Greenland Ice Sheet
Tasiilaq, Greenland is among the glacier areas where rapid melting is thought to be a result of global warming that also produces massive storms. (Wikimedia Commons Photo by Christine Zenino)
Special to United Methodist Insight
October 27, 2019: Luke 18: 9-14, Jeremiah 14:7-10,19-22, Psalms 84:1-7
“As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” – 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
It is late in what we in Iowa lovingly call Indian Summer; the leaves are falling, and to travel over to the Mississippi River country is to find a thing of beauty. The red maple, mixed with the many shades of yellow, red, and orange, puts on a great show. Burning bushes are especially glorious this year, making it easy to see why Moses removed his shoes-- holy ground.
Jan and I sold our 23-acre Madison County farm. “Rustic Hills,” we called her. It had become a bit too much for us to maintain. But when Indian Summer comes around, I miss her.
We owned the little farm for a good number of years, and not once did we allow chemicals on the land. The tax guy would always wonder why we didn’t work the land to earn a profit. We even gave away the yearly cuttings of hay.
We did garden and we planted trees through a government conservation program. We saw the return of bluebirds and a number of species that we were unable to discover a name for in the bird book. The Monarch butterfly found this spot a nice rest stop.
And I found myself connecting all of this with the 2 Timothy reading as he tells us,“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
I wondered how that bit of verse might also be a word of passage for many of us in many ways. You see, I know that Timothy was not speaking about conservation when he wrote those words.
But he was speaking of social responsibility—the care for the neighbor. And I would include the land, the Monarch, and the bluebirds as neighbors too. I would like to think that we might speak those words in our struggle against those who destroy the good earth for profit. Is that a stretch or what?
As sea life dies, glaciers melt, the oceans rise, and forest fires cover too much of the land, who is willing to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith? What indeed would that look like? I was troubled by an interview recently regarding the forthcoming attempt to land persons on Mars. The man justified the expense by saying we have to find another place, this planet is not going to support life much longer. Well, he over spoke, but we do know that livable space on this planet is growing smaller.
Perhaps the answer is found in the story of the small town that was mostly wiped out by a tornado. Not much left, but on one street a woman was found sweeping away the debris from her yard. Behind her was what remained of her house. She was busy cleaning up; a few walls remained. When asked why she was doing this, she told the reporter, “Well, not much left of the town, but I am cleaning up my ten yards.” And others were joining with her, and hope was emerging once more. I would like to think that we each need to be about the business of cleaning up our ten yards—that is one way to run the race, to keep the faith.
The Rev. Judy Wadding will be writing the MEMO for the first two Sundays in November. Judy is a retired elder of the Iowa Annual Conference and a graduate of the Saint Paul School of Theology Course of Study School. Judy has served as pastor and Chaplain, and most recently interim pastor at Grace United Methodist in Des Moines.
The Rev. Bill Cotton of Des Moines is a retired clergy member of the Iowa Annual Conference. Together with friends and colleagues he produces the weekly resource MEMO for Those Who Preach.