The Wonder of Water

All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place from where streams come, there they return again. Ecc 1:6

There is something beautiful about watching a river flow into the sea. To see them, born in mountains high and distant, rushing into the vastness of the oceans of our earth

What stories could those waters tell?

How many lives did they touch along the way?

Who thanked the river for the countless blessings it gave as it crossed their land?

Water is a miracle. It is the magic substance that all of life depends on, the stuff that we are made of

Earth is set apart from everything else we see in the universe by its water. It’s what makes this planet full of an abundance of life

Water is the solution that allows us to exist. All the millions of processes happening in us every second, occur only because of its incredible qualities

Its chemical properties are amazingly varied and unique. Water dissolves, transports, adheres, oxidizes, reduces, blends, and mixes. It flows, floats in the air, and becomes like a rock when it’s cold

It can gently wash the dust from a leaf, or, split solid rock and wear down mountains

On Earth it is ever present and life giving. All of life relies on its life sustaining properties

God has created an incredible world for us to live in. He has made this watery place filled with great abundance. It exists in a perfect balance of temperature, gravity, and mix of elements that ebb and flow, supporting this miracle we call life

Give thanks, be in awe of this wonder created by His hands. consider the wonder of water and its beauty; the power of the ocean when a storm has stirred it, when it creates mountainous waves of awesome power

Remember the beauty of a waterfall cascading over cliffs, the roar of rapids in a river at flood stage; the towering summits of thunderstorms white against the sky that pour flooding torrents of rainfall upon the land beneath

How beautiful to watch a river meet the sea, to observe it completing a cycle that gives life to all it touches

How distressing then, is it to see scarcity and pollution. Of lack, that has caused great suffering across this world

To see the flash floods and rising seas that threaten so many, or to hear about pollution that we have dumped into our precious waters; poison that has stricken many who have no choice in the matter

All these tragedies are of our own making, caused by a warming climate and the runaway waste of industry. Propagated by selfish and cost centered decisions that value wealth above our health

Water, one of God’s most miraculous substances is being defiled and altered

As we raise the earths temperature and reduce the quality of our waters, we place all life into increasing peril

God has made us responsible for what we do here within His glorious creation. It is up to us to clean up our waste and give honor to Him and regard all that dwells within His world

Consider, this day, what we are doing to our waters. Thank God for the wonder of its existence, then make a difference with your life.  11/12/2021

The Precious Fabric of Life

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the Earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:26

The God of all that is, clothed the Earth with a precious fabric. He made this world with materials of many colors, textures, forms, and patterns

It fits perfectly upon this world, and is unlike anything we have ever known or observed

It is incredible how it persists, adapts, and repairs itself even when damaged. It is woven with such exquisite complexity, that we can barely understand how it works

Our God in heaven created something amazing and beautiful. Perhaps the most surprising thing about it is that it also lives and breathes

This fabric that covers our Earth, our home, is not something to be taken for granted. For we are dependent on the health of every part of it for our very existence

It lies in a balance within all of its workings, so that our life, and all life that dwells on Earth may  persist safely for eons of time

Oh God of the heavens and of the Earth, humble us, and make us to know your love for us. May we recognize that You alone have made this place for us to live, and it is marvelous in every way

We cheapen our lives when we take all this for granted. It shows our lack of reverence for God, who has given us all things

Blessed are we to be given life here in this place, and to be loved, for God has given us all we need. But, we curse ourselves by our unthankful actions, when we conceive in our minds to exploit God’s gift to us.

In recent times we have grown to fill the entire Earth. We have crowded in to every part of this life giving fabric. Our sin is that we do not appreciate this wonder that we live within, and that we give in to the selfish power of our greed and lust for things

Through our actions, we have increasingly desecrated the very fabric of God’s world, and now weaken, even threaten our own existence by the runaway momentum of our destructive pursuits

God’s amazing creation, the fabric he placed here for life, even our lives, is being strained. Its threads are being stretched and torn. Our climate is changing in dangerous ways

We must thoughtfully renew a vital commitment to this sacred place we call home and humbly revive our faith in our God. So that through this we might chart a new path away from the course we take now, and live as a species that values and nurtures the health of our natural world. 2/28/2021