my eleven year old daughter is having a yard sale to raise money to buy chickens and goats for families in Africa (through World Vision and Y-Malawi), I want to use my "Green Saturday" reflection to make a connection that we often miss.   Nobody is more reliant on a good, healthy earth than those who live closest to it.

No wonder the scriptures speak of the ultimate salvation of God in such all encompassing terms:

When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights,b
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
so that all may see and know,
all may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Is 41:17-20, (NRSV)

And a quote from the good Bishop NT Wright about how creation and redemption "play" a melody together:

“We must acknowledge that beauty, whether in the natural order or within human creation, is sometimes so powerful that it evokes our very deepest feelings of awe, wonder, gratitude, and reverence…beauty is both something that calls us out of ourselves and something which appeals to feelings deep within us...We say that the present world is the real one, and that it’s in bad shape but expecting to be repaired. We tell, in other words…the story of a good Creator longing to put the world back into good order for which it was designed…[a story of a God] who completes what he has begun, a God who comes to the rescue of those who seem lost and enslaved in the world the way it now is... “…the present world really is a signpost to a larger beauty, a deeper truth. It really is the authentic manuscript of one part of a masterpiece. The question is, What is the whole masterpiece like, and how can we begin to hear the music in the way it was intended?”

Green Saturdays: The Soul's First Step and First Teacher

The initial step for a soul to come to knowledge of God is contemplation of nature.
Irenaeus (120-202)

Nature is a schoolmistress, the soul the pupil; and whatever one has taught or the other has learned has come from God--the Teacher of the teacher.
Tertullian (160-ca.230)

Green Saturdays: The First Statement of Faith

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth..." (The Apostle's Creed)

For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!(Ps 95:3-7)

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Green Saturdays: Genesis and Francis

I have decided to try an experiment to continue to cultivate my own environmental and Creation Care awareness.  Readers of my blogs know that usually these reflections show up when I am on vacation in beautiful places.  Indeed, I have a whole set of posts arranged around the themes of “Creation, Environment and Stewardship” and summarized in a post called “Looking Good in Green.” 

Recently, I picked up the Green Bible, and as I use it’s “green letter” feature to draw my eye to the over 1000 verses on Creation Care in the Bible, (double the number on salvation, by the way), I have made a personal commitment to interrupt whatever series I am currently plowing on Saturdays (The Hebrew Scriptures Sabbath day), to post a picture and verse, and/or perhaps a quote from another Christian author to remind us all to use what is a usual day off to become more aware of the world that God has given us to “cultivate and keep”.  So, here’s to Green Saturdays, the first picture was a gift,  and the first word goes to Genesis and St. Francis. (All of them have nothing to do with me, but to enjoy and be inspired.)

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 1:31-2:3, NRSV)

“Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
yours are the praised, the glory and the honor and all blessing
To you alone, Most High do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention your name.
Praise be You, my Lord with all your creatures…
Praise be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruits and colored flowers and herbs…”
(Canticle of St. Francis)