ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
April 22, 2022
Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He tells a story of a young boy who skipped school on a regular basis to go into the woods. One day his teacher followed him and found the young man praying in a small circle of beautiful green trees. When asked what drew him to the woods, the boy replied, “I can find God here.” “But surely, God is the same in the town as in the woods,” the teacher inquired. “That’s true,” the boy replied. “But I am not the same!” The beauty of creation changes us in ways that most of us are unaware, but when we pause long enough to allow our senses to be caught in the magnificent splendor, we are awe-struck. Today is Earth Day, though like a number of such things, I sort of think each day should be Earth Day. We are facing an ecological crisis. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who said long before science understood what it understands today, “A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” This is true of every place where life exists, and though 78% of Americans say they have concerns about our environment, most all of them will acknowledge they are uncertain of where exactly to begin. It can often be challenging, but as the old adage suggests, “Just begin!” I am currently visiting my mother in Lincoln, NE, and just 45 minutes down the road in Nebraska City is Arbor Lodge, a place I would visit as a child on school field trips. It is the birth place of Arbor Day, and so one small thing I did for Earth Day was to purchase some trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. It is minuscule as compared to the problems, but a lot of minuscule begins to add up.
Holy One of Creation, inspire within each of us compassion and concern for this world we have been given. Call us again to be stewards of this magnificent planet on which we draw our every breath. Amen.
