To "Care" and "Create" (Rev. Griff Martin)

They come from our first poem found in Genesis 1 and it’s good to remind ourselves of one of the big rules of poetry according to Mary Oliver, your adjectives are worth a nickel but your verbs are each a fifty cent piece. So pay attention to the verbs.

They are the first set of verbs God gives us: care and create. 

And in Earth Month, in celebration of this world, they are really important. 

I heard a brilliant Talmudic parable the other day.

Imagine a cruise ship with many levels and many floors, people having a great time on their journey, all is going well until the captain begins to realize that something on the ship is not right, he is not sure what, but something is wrong. In fact it appears the ship is sinking. As they investigate, they start on the bottom floor and sure enough, there is water coming in from one of the cabins. Immediately opening the door they see the problem, there is a hole in floor of the room. They look at the passenger quite confused, what are you doing. “Well it’s my cabin. I paid for it.” He replies. And down goes the ship.

For too long our world has lived like that and we are now paying the price for it.

However, we can stay true to our verbs, care and create. It always starts there.

Make sure that every action you take creates better, fuller, future life, not just for you, but for the world and people around you. 

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Rev. Griff Martin is senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Austin. This is his first post on AllCreation. View more of his work at his church website and on YouTube. Griff’s reflection is offered as part of our series, “Celebrating Earth Day 2020.” Each post offers recommendations for connecting religious practices to greater relationship with Earth’s other living creatures.