As a child I remember seeing frogs in the summer, but over the years the frog and other amphibian populations have been declining. In some ways they are like the canary in the coal mine. Scientists estimate that the population is declining almost 4% per year, and at that rate some species will disappear within the next 20 years.
Frogs are indicators of not just habitat loss but an increase in pollution. That’s because frogs breathe partly through their skin. Not only are they disappearing, but they suffer from serious birth defects as well, another indication of the rise in environmental degradation.
Just as frogs and toads respond to the ever increasing pollution in the world, mainly from fossil fuels and the residual damage to waterways, we humans also are paying a price for our neglect. Sounds like a small thing in the face of war and famine, but, just like that canary, if it dies for lack of air, so will we.
Prayer for the Day
While we sing praises for your creation, O God,
We continue to build on wetlands and destroy habitat;
While we manicure our gardens and mow our grass,
We use chemicals and fertilizers that harm various species.
Turn us around, O Holy Creator, so we see what we are doing,
And help us change our ways for the sake of all creatures.
In the name of the One who walks with us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The value of biodiversity is that it makes our ecosystems more resilient, which is a prerequisite for stable societies; its wanton destruction is akin to setting fire to our lifeboat.
Johan Rockstrom, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Research
It’s odd that we have so little relationship with nature, with insects and the leaping frog and the owl calling for its mate. We never seem to have a feeling for all living things on earth.
Jiddu Kirshnamurti, Indian philosopher and writer (1895-1986)
And God said: “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals o the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 24-25
As a child I remember seeing frogs in the summer, but over the years the frog and other amphibian populations have been declining. In some ways they are like the canary in the coal mine. Scientists estimate that the population is declining almost 4% per year, and at that rate some species will disappear within the next 20 years.
Frogs are indicators of not just habitat loss but an increase in pollution. That’s because frogs breathe partly through their skin. Not only are they disappearing, but they suffer from serious birth defects as well, another indication of the rise in environmental degradation.
Just as frogs and toads respond to the ever increasing pollution in the world, mainly from fossil fuels and the residual damage to waterways, we humans also are paying a price for our neglect. Sounds like a small thing in the face of war and famine, but, just like that canary, if it dies for lack of air, so will we.
Prayer for the Day
While we sing praises for your creation, O God,
We continue to build on wetlands and destroy habitat;
While we manicure our gardens and mow our grass,
We use chemicals and fertilizers that harm various species.
Turn us around, O Holy Creator, so we see what we are doing,
And help us change our ways for the sake of all creatures.
In the name of the One who walks with us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The value of biodiversity is that it makes our ecosystems more resilient, which is a prerequisite for stable societies; its wanton destruction is akin to setting fire to our lifeboat.
Johan Rockstrom, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Research
It’s odd that we have so little relationship with nature, with insects and the leaping frog and the owl calling for its mate. We never seem to have a feeling for all living things on earth.
Jiddu Kirshnamurti, Indian philosopher and writer (1895-1986)
And God said: “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals o the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 24-25