Christian view: God calls us to creation care
When these resources are polluted, degraded and destroyed by human activity, we should be alarmed.
I believe the environment — and climate change in particular — should be of concern to people of faith, and I say this based on my faith as a Christian and as someone who has grown up on the Shore and lived here many years.
Genesis 1:26-28 tells us human beings are created in God’s image and likeness, and given dominion over all other creatures. Dominion does not mean domination, but refers to the need for humans to exercise responsibility for the Earth as God’s representatives.
In Genesis 2, human beings are given the garden to tend and serve, symbolizing our obligation to care for creation. Human beings do, in fact, exercise dominion over creation. God wills that we exercise it in accordance with his desires and purposes.
God declared the whole of creation to be very good in Genesis 1:31: Earth and the life that dwells upon it have value in and of themselves. As the Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, according to Psalm 24:1, we human beings are called upon to tend, serve and protect the Earth as a sacred trust for which we shall one day give an accounting.
I have a great reverence for the land and waters of the Eastern Shore — it is truly God’s country! And I know so many users of the land and water who take great care in using it wisely — to conserve it for all and for future generations. Those who care for creation are doing the Lord’s work, whether or not they realize it.
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When these resources are polluted, degraded and destroyed by human activity, we should be alarmed. One of the looming threats to our land and waters here on the Eastern Shore is sea-level rise related to climate change, and recent data is telling us the Delmarva Peninsula is one of the top vulnerable places in the country for this.
We have already seen rising waters engulf some islands in the Chesapeake Bay; low-lying areas — and we have many — are susceptible to sea-level rise. We are on the front lines of this reality.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, located at 115 St. Peter’s St. in downtown Salisbury, will on Friday, April 21, be the site of prayer, music, conversation and information on “Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: A Response of Faith.”
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The program will get underway in the church at 6:30 p.m. It will feature reflections, prayers, music and drums, and culminate in a presentation on climate change and its tangible effects on the Eastern Shore, led by Stuart Clarke, keynote speaker and executive director of the Town Creek Foundation in Easton.
The public is invited to attend this free event.
This Friday evening event will allow us to understand what is happening to God’s creation and how we might, as people of God, advocate to slow the progress of sea-level rise here on the Eastern Shore.
As stewards of God’s creation, we have a responsibility to take care of what we are given. The first step is to understand; the next step is to call upon the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to inspire us to take actions that will address this threat to creation.
I encourage your participation.
Rev. David Michaud is rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in downtown Salisbury.