We often hear the phrase “the balance of nature,” but what does it really mean? When, as the Book of Genesis tells us, God formed the earth and stocked it with all kinds of creatures, from the tiny ant on earth and krill in the ocean to elephants and whales, each creature had its place in our ecosystem.
Destruction and overhunting of elephants and whales have upset the delicate balance for elephants consuming roots, bank, and grasses keeping the African savannas and Asian jungles clean.
Whales consume krill, a small shrimplike crustacean. With the overhunting of whales, there are tons – and tons – of krill not to mention the lack of manure-like waste that the whales exuded, enriching the ocean floor seeding the ocean beds. The leftover krill cannot match the fertilizing of the ocean that the whales did. Everything is part of the important balance of nature.
Prayer for the Day
The early morning sun beams through the trees slowly losing their leaves,
As we hear the sound of geese honking their way further south;
The sky lightens as we look out onto the grass tinged with frost,
And the deer not living by the mechanism of clocks have come out.
Hold us, O Holy One, as we consider the beauty of the earth this day
Resolving to save your creation for generations to come.
In the name of the One who walked among us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.
Rachel Carson, from Silent Spring (1904-1954)
I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
God will not let your foot be moved; God who keeps out will not slumber.
Psalm 121: 1-3