Earth shalom, The call of this poem, While glaciers melt And ocean reefs swelt, Chemicals cloud the atmosphere And plastics pollute, far and near God’s precious creatures going extinct And all of it, all of us, intricately linked… Yet no confession, no lament, No remorse, no clothing rent Deaf to the cry, the lament of the wild Deaf to the sound  

“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem." - Jeremiah 14:2

Of anxious parent, vulnerable child What will be left? When will we stop?  On a collision course but does anyone care? The forest, the garden, all laid bare Because of us, the land moans (Hosea 4) Wasting away, drying up, creation groans (Romans 8) The beasts of the field, birds of the air, fish in the sea So far from shalom, the way it should be no acknowledgment of holy ground The sacredness of all of life, all around…  

"Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel,
    for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or loyalty
    and no knowledge of God in the land.
Swearing, lying, and murder,
    and stealing and adultery break out;
    bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Therefore the land mourns,
    and all who live in it languish;
together with the wild animals
    and the birds of the air,
    even the fish of the sea are perishing. - Hosea 4:1-3

Yet  Yeast still grows in kneaded dough And mustard seeds even in rocky ground can grow When will we hear? How will we go… Not just with platitudes But with reformed actions and attitudes Justice, passion, respect and gratitudes Creator has named us caretakers, made to nurture and to tend  Image-bearers, who also on earth do depend  How will we once more all creation, befriend?  

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning…" - Romans 8: 22a 

Letting go, giving up our over- consumption, Accepting and embracing the need for disruption To our systems, our politics, economics, corruption Finding our way back to harmony, equity, love’s eruption. Shalom in our hearts, our heads and our hands Shalom for all creatures, all waters and lands Shalom with Creator, creation invitation, participation spans The whole universe, all life, can we see it?  In Eternity, she stands.

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Painting Witness II by Karen Tamminga-Paton used with permission.