Earth Day: To preserve and protect

 

Dear Friends

Along with these cartoons in today’s paper, I also wanted to note that yesterday was the birthday not only of Queen Elizabeth and my sister Mary Irvin Baker, but John Muir.

I thought the following theological perspectives on his life and writings, would be of interest as we observe Earth Day:

Historian Dennis Williams notes that Muir's came to believe that God was always active in the creation of life and thereby kept the natural order of the world. As a result, Muir "styled himself as a John the Baptist," adds Williams, "whose duty was to immerse in 'mountain baptism' everyone he could." Williams concludes that Muir saw nature as a great teacher, "revealing the mind of God".

During his career as writer and while living in the mountains, Muir continued to experience the "presence of the the divine in nature”, according to his biographer, Steven Holmes. From Travels in Alaska: "Every particle of rock or water or air has God by its side leading it the way it should go; The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness; In God's wildness is the hope of the world." 

Historian Catherine Albanese stated that in one of his letters, "Muir's eucharist made Thoreau's feast on wood-chuck and huckleberry seem almost anemic." She added that "To go to the mountains and sequoia forests, for Muir, was to engage in religious worship of utter seriousness and dedication."

In another current example of elections having consequences, it is so good to have an administration making climate change issues a priority again. For all the new habits and good choices and habits we have incorporated into our daily lives to care for the earth, real change must come from the leaders of the world who have the control over funds and the power to make laws.

It is not enough to enjoy the beauty of God’s glorious earth. We must work together to protect and preserve it and accept some new ways of living.

John