We Are Earth Creatures!

Readings: Genesis 1:1-2:4, Secrets of Heaven #2999 (see below)
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Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

​Today we are planning a fun event for after church. We have been participating in a program called Sacred Grounds Wilmington, which is supporting churches in creating pollinator gardens, and in general moving towards certifying their properties as Native Habitats for wildlife.

We were very proud to be able to function as a pilot for this program in Wilmington in 2021 by creating the pollinator garden we have right now, and now we are continuing with the program by expanding our pollinator-supporting native plantings on a larger scale by prepping our garden beds today.

This is important work to do because native plants are ones that co-evolved with native species of animals, insects and birds, so planting them intentionally supports our local eco-system, keeping it healthy and robust. There are plenty of benefits for humans as well: Just enjoying natural beauty can support mental health, not to mention the fact that getting in the dirt can expose us to microbes that are beneficial to the human microbiome. 

But what it does for us theologically is also important. When we engage in actions that are of a benefit not only to us but to our natural world, we place ourselves within our natural world, within the web of relationships that make up eco-systems. We place ourselves within this web of relationships, not above it. This perhaps doesn’t seem like a huge shift but it really is. Western Christianity has unfortunately, for many hundreds of years, considered humanity to be above the natural world, a dualistic view that has fostered a lot of harm.

But this dualistic view is not the only way of looking at it. Indigenous spirituality is based not on the separation inherent in dualism, but on integration and balance. In this worldview, human beings cannot be categorized as “apart” from creation, or “above” it, but only as one part of it.

We can see this connection clearly in the Genesis story, especially when we understand the word-play that is occurring in the creation of humankind. The first human is named adam and the word for soil in Hebrew is adama. The first human being is an earth creature, described in Genesis Chapter 2 as fashioned out of the clay of the earth and filled with the breath of God.

As we engage the natural world with our work after church today, as we put our hands in the dirt, as use our energy and enthusiasm to create something that supports the eco-system around us, these actions enfold us into a web of creation. We are truly living into the fact that we are earth-creatures, one part of a holy act of creation.

And so as we contemplate the actions we are about to take, and the ways that Indigenous spirituality informs our way of understanding it, let us make a land acknowledgment, to honor the original inhabitants of the land where we are.

Church of the Holy City in Wilmington Delaware acknowledges that is on Lenape land also called the Leni Lenape, and Delawaren, an indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The first language spoken on these lands is Algonquian (Unami and Munsee). It is important that we recognize and respect the original stewards of this territory.

We pay our respect to elders both past and present.

We acknowledge that not only are we on their lands, they are still here and part of this community. We also acknowledge that this is the home of many Indigenous people as a result of federal relocation policies and Indigenous migrants from the south. We honor their ancestors, elders, and community leaders, past, present, and into the future. 

We speak these words to honor the Lenape peoples and invite all who come here to reflect on their relationship to the histories of this land and the people.

We invite you to get involved and do your part to work with and support Indigenous struggles on these lands.

May the balance be restored.


And as we consider, how we might embody balance in our lives and our actions, let us spend some time in guided contemplation of the creation story in Genesis.

(find a comfortable seat, take a deep breath, and if you wish to, close your eyes)

In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

9 Then God said, “ Waters under the sky: be gathered into one place! Dry ground: appear!” So it was. 10 God called the dry ground “ Earth ” and the gathering of the waters “ Sea.” And God saw that this was good.

Breath Prayer:
Breathing in: God saw that this was good.
Breathing out: God saw that this was good.

11 Then God said, “ Earth: produce vegetation — plants that scatter their own seeds, and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its own seed in it!” So it was: 12 the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed, and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And God saw that this was good.
Breath Prayer: 
Breathing in: God saw that this was good. 
Breathing out: God saw that this was good.

20 God then said, “ Waters: swarm with an abundance of living beings! Birds: fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky!” And so it was: 21 God created great sea monsters and all sorts of swimming creatures with which the waters are filled, and all kinds of birds. God saw that this was good 
Breath Prayer: 
Breathing in: God saw that this was good. 
Breathing out: God saw that this was good.

24 Then God said, “ Earth: bring forth all kinds of living soul — cattle, things that crawl, and wild animals of all kinds!” So it was: 25 God made all kinds of wild animals, and cattle, and everything that crawls on the ground, and God saw that this was good.
Breath Prayer: 
Breathing in: God saw that this was good. 
Breathing out: God saw that this was good.

26 Then God said, “ Let us make humankind in our image, to be like us. Let them be stewards of the fish in the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, the wild animals, and everything that crawls on the ground.” 27 Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them ; female and male, God made them. 28 God blessed them and said, “ Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the earth — and be responsible for it!
31 God looked at all of this creation, and proclaimed that this was good — very good. 
Breath Prayer: 
Breathing in: God looked at this creation
Breathing out: and proclaimed that this was good.

As we remember God’s intentionality with creation, as we remember that we are both a part of creation, and have a special responsibility for creation, let us hear the words of this Navajo song, connecting us with both the vastness and the smallness of our natural world, placing us firmly within the whole.

The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice above,
The voice of thunder,
Among the dark clouds
Again and again it sounds,
The voice that beautifies the land.


The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice below,
The voice of the grasshopper,
Among the flowers and the grasses
Again and again it sounds,
The voice that beautifies the land.

Amen.


Readings:


Genesis 1:1-2:4 (The Inclusive Translation)

In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 But the earth became chaos and emptiness, and darkness came over the face of the Deep — yet the Spirit of God was brooding over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “ Light: Be!” and light was. 4 God saw that light was good, and God separated light from darkness. 5 God called the light “ Day ” and the darkness “ Night.” Evening came, and morning followed — the first day. 6 Then God said, “ Now, make an expanse between the waters! Separate water from water!” So it was: 7 God made the expanse and separated the water above the expanse from the water below it. 8 God called the expanse “ Sky.” Evening came, and morning followed — the second day. 9 Then God said, “ Waters under the sky: be gathered into one place! Dry ground: appear!” So it was. 10 God called the dry ground “ Earth ” and the gathering of the waters “ Sea.” And God saw that this was good. 11 Then God said, “ Earth: produce vegetation — plants that scatter their own seeds, and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its own seed in it!” So it was: 12 the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed, and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And God saw that this was good. 13 Evening came, and morning followed — the third day. 14 Then God said, “ Now, let there be lights in the expanse of the sky! Separate day from night! Let them mark the signs and seasons, days and years, 15 and serve as luminaries in the sky, shedding light on the earth.” So it was: 16 God made the two great lights, the greater one to illumine the day, and a lesser to illumine the night. Then God made the stars as well, 17 placing them in the expanse of the sky, to shed light on the earth, 18 to govern both day and night, and separate light from darkness. And God saw that this was good. 19 Evening came, and morning followed — the fourth day. 20 God then said, “ Waters: swarm with an abundance of living beings! Birds: fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky!” And so it was: 21 God created great sea monsters and all sorts of swimming creatures with which the waters are filled, and all kinds of birds. God saw that this was good 22 and blessed them, saying, “ Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the waters of the seas! Birds, abound on the earth!” 23 Evening came, and morning followed — the fifth day. 24 Then God said, “ Earth: bring forth all kinds of living soul — cattle, things that crawl, and wild animals of all kinds!” So it was: 25 God made all kinds of wild animals, and cattle, and everything that crawls on the ground, and God saw that this was good. 26 Then God said, “ Let us make humankind in our image, to be like us. Let them be stewards of the fish in the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, the wild animals, and everything that crawls on the ground.” 27 Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them ; female and male, God made them. 28 God blessed them and said, “ Bear fruit, increase your numbers, and fill the earth — and be responsible for it! Watch over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things on the earth!” 29 God then told them, “ Look! I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the earth, and every tree whose fruit carries its seed inside itself: they will be your food ; 30 and to all the animals of the earth and the birds of the air and things that crawl on the ground — everything that has a living soul in it — I give all the green plants for food.” So it was. 31 God looked at all of this creation, and proclaimed that this was good — very good. Evening came, and morning followed — the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished all the work of creation, and so, on that seventh day, God rested. 3 God blessed the seventh day and called it sacred, because on it God rested from all the work of creation. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Secrets of Heaven #2999
In addition, there is nothing anywhere in the created world that does not correspond to things in the spiritual world and therefore in its way represent something in the Lord's kingdom. It is from the spiritual world that everything comes into being and remains in existence.