God’s World: A Gift of Love and Grace
Adapted from Exploring Community of Christ Basic Beliefs: A Commentary
(Adapted from Exploring Community of Christ Basic Beliefs: A Commentary edited by Anthony J. Chvala-Smith, pp. 56-57. A Kindle version is available at www.HeraldHouse.org.)
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. -Isaiah 32:16-18
As an expression of divine love, God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, and called them “good.” Everything belongs to God and should be cherished and used justly according to divine purposes. God sees creation as a whole without separation of spirit and element. God calls people of every generation to join with God as stewards in the loving care of creation.
This paragraph affirms that God’s world is a gift of love and grace. Earth’s living organisms, both human and nonhuman, breathe in this gift of life from God the loving Creator. To refer to all things as “creation” immediately implies a divine point of reference: a Creator. Christian faith holds that creation in all its beauty, wonder, power, diversity, vulnerability, and mystery is an icon of the living God. Divine Spirit works unceasingly to create, sustain, and redeem all living things and guide them toward the wholeness of peace. God invites human beings to care for each other and all of nature. This call for us to be stewards of creation is fundamentally a call to love what God has generously created.
Creation is the good gift of God, whose eternal triune being is communal. Therefore, creation as a whole reflects in its vast web of relationships the relational, communal nature of God. Human beings, like all other animals, plants, and organisms are part of this larger, interrelated whole. We are all creatures, which, among other things, means we depend on each other for existence. Alike and different from other creatures we share the same needs for air to breathe, water to drink, food to nourish, and resources for shelter. Each organism is unique and lives out its own special role within the whole of creation. At the same time, because all living things depend on each other, mutuality is at the heart of the good creation. We should not be surprised by this truth, since according to the doctrine of the Trinity, reciprocity is the essence of God’s own life.
Regrettably, we human beings regularly fail to recognize, respect, or love the uniqueness of other species, natural habitats, and ecological processes. Many of our daily choices lead to wasteful consumption of the world’s resources, energy, and lands. Our failure to accept that we are part of an interconnected whole contributes to the dangerous ecological crisis we face today. Climate change, species extinction, deforestation, desertification, cultural extinction, nuclear waste, and pollution of air, soil, and water are assaults upon the wholeness of the global community. How will we as Community of Christ contribute to the healing of Earth? How will we address the difficult ecological challenges before us?
Prayer Phrase
“Practice Resurrection” (Wendell Berry).
Spiritual Practice
Breath Prayer
During this Easter season, we invite you daily into a breath prayer focused on resurrection. With each exhale, respond in a word or phrase to the question, “What is dying?” (fear, anger, assumptions, etc.) With each inhale, notice a response in a word or phrase to the question “What is rising?” (love, courage, trust, etc.) You may choose to use the same word or phrase throughout this season, or let each day bring its own unique response to this sacred pattern of dying and rising that is central to our faith.
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
