Since i have a sneaking suspicion that the world was actually started on Thursday morning*, thus resting and appreciating all he created, i have declared that on my blog, Wednesday will be Greenday. i'll mark it with an environmental post whenever possible. As i've mentioned before, i think it's fairly impossible to read scripture, particularly the Old Testament (and therefore be a believer) and also not be an environmentalist. Next Wednesday, i'll start a series of posts that study those scriptures specifically, in case you or someone you know needs convincing that God intends for us to take care of God's creation.Today, in honor of Epiphany, i'd like to share my own epiphany. While i like to think i know a thing or two about scripture, i also must admit i don't know nearly as much as i would like to know. Some things in the Bible still surprise me now and then. So while i'm aware that scripture has more than one account of the story of creation, one very important detail escaped me.
Do you know who/what was created on the sixth day? That's right, people! Oh, and cattle and creeping things on the ground. WHAT?!?! We share a day with creeping things? We share a day with cows and the little things on the counter or in the bathroom from which i must frequently don my armor and lance to battle for my wife? Seriously? i was floored. Barbara Brown Taylor points this out in an intro article to The Green Bible. As she bemoans, we don't even get to share it with a snow leopard or antelope or something cool. Now, as an ardent milk drinker, i'm ok with this arrangement. And i rather like spiders.
It is nonetheless a surprise, and feeling a little less haughty is one outcome of this discovery, but it's also enlightening. God made only us in God's image, of all the creatures, but he didn't set aside a day for us. He set us in charge of caring for those creatures. i feel a bit better about my desire to capture crickets and spiders in the house to set them free. And i am utterly convinced i want to buy my milk and cheese from happy cows ;-)
*God created sea monsters on the 4th day. It had to be a Monday.
2 comments:
I'd love to read your thoughts on the merits of cloth diapering.
I would agree that monsters (sea and otherwise) lend themselves to Monday. Good call.
And if you believe the advertising, happy cows come from California. Growing up in Wisconsin, I know this is not the case.
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