WE GATHER HERE TODAY TO REMEMBER THAT GOD IS THE CREATOR, THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE!... HEARING AGAIN THE WORDS FROM GENESIS THIS MORNING - PERHAPS HEARING IT ANEW AS WE HEAR IT IN CONTEMPORARY LANGUAGE - WE HEAR THAT GOD LOOKED AROUND AT THE CREATED ORDER IN ITS WHOLENESS & DECLARED THAT IT WAS ALL VERY GOOD! I HOPE YOU RESONATE WITH THE IDEA THAT THE EARTH IS GOD'S & THAT WE ARE GOD'S CHILDREN!

THIS ANCIENT STORY FROM GENESIS, AN ORAL STORY LONG BEFORE IT FOUND ITS WAY INTO PRINT, THIS CREATION STORY OF OUR HERITAGE REMINDS US THAT IN THE MIDST OF THE PROCESS OF CREATION GOD GIVES HUMAN KIND "RESPONSIBILITY" FOR ALL THE EARTH... TODAY WE ARE HERE TO REMEMBER THAT FROM THE BEGINNING GOD ASKED US TO "TAKE CHARGE" OF THE CREATION... NOW OTHER TRANSLATIONS OF THIS TEXT TELL US THAT WE WERE GIVEN "DOMINION" OVER ALL THE EARTH... AND OTHER TRANSLATIONS ALSO USE THE PHRASE THAT GOD INVITED HUMAN KIND TO "FILL THE EARTH & SUBDUE IT"....

IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WE HAVE COME TO ADMIT WITH SOME GRIEF & SHAME THAT WE HAVE DONE MORE THAN "FILL THE EARTH & SUBDUE IT"... AS PEOPLE OF FAITH WE COME HERE TODAY TO CONSIDER A TERRIBLE TRUTH: THAT RATHER THAN BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR OR CARING MUCH FOR CREATION, WE SEEM RATHER TO BE "AT WAR" WITH GOD'S CREATION!

YOU DON'T NEED TO HAVE READ ALL THE MOST RECENT STATISTICS ON THE ENVIRONMENT OR EVEN HAVE SEEN AL GORE'S MOVIE "AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH" TO KNOW: WE WHO LIVE ON THIS AMAZING MARBLE IN SPACE SEEM TO HAVE UPSET, DISTRESSED, & RAVAGED THIS EARTH'S ECOSYSTEM IN MANY SERIOUS WAYS ...IT IS NO LONGER A NEW IDEA THAT THINGS ARE NOT RIGHT WITH THE WHOLENESS & ORDER THAT GOD CREATED & THAT GOD CONTINUES TO CREATE... WE ARE ALL TOO WELL AWARE THAT SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED TO GOD'S VISION OF SHALOM, OF HARMONY, OF WELL BEING FOR THE EARTH & ALL ITS CREATURES... WE ALL KNOW BY NOW THAT WE HAVE AN ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS TAKING PLACE ALL AROUND US...AND WE KNOW WHO IS RESPONSIBLE!

WE -THE VERY ONES GIFTED WITH THE OPPORTUNITY & THE PRIVILEGE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SPACESHIP EARTH - WE ARE THE ONES WHO SPOIL, POLLUTE, & DESECRATE THIS EARTH AT NEARLY EVERY TURN... WHEN I HEAR THE GENESIS STORY I DO NOT HEAR THAT GOD'S DECISION TO GIVE US "DOMINION" OVER THE CREATION ON EARTH IMPLIED PRIVILEGE... I DO HEAR GOD ASSUMING THAT WE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR & TAKE GOOD CARE OF THIS EARTH & ALL ITS INHABITANTS...

AS UNCOMFORTABLE AS IT MAY MAKE US FEEL TO SAY IT ALOUD - WE HAVE REPEATEDLY FAILED TO BE GOOD CARETAKERS OF THIS PLANET... WE HAVE OVER & OVER AGAIN FAILED TO BE GOOD STEWARDS... WE HAVE FAILED TO SEE OURSELVES AS A PART OF A GREATER, SACRED WHOLE... WE ARE GUESTS ON THIS SPACESHIP EARTH... WE UNDERSTAND MORE CLEARLY THAN EVER BEFORE THAT THE UNIVERSE IS AN INCREDIBLY COMPLEX, INTERCONNECTED & INTER-RELATED WHOLE - A SACRED WHOLE... WE SEEM TO FORGET THAT WE ARE ONLY ONE PART OF GOD'S CREATION; WE ARE ONLY ONE PIECE OF THE ENTIRE PUZZLE OF THE COSMOS...

FOR TOO LONG WE HAVE PRESUMED TO BELIEVE & LIVE AS IF WE WERE GIFTED GOD'S CREATION EXCLUSIVELY FOR OUR BENEFIT... FOR TOO LONG THE GIFT OF AUTHORITY JUSTIFIED SELFISH & EXCLUSIVE USE & ABUSE OF ALL CREATION - ITS AIR, FORESTS, OCEANS, WATER WAYS, LAND, & WILDLIFE... WHAT HAVE WE DONE? ROSE BIRD, ONE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICES OF THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT MADE THIS OBSERVATION:

"WE HAVE PROBED THE EARTH, EXCAVATED IT, BURNED IT, RIPPED THINGS FROM IT, BURIED THINGS IN IT, CHOPPED DOWN ITS FORESTS, LEVELED ITS HILLS, MUDDIED ITS WATERS & DIRTIED ITS AIR. THAT DOES NOT FIT MY DEFINITION OF A GOOD TENANT. IF WE WERE HERE ON A MONTH TO MONTH BASIS, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN EVICTED LONG AGO."...

AS PEOPLE OF FAITH WE MUST TAKE SERIOUSLY THE THREAT TO OUR PLANET! FOR TOO LONG WE HAVE NEGLECTED TO TAKE SERIOUSLY THE MANY SERIOUS WARNINGS THAT WE CAN SEE, HEAR, & READ ABOUT... THESE PROBLEMS HAVE NOT COME ABOUT ALL OF A SUDDEN... THESE PROBLEMS & CHALLENGES TO OUR GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED & NAMED AS REALITIES FOR MANY YEARS NOW...WE EACH MUST DO SOMETHING; WE CAN EACH MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN CREATING A MORE HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM IN OUR HOMES, IN OUR COMMUNITIES, & IN OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE... WE MUST RECOGNIZE THAT OUR LIVES ARE INTERCONNECTED WITH THE ENTIRE CREATION... IT IS EASY FOR US TO REMAIN COMFORTABLE IN THE RELATIVE SAFETY & SECURITY OF OUR HOMES & LIVELIHOODS HERE IN NEW ENGLAND, HERE IN NORTH AMERICA.... IT IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE FOR US TO PRETEND THAT THE PROBLEMS ONLY IMPACT SOMEONE ELSE, SOMEWHERE ELSE...

IF WE ARE TO BE BOLDLY HONEST: WE WHO LIVE HERE IN NORTH AMERICA HAVE DEVELOPED A CULTURE WHICH IS SO HUMAN-CENTERED IN ITS WORLD VIEW THAT WE HAVE ACTUALLY DEVELOPED WHAT MANY WOULD CALL A PREDATORY RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE & THIS EARTH... WE HAVE PRESUMED THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT & THE AUTHORITY TO USE GOD'S CREATION IN WHATEVER WAY SUITS OUR LIFESTYLES & OUR NEEDS... WE HAVE BELIEVED, PERHAPS UNWITTINGLY, THAT WE COULD DO WHATEVER WE PLEASED (OR COULD AFFORD) REGARDLESS OF ITS IMPACT ON THE LAND, THE AIR, THE WATER, OR EVEN ON OTHER PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD... WE HAVE COME TO ASSUME THAT DOMINION OVER GOD'S CREATION MEANS DOMINATION, EXPLOITATION, & EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGE... WE HAVE SOMEHOW FORGOTTEN THAT GOD GIFTED US THE ROLE OF RESPONSIBLE STEWARDS... WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT GOD ASKED US TO BE CARETAKERS. .. WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT WE WERE CREATED TO BE PARTNERS WITH CREATION...WE HAVE RAPED & PILLAGED THE EARTH REPEATEDLY... AND PERHAPS THE MOST TROUBLING PART IS THAT WE CONTINUE TO DO SO...

WE HAVE NOT ONLY FAILED TO KEEP IN MIND THE GOODNESS OF GOD'S CREATION BUT WE HAVE ALLOWED OUR OWN COMFORTS, OUR OWN PLEASURES, AND OUR OWN LIFESTYLES TO BECOME MORE IMPORTANT THAT PRESERVING THIS PLANET FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS...

WE KNOW BY NOW THE OFT QUOTED STATISTIC THAT 6% OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION CONSUMES NEARLY 60% OF ITS RAW MATERIALS... DO WE MAKE THE CONNECTION THAT WE HERE IN NORTH AMERICA ARE THAT 6%?

MY INTENTION TODAY IS NOT TO OVERWHELM YOU STATISTICS, NOT TO BATTER YOU WITH BAD NEWS... WE ALL KNOW THAT AMERICANS CONSUME VAST AMOUNTS OF FOOD, SUGAR, GASOLINE... WE KNOW WE WASTE UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNTS OF MONEY ON LOTTERY TICKETS, PROSTITUTION, ENTERTAINMENT, & RECREATION... I BELIEVE WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT WE DO LOVE & ENJOY GOD'S CREATION... I HOPE WE AGREE THAT WE LOVE & APPRECIATE THIS SPACESHIP ON WHICH WE LIVE... WITHOUT A DOUBT WE WANT THIS EARTH TO BE HERE FOR OUR CHILDREN, OUR GRANDCHILDREN, & THEIR GRANDCHILDREN - FOR MANY GENERATIONS TO COME... AS PEOPLE OF GOD WE RECOGNIZE & AFFIRM THE GOODNESS OF CREATION AND WE CAN AFFIRM OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF GOD'S GREAT WEB OF LIFE... WE CAN ALSO REMEMBER THAT GOD'S CREATION IS NEVER COMPLETED, GOD'S CREATION IS NEVER FINISHED... EACH OF US CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE & CONTRIBUTE TO THE ONGOING PROCESS OF CREATION... WE CAN ALL THINK GLOBALLY & ACT LOCALLY... WE KNOW HOW TO RECYCLE, REUSE, & REDUCE OUR CONSUMPTION... EACH OF US CAN PROTECT & PRESERVE GOD'S CREATION... IN LIGHT OF THE ANCIENT STORY OF CREATION WE HAVE HEARD AGAIN TODAY AND IN LIGHT OF OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH, WE ARE REMINDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER! LET US REMEMBER WHO WE ARE! AMEN...