“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the
flowers and clouds and stars” – Martin Luther

Happy Earth Day!
As some of you know, I have earned a sort of reputation on mission trips and other church events as sort of a green hippie. This culminated a few years ago with my nickname of “Mother Earth” on our summer mission trip to Arkansas, and has stuck with me ever since. Since 1970, people in the US have taken this day, April 22nd to think about the Earth and how we can care for it. In recent years, April 22 has become an international date for recognizing Earth Day. [This year], it falls on a Sunday. I think, as a community of faith, we have a special calling to care for creation. As Martin Luther said in the quote above, the earth is one of God’s ways of showing us love. No time is this more apparent than springtime in Minnesota. We go from the dull, dreary browns and grays of late winter to the vibrant, almost too-bright greens of early spring. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and suddenly the earth bursts forth with life that had been gone so long we almost wondered if it would ever be alive again. God is
working in creation even when it seems long lost to winter’s harsh climate, just as God continues to do work in our hearts even when the soil seems like it won’t ever be fertile ground for seeds of faith again. So today, on Earth Day 2012, take some time to look at the gift of creation that God has placed all around you. Celebrate it for what it is – a fingerprint of the evidence of the love of God, right there in front of us.
“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is
far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.” Martin Luther
Natalia