Time for Reflection
Six weeks before Easter
Lent comes every year
The altar cloths change
To prepare our hearts and minds
Sorrow is purple
Strange curious acts
We often change our habits
Draws closeness to God
This lent let us think
About our earthly place
Where do we belong?
Our place within creation
In community
Mysteriously
Beautiful without measure
Broken from our sin
Nothing can be right
Pollution and destruction
All creation groans
How should we then live?
Nothing seems enough to right
Wrong which we inflict
We come to the table
An intentional action
Through our brokenness
Bread and wine we eat
At the great feast of our Lord
The Body and Blood
Humbly we offer
Ourselves as a sacrifice
Serving in the world
In its unique way
Birds chirp, rain falls, brooks babble
Creation worships
Easter is just that
The magnitude of grace
A reminder of purpose
God’s grace will redeem
The day will come when there is:
New heaven, New earth
When all creation
Joins in the song of new life
Worships together
Joyful caretaking
Should be a priority
Until that day dawns
By Erica Boldenow, PhD student in Toxicology at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health
Questions & Actions
- Take a moment to reflect on the last line of this poem, “Joyful caretaking should be a priority until that day dawns.” There are two things to consider: (1) what does joyful caretaking look like? and (2) what is that day we’re waiting for? In other words, what is our hope for the future, and what is our joyful response now?
- Take a second to make a list of some joyful caretaking you participate in your community and home. What does it look like to be a caretaker to you?
- Consider Genesis 1:28 (even better, read it in the whole context of Genesis 1-2:3). Is this an articulation of joyful caretaking? Especially consider the language of subduing or ruling the land. To puzzle this out, it may be helpful to consider what God’s rule looks like. Is it one of domination, or delight? Of profit, or possibility? Of famine, or feasting? Take some time to consider these texts in conjunction and share your thoughts below.
