How does God reveal God’s self to you?  Perhaps it’s holding an infant with Downs Syndrome. Maybe, it’s serving at a soup kitchen. Many of us see God in a glorious sunrise or sunset… in the majesty of the mountains or the vastness of the ocean.   God is so often revealed in the nature that is all around us.  What responsibility do we have to protect this source of God’s revelation?  Are we in danger of losing it through climate catastrophes?

The Dominican Sisters of Peace Land Ethic Document states:  “It is a short jump to the realization that when we humans destroy the land, water and air with chemicals, sewerage, waste products and machines, we are crucifying again the God who created everything, ourselves included. This failure to recognize God’s presence in creation is our Sin. In our disregard or mindlessness, we are eliminating and short circuiting all life forms as nothing can evolve out of our destruction of ecosystems.”

Richard Rohr, in his February 27^th blog, puts it like this: “Every single creature—the teen mother nursing her child, every one of the twenty thousand species of butterflies, an immigrant living in fear, a blade of grass, you reading this meditation—all are “in Christ” and “chosen from the beginning.” (Ephesians 1:3-4, 9-10)

Finally, a young person typing a reflection on her visit to the Grand Canyon wrote, “Hearing the words ‘Grand Canyon’ and now experiencing it for the first time, I realize that the term ‘Grand’ falls far [short] of what this place [truly] represents: Perfection.”

Yes… God is revealed in the perfection of the natural world. During the months of March and April leading up to Earth Day, members of the Eco Justice committee will present a series of blogs called Making Peace with the Earth.  It will be an opportunity for readers to reflect on the importance of our world and how we must make changes if we are to protect this amazing revelation of God.  Please take some time this Lent to consider what actions you can take. What’s one thing that you will do to make peace with the earth?