Thursday, March 31, 2022

Near the Shore and near the Long Island Sound are the remnants of salt marshes.  Some are still intact, not having been destroyed by development; others need to be restored.  They serve as the buffer against flooding from bad storms.  The Native American tribes understood the importance of salt marshes; so should we.

Connecticut is in the process of restoring the marsh at Great Meadows, located in Stratford, near Bridgeport.  For many years it had been used as a dumping ground.

New Jersey also has threatened salt marsh areas. But a project started in 2014 is trying to save the sinking salt marshes near Cape May.

As we look out on the shore, we can see miles of salt marsh.  Those marshes need to be protected from development in order to keep all of us safe when the next Sandy comes, and it will come.  Lent is also a time to reflect on how we have treated God’s world and to not only repent but to reconcile.

Prayer for the Day

Your creation is with us, O God, in so many form,
    From the small clumps of salt grass to the tall sedge;
Life abounds in all manner of growth, O Lord,
   Even when we cannot see the mussels or the cranes.
Teach us to tread softly on your earth and to restore
   What was once damaged by overbuilding.
In the name of the One who cares for all life,
   Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Thoughts for the Day

Mangroves, salt marshes and sea grass lock away carbon at up to five times the rate of tropical forests
Frances Beinecke, American environmentalist

The marsh, to him who enters it in a receptive mood, holds, besides mosquitoes and stagnation, - melody, the mystery of unknown waters, and the sweetness of Nature undisturbed by man.
      - William Beebe, American naturalist, from The Log of the Sun (1877-1962)

Do you not fear me? Says the Lord; Do you not tremble before me?
   I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail, though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
   But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
     They have turned aside and gone away.
    Jeremiah 5: 22-23