April News

“And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there morning, the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31
The week before Palm Sunday, I was on vacation. I spent my vacation in Hawaii, a place that many people call paradise. Hawaii is a very beautiful state. I spent most of the week on the north shore of the island of Oahu, out of the bustle of the city of Honolulu. One morning, I took a guided hike in the rainforest. The rainforest was lush with life. The diversity of the plants was amazing. There was a species of fern that was so large a single plant could have filled the living room in my house. When we entered the forest, our guide told us not to worry about touching the plants because there were no harmful species like poison ivy here in Iowa. There were no poisonous insects or snakes either. He explained that the native plants of Hawaii needed no thorns or irritating resins in order to survive because there was so much rich volcanic soil and moisture to support the variety of life. It truly did sound like paradise – or at least it was. When the first humans came to the Hawaiian paradise, they brought plant and animal life that was not native. When other humans came they also brought new species. These new species, some called invasive species, have taken over in some areas and have caused the native species to die out. Bamboo was one plant brought to Hawaii. Bamboo is a useful plant because its strong stalks can be used for building, and its shoots make good food. We walked through a bamboo forest, and it was so dense that nothing could grow underneath it. Bamboo thrives in the rich volcanic soil, and the native plants cannot compete. When God created the world, God made everything good, everything to live in balance. However, when humans enter the picture, they disrupt that balance. Humans always seem to be the invasive species. We are greedy, and we like to play God in the natural world. It humbles me when I think that the natural world could survive without humans, but humans cannot survive without the natural world. Today we find ourselves in a global environmental crisis – global warming is affecting climates all over the globe, and we need to pay attention. We can do things to help the environment, and we need to do it now. It is not a problem that someone else should fix – it is a problem that we all need to work to fix. God gave us this amazing world in which to live but God also gave us the responsibility to care for creation. In April, we celebrate Earth Day. It is a good time to make a commitment to being an environmental steward – a good time to care for the good creation that God so generously gave to us.