Connected and Important

I inhale still morning air, damp with the overnight rain. Even the birds are quiet this morning, sleeping in, observing the sabbath. Or maybe it’s just too early. The cloud cover keeps the sun hidden and the cooler temperatures urge us to nestle in our beds.

The smell of summer has passed. No tart tomato leaves or scents of wild onions or grass clippings. The air is damp and dying. Leaves gather and decay along the driveway. Soon the shorten hours of sunlight will bring out the vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows of the trees, but this morning there is only stillness, as if the world waits in anticipation, in preparation.

Sometimes I am brought to my knees by the amazing complexity of the world around me. Distant worlds that rotate while suspended in the air by unseen forces. Bumblebees and butterflies go about their daily tasks and thereby ensure the survival of thousands of plant species. Trees stretch unground, toss their seeds into the wind, and provide homes and nourishment for all kinds of animals.

What a gift to be part of this dynamic, interconnected, and diverse community! What a blessing to stand in my yard and sense how God makes us all dependent on each other, on all His creation. I am every bit as much a part of His endless creation as the blades of grass, the trees, and the bumblebees. And the animals that live all around me – birds, and possums, and squirrels, and mice, and ants, and worms, and gnats. As well as the hundreds of different plants that grow at my feet, in the hedgerow, along the creek, in the creek. The world, the world in which He put us, is an amazing place.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with signing. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:1-3.

One of the things that science has discovered is that even the tiniest, most insignificant creatures in nature are vital to the health of the planet. The worms, the microbes, the fungi, the bees. Even the scary, bad ones. If you haven’t seen the story about the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone, watch it here now. Wolves changed the ecosystem, the landscape, and the biodiversity of Yellowstone.

Each of us, every person, every animal, every insect and bird, every plant, has a role in God’s earth. We are not merely tamers of it or custodians of it or savers of it. We are part of it. The eye cannot say to the foot, “I have no need of you.” (I Corinthians 12:21)

I’m not making a political statement. I am just awed by how God made us all interconnected and interdependent. God is an all-powerful creator who made galaxies and volcanic mountains. God also designed delicate flower petals, created intricate designs in snowflakes and spider webs, and developed complex DNA stands and molecular structures. He is concerned with all the little things that work together to create the big picture.

I dare say that He is concerned with how you spend your day today, with how I spend my day.

We are a part of his creation, a small but significant part. We can acknowledge that or pretend that our lives don’t matter, any more than the life of a bumblebee or a wolf matters, or the leaves on a tree matter. They do. They have a purpose. You have a purpose. I have a purpose. We are all important in the intricate, beautiful, and awe-inspiring thing called life on this earth.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness is to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5.

Love in Christ, Betsy