Saturday, November 7, 2020
The osprey nests along our eastern shores are empty now. These fish-eating members of the hawk family have migrated south where they will winter in areas like Guyana and the Bahamas. Their hatchlings have grown enough to make the flight as well. The marshes and shores may look deserted by this time of year, but there is still life there.
Unfortunately, there are also still non-environmental friendly evidence of human use of our beaches and marshes as well in the form of drifting plastic bags, Styrofoam cups, and cigarette butts. By spring when the ospreys return almost 40% of their nests will contain some part of a plastic bag which can choke and smother young hatchlings.
Because the New Jersey plastic bag ban doesn’t take effect until May 2022, it’s still up to us to protect our sea and birdlife by disposing of them at recycling stations. For a spring break in the midst of the coming winter, click the video from Conserve Wildlife on the e-mail page.
Prayer for the Day
You who with a word created the beauty of the universe
And summons the waters of the sea across the earth,
We stand in awe before your creation from the tiny sand crab
To the giant whales that grace the sea.
Let us not be so consumed with our own lives
That we miss the glory of all that is around us.
In the name of the One who offers us a new vision of your glory,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
What is a fish without a river? What is a bird without a tree to nest in? What is an Endangered Species Act without any enforcement mechanism to ensure their habitat is being protected? It is nothing.
Jay Inslee, Governor Washington State
To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to, not separate from.
Terry Tempest Williams, naturalist
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
a God-feared in the council of the holy ones,
great and awesome above all that are around the Lord?
Psalm 89:5–7