We planted flowers today. The boys discovered snap dragons and quickly named them as their "favorite flower of all time." We named ways to help protect our earth and care for it. We talked about all the different landscapes, oceans, forests, jungles. We stuck our hands into the soil and felt appreciation for the nature around us. It was a beautiful day to appreciate and give thanks for the natural world that has been entrusted to our care.
Yet my mind wandered. This song ran through my head intermingled with thoughts beyond the realm of nature.Thoughts of natural dirt casings filled with human souls. Immortality contained in weak, starving forms. Who live so closely with nature that their dust covered bodies make it difficult to discern where dirt ends and body begins. Thoughts of America with her isles and isles of organic groceries and her smorgasbord of church selections and humanity...all around her...their bodies wanting only a day's meal; their souls desiring the simple truth of the Gospel.
As I surveyed our work of the day and the beauty of the bright flowers contrasted with the dark soil, my mind drifted back to the young Ethiopian mother who sat by the gates of the monastery. God's beautiful creation.
This earth day, as we enjoyed the fair weather and ample amounts of room to plant and tend our little garden, the prevailing thought was...
When do we celebrate humanity day? For humanity, too, needs our care.
Happy Earth Day.
"If I Stand" by Rich Mullins
There's more that rises in the morning than the sun
And more that shines in the night than just the moon
There's more than just this fire here that keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger than this room
And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing
Stuff of Earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver of all good things
So if I stand let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to you
So if I sing let me sing for the joy that has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man who is longing for his home
And there's more that dances on the prairies than the wind
And more that pulses in the ocean than the tide
There's a love that's fiercer than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother's when her baby's at her side
And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver of all good things
