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| Image by Tomasz Huczek |
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A GREETING
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
(Psalm 16:7)
A READING
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all.
(Galatians 6:2;9-10)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water.
(Psalm 65:9)
A REFLECTION
In 2019, we lost our first glacier [in Iceland] to climate change: the Okjökull or Ok glacier that is not ‘okay’ anymore. And in the next two hundred years we expect all our glaciers to follow the same path… I wrote a poem for a plaque that was placed on the mountain where Okjökull once stood. It was a letter to the future, and it says, "This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you [in the future] know if we did it.”… We need to start connecting to the future in an intimate and urgent way. 2100 is not a distant future. It's basically tomorrow, because in the mind of those people, 2020 will be yesterday. And I'm quite sure that we want them to look at our time with pride and gratitude, because we knew what was happening and we know what needs to be done, and we actually, eventually, did the right thing.
- transcription of a TED talk given by Andri Snaer Magnasson in October, 2020 .
VERSE OF THE DAY
Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
(Psalm 19:4)
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| Image by Tan |
In his books, videos and lectures about the impacts of climate change on glaciers, Icelandic writer and climate activist Andri Snaer Magnasson describes the pain of watching a glacier come to its final moments. In 2019, the Okjökull glacier, or “Ok”, became dead ice and then merged with sea water. The “Ok” became in his mind a metaphor for how our blind indifference to the catastrophe unfolding around us will impact future generations. “Ok” in Icelandic is pronounced “yoke”. The melting of the glacier “Ok” is symptomatic of the consequences that will become the ‘yoke’ for future generations to try to resolve. In his letter to the Galatians, we hear Paul advising the community to take on each other’s burdens, reminding them that to do so is to fulfill the law of Christ. To ‘yoke’ in common useage is to be bound to another person in a common pursuit. When we take on some of the burden of another, we are binding ourselves to them in loving commitment. In Matthew 11 (see Day 2), Jesus invites us to lay our heavy burdens on him so that we might feel him carrying us in his love. But how much are we prepared to yoke ourselves to future generations? How can we carry the burden of climate change in such a way that future generations can indeed look back and see that we did what was right? Today’s music, “Maalaulu” means “Earth Song” and is performed in three places: Finland, Ireland and the USA. The lyrics describe how “hidden beauty” is all around us; the voices pass a message of hope from one country to another in a song style that reflects their own context. “Feel the warmth of the sun and drink the clear water,” the lyrics say. “Let your heart fill with love and sweet memory. Touch the dew on your skin, and lift up your voices. With one song, together with one voice, one world.” How can we reach out to each other to carry together the burden of climate crisis? How can we yoke ourselves to Creation, so that we can carry its burdens until healing has begun?”
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| Image by Peter Chou Kee Liu |
The next devotional day is Wednesday, June 16th.
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LC† Holding the Cup is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Join us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year.
Thank you and peace be with you!
