From the Chaplain

Hello again

September is the month the ecumenical church has marked as a time to celebrate creation and to draw attention to the ecological crisis we all face by living on earth. The theme for 2021 is Restoring our Common Home. 

In recent times there is a move toward faith and science complementing rather than opposing each other. ‘Evolutionary Creation’ includes two basic ideas. First, that God created all things, including human beings in God’s own image. Second, that evolution is the best scientific explanation we currently have for the diversity and similarities of all life on Earth.

At the beginning of the gospel of John we read:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

People of faith believe that a Great Spirit/God is the source behind the universe and all creation, and that there is an inherent meaning and purpose to life however chaotic and pointless it may seem. The gospel writer here expresses this in the opening lines of his book. Christians have taken this ‘light’, this ‘Word’ to point to Jesus of Nazareth being one with the Creator God and the Holy Spirit at the beginning of time.

Through following Jesus, we are invited to participate in his redeeming nature and work, and so we are called to work towards restoring creation after recent centuries of exploitation. We do this so that our common home may be sustainable and hospitable for all creatures around the globe. 

Here is a prayer for this time:

God, maker of marvels, you weave the planet and all its creatures together in kinship; your unifying love is revealed in the interdependence of relationships in the complex world that you have made. Save us from the illusion that humankind is separate and alone, and join us in communion with all inhabitants of the universe – especially now at this crucial time.

Amen

Many blessings,

Rosalie