The Environment and Geneses: Earth Day 2012

We celebrated Earth Day this year, by reflecting on God’s command to Adam to subdue and have dominion over the Earth.  We read Geneses 1 to help us understand God’s intent behind these two very concise words “subdue” and “dominion” in light of key phrases: “And God saw that it was good”; “it was very good”; and “in Our image”. 

Subdue=put in ruling order; as how we prune raspberry bushes, so that they continue to produce and not choke itself to death. 

Dominion=to rule over it; as how God rules over us, with Love, Grace, and Mercy. 

The Greatest Commandment

 ³⁴ Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

 ³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[c] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[d] 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:34-40

I also planned to have read Psalm 8, but, thank you to Nicole, we had a great political discussion!!!

And, I want to add an excerpt from a great discussion I had with a Blessed Bible Teacher and Director of the Girl’s House in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Holly, the Holy Rebel:

“This is very important because God gave it to Adam...after the fall Adam forfeited it over to Satan, by eating the fruit and disobeying God. After Jesus came He paid the price for the title deed (if you will to the earth and human kind)...But He has not yet completely took the deed out from Satan yet that will happen in the book of Revelation when it talks about the scroll that no one could open....Only the Lamb that looked as if He was slain....That's Jesus and that when He'll come back...see Jesus already bought the house so to speak...He just hasn't come and told the other people to get off His property, but He will!!”

Satan has taken the Earth by adverse possession, and the BUT is up to us in the meantime as to how we honor God by honoring His creation; the Earth.  Happy Earth Day <><

Weekly Manna

There are numerous wonderful fair opportunities at St Thomas Law, and Weekly Manna is one of my favorites.  Every Wednesday, from 12:00 to 12:30 on the third floor, a group of students, faculty and staff gathers to listen to a speaker, eat lunch, and pray together.  Manna is a unique faith experience--it's been described as "Sunday school for adults!"
Last week at Manna, Chato, who is the organizational force behind Manna, gave a talk meditating on one passage in the Easter story: "And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom," Mark 15:38.  Chato talked about the book of Ezekiel, and how that book describes the myriad rules for worship, including allowing only a select group of people inside the temple, beyond the "temple veil".  Chato contrasted this with Jesus's words to the criminal on the cross--Jesus promised the penitent thief that he would be with Jesus in Paradise.  Jesus, by his words, eliminates the distinction between the elite who get to worship inside the innermost area of the temple, and the repentant criminal beside him.  No longer are we separated from God by intermediaries or barriers--when Jesus was crucified, the curtain of the temple was torn, and we were given direct access to God.  Chato rightly pointed out that this is really something to get excited about--we can go to God any time, without a mediator or a barrier, and God will hear us.  Jesus has torn the temple veil.
If you have never gone, I highly recommend attending Manna at least once.  Please join us!