“I don’t live in fear, though, of an accident . . . I have more confidence and faith in business.” That was the recent comment of a local Christian politician in support of the oil sands Enbridge Pipeline. This view contrasts with those who believe environmental risk needs to be curbed.
These two camps, climate change versus anti-climate change, are polarized within the Christian Reformed Church.
The question is, What is to be the response of a polarized Christian community? Do we just continue with our unsustainable lifestyle? Wait for new legislation?
The 2012 CRC Creation Stewardship Task Force acknowledges that change will be difficult: “Unfortunately, it appears that global society is unlikely to change its current use of carbon-based fuels and associated economic policies anytime in the near future” (p. 48).
It’s time for all of us to step back and find our common ground.
“Be still and know that I am God,” says the psalmist (Ps. 46:10). One of the two ways for us to know God, according to the Belgic Confession, is “by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, which is before our eyes as a most elegant book” (Art. 2, emphasis added).
We need to get to know that most elegant book, God’s creation, more intimately.
Years ago I taught with someone who wanted students to get in touch with the created world. He assigned students to find their own space outdoors, away from others, to look, to listen, to smell.
Awareness is one way for us to begin to know God’s book more intimately. Look for creepy crawlers; listen to the birds; smell the earth and plants. Be still and know that I am God.
A second way for us to get to know God’s elegant book is to actively appreciate nature. Not all of us will become birders, but each of us can learn to respect, value, or even tolerate God’s creation. My daughter has a deadly fear of wasps. She has to learn to tolerate them. By learning to appreciate, we become more sensitive to fluctuating and declining populations in nature. Be still and know that I am God.
Our thoughts about creation will be more focused as we become more aware and appreciative of God’s planned biodiversity. Honing our ecological virtues is a first step to becoming better caretakers of God’s sustaining gifts. It is a way of serving God, of witnessing to our neighbors and the global community that he is not only our Savior but our Creator.
About the Author
John Franken is a semi-retired Christian school teacher who runs a B&B called Chickadee Acres. He attends Telkwa (B.C.) Christian Reformed Church.
