I would like to talk about my calling in Creation Justice work and caring for God’s natural world.

First let me refer to today’s first reading, John 1: 1-5:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” (NRSVUE)

God’s very character is light, as we learn from the verse. Light features in God’s first actions, as God acts to bring order to the chaos when suddenly, out of nothing, there was something. In the beginning light flooded the universe, the wind-swept waters separated, and dry land and oceans appeared. And it was good.

After a difficult season of grief and frustration, Jenny Watkins found healing, hope, and a deeper connection to her faith through composting.

Before we hit the road, the GIPL Organizing Team knew our Summer of Advocacy: Power Trip would be a journey. A Journey that connected faith, environmental justice, community, and advocacy while helping Georgians better understand where our power comes from, what it truly costs, and the power communities have to shape what comes next.

Our outlook for the summer was simple: go be where the people are. 

Into churches and faith communities. 

Into neighborhoods and community spaces. 

Along Georgia's rivers. Into advocacy spaces. 

And our Power Trip even landed on the campus of a HBCU, where the next generation of leaders joined the environmental justice conversation.

Sometimes caring for creation begins with something as ordinary as a bit of dirt.

Turn that soil into a native plant garden, and it feeds pollinators and restores habitat. Add compost, and yesterday's food scraps become nutrients for tomorrow's plants. Grow vegetables, and a church yard can help feed neighbors. Bring parishioners, scientists, and Master Gardeners together, and that same patch of ground becomes something more: a place where faith takes root in action.