When I first got involved with Floresta as a volunteer, way back in 1992, the humanitarian and spiritual aspects of the work attracted me. Environmental restoration was less interesting. I saw it from a purely pragmatic point of view: “We plant trees because people need the trees.”
However, because we were in a strange niche, planting trees and restoring watersheds, I had the opportunity to be around some of the people who were at the forefront of what has come to be known as creation care. From them, I learned that the Creation has intrinsic value in God’s eyes. Scripture frequently talks of His love for His Creation.
At the same time, I learned to walk in the woods with Christian biologists and naturalists, essentially rediscovering the outdoors. I had been an avid backpacker in college, and had somehow gotten out of the habit of being outside during seven years in the Navy. Now people who both knew the Creator and understood something of the complexity and wonder of what He had called good reintroduced me to God’s handiwork. Creation has historically been understood to be a part of God’s general revelation, and as I began to understand and spend time in it, the more I got a sense for who and how big God is.
I have, as a result become an avid – if inexpert – birder and gardener, and spend my free time hiking in the local mountains. There, it is easy to connect with the words of the great hymn:
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Whatever your reason for supporting our work, I pray that you will be blessed by the gift God has given all of us in His Creation.
1 comments:
Thanks for writing this.
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