Today I have been working on the church service for Sunday. We are in the process of changing worship times for the summer and as in any change there will be an adjustment period. This is also Memorial Weekend where we remember those who have given of their lives for our country. Too often we may take for granted those who are willing to lay down their lives for what we have in our nation. The start of this holiday dates back to the Civil War and was a time to remember soldiers of both sides fighting for what they believed to be valuable. Throughout history and many wars that followed there have always been those who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for their beliefs. What is interesting to me is that after the Civil War the fallen of both sides were honored. Rarely do we do that today. The struggle is how can we honor those of our country and yet pray for our enemies as Jesus commanded us to do. I greatly appreciate those who have given of their lives, their jobs, often suffering life long disabilities. I pray for them and their families and feel that we as a nation do not do enough for them in caring for their loved ones, their on-going health care, and to support them following their discharge.
At the same time I continue to pray for a world where there is peace with justice. This Sunday we will be discussing the creation story. What God did was to take chaos and bring order. How God was able to do that is open to much discussion though the original poem was not to be taken--in my opinion--literally. Rather the important aspect of Genesis 1:1-2:4 was that God was the one responsible. That it was through God's intention and word that it happened. Also of importance was that God declared it good and very good.
So the question arises where did it go so wrong. I find it difficult to say it was because of Adam and Eve that we have wars, genocide, pollution of our land and water, misuse of the earth's resources, exploitation of others for economic and political gain. In each generation, we bear responsibility of how we live our lives. I cannot blame those who have gone before me for the choices that I make today. It is a convienent excuse to absolve myself of my sins. We are influenced by our heritage but are not condemned to repeat it. Prior to the flood story in Genesis, God saw how great was man's wickedness on the earth, and how every plan devised by His mind was nothing but evil all the time (Gen 6:5 Jewish Study Bible). There was no justice and no peace.
So what can we do. In my last blog entry I talked about relationship. It is God's intention that creation and humankind be good. Jesus in the gospel of Matthew shortly after proclaiming to repent for the Kingdom of God is among us talks about ways of living our lives in relationship to God's intention for the creation. I believe that we are called to make a conscious, committed choice to follow Jesus and to continue to grow into God's intention. This could mean to realize that we are all connected to one another as God's spirit is found in all created animals, plants, resources, and in all people. It would mean rather than complaining about something that we would work to change the world. I know that we cannot by ourselves change the world but we can make changes in the way we live our lives and if we would see ourselves connected in this web of creation we may influence the web in ways that we may never know.
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