It’s Earth Day!

As a gardener and nature lover, Earth Day has mixed meanings to me.  I appreciate the beauty of nature, the first shoots of green in the spring, and the harvest of flowers and fruits as the seasons turn.

One of my favorite things is to spend time at the beach and enjoy the sand, sunshine, crashing or lapping waves, and the warm breeze. And anytime of the year, I am game for a hike, or even a walk along a rural roadside.

Today, we took a walk down a nearby road.  There’s a small boat launch onto the river along that road and we strolled on in there to get a closer look at the now receding river and her previously swollen banks.

As we turned in the driveway, immediately to my left I spied these flowers.  Gorgeous white flowers with yellow centers pushing up like tulips at first glance.  Coming closer I uncovered some dried grasses from the winter and these spectacular blossoms.  I’m guessing they are anemones, but I need to do a Google search.  If you know….please tell.

Walking a bit farther, now that the snow is melted away, we can see what was left alongside the park in the adjacent marsh.  Things like a mattress, bags and bags of garbage obviously dumped by one person, a basket of trash, and miscellaneous plastic juice and liquor bottles lay randomly among the new spring growth and the waters of the marsh.  All this in addition to the fast food containers, water bottles, vodka bottles, and yes, a toilet left in the nearby roadside ditch over the winter.

All of that was rather disheartening.  But, truly the saddest Earth Day discovery was seeing a still live Robin dangling from one leg in the brush.  Evidently she got her leg caught in someone’s fish line that had gotten tangled in the brush and thoughtlessly left behind.  My husband didn’t have anything sharp other than a car key.  But, he managed to use it to help break the line and rescue the Robin.  Her leg had been injured, but to what degree we do not know.

After freeing her, he gently placed her on the ground.  We had no idea what more to do for her and left her there to continue on our walk.  We stopped by to check on her on our return leg of the trip.  She was still there, noticeably breathing.  It so broke our hearts to see her injured because of thoughtlessness on the part of a fisher.

Why do we have Earth Day?  My understanding is that originally it was to celebrate the Earth and the concept of peace.  Many have used the day to raise awareness of the health of the planet.

Something has occurred to me and given me pause.  We have a tendency to think that we are more than stewards of this great planet.  We can be guilty of thinking that we are the gods of this planet, or we can fall into the camp of being worshipers of Mother Earth.  Many think that our choices have a profound influence on the overall health and fitness of planet Earth.

There is not doubt that the use of chemicals, genetically modifying our plants and animals, and more, has and continues to have a devastating impact on us…the inhabitants of Earth.  And though I think that agribusiness and government along with plenty of selfish individuals have been guilty of faulty choices and thinking that have had a negative impact on our health and environment, we need to be cautious as there is a fine line between being stewards of the planet and gods of the planet.

These are just a few, of several, verses in the Bible that help us gain perspective.

Remember that the sky, the highest heaven,
the earth and everything it contains
belong to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 10:14 GW

The earth and everything it contains are the Lord’s.
    The world and all who live in it are his.
Psalm 24:1 GW

This all belongs to God.  He has ultimate control.  He measures the rain and the snow and it all falls from his hand.  He has even created natural organisms that will, for example, clean up the ocean after our man-made disasters.  This is HIS creation.

We too belong to God.  If we don’t do anything else on Earth Day, we must give thanks for God’s fantastic creation.  Let’s recognize the beauty, the utility, and the fruit of this great place. It contains everything we need for physical sustenance.  God did not forget a thing.  Yet…we forget God.

So this year, on Earth Day, let’s give thanks and rejoice that all of this belongs to God and he has graciously placed us over it all to utilize for our benefit and his glory.   Awesome!

God blessed them and said, “Have many children and grow in number.
Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky
and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God said, “Look, I have given you all the plants that have grain for seeds and
all the trees whose fruits have seeds in them. They will be food for you. I have given all
the green plants as food  for every wild animal, every bird of the air, and
every small crawling animal.” And it happened.
Genesis 1:28-30  NCV

Maybe this year’s Earth Day discovery should be to discover God.  The ONE who created this amazing orb that we call home.  The ONE who created all this right down to his provision for our food.  Amazing!  Do you feel blessed?  I do!

Stop here to enjoy last year’s pictorial celebration of Earth Day!

Thank you for stopping by today.
I appreciate you and your sweet comments make my day.

Happy Earth Day!

Diane

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