Mondays with Muir: Earth Week 2015

“The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.” John Muir

I love this one, just thinking about our emotional and spiritual connection with God's creation. Today is the beginning of what I will call Earth Week, even though most typically celebrate only Earth Day, this Wednesday, April 22. As much as any effort to be a good steward of the environment is wonderful, I do feel the reward is contingent upon the motivation.

There can be many motivations people have for this stewardship. Fear of a doomed planet, a legalistic belief system, professional responsibility, being hip with the culture, worshipping nature itself, guilt.....all of these may motivate a positive impact on the planet, but not so much on our soul. Only when we recognize that there is One who created it all, breathed life into it, and set it all into motion, can this care turn into a form of Godly worship. With this recognition in our mind, the act of adoring, respecting, and caring for nature becomes nourishing to our body and spirit. There are many scientific findings that prove we biologically and emotionally benefit from exposure to nature, but honestly, I don't read much into them. This is not a new concept. I find the research simply supports the fact that we were created to be in a garden, tending and relying upon His provision. "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." (Genesis 2:15) God knew what He was doing with this role of working it and caring for it. He knew it would nourish us.

Going back to John Muir's quote, I noticed that if I change one letter in the first sentence, the whole meaning changes. Instead of "The sun shines not on us but in us." I propose: The son shines not on us but in us. This was inspired by 1John 4:4 ."..the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." The one who is in us is the Holy Spirit, who helps us shine the light of Jesus' love.

I am not writing this from the perspective of an excellent care taker. Nope. My bird feeder runs out of seed often, I could be recycling more, I could be using less energy...etc. I know this. But I do enter into the role of a steward with hope not despair, gratitude not obligation, and respect, not control. When you love something, and see it as a whole interconnected system, it isn't much of a leap to want to be caring for it.