Our Personal Obligation: Caring for Creation

Ever wonder why things that are  important are often right up under our noses?  Recently, I had an occasion to examine one of them - “water”- with a group of school-aged students, led by Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL) and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK).  Usually, the Goodsell United Methodist Church Education and Enrichment Program is found tutoring math and reading to disadvantaged students, however, COVID forced us outside and Outdoor Learning 2021 became a reality.  In the United States, unlike many parts of the world, we take the provision of clean water for granted because it is so accessible to us.  We bask in those twelve-minute showers, watering our lawns, filling our swimming pools,  going to the beach, fishing at the lake, or even ignoring a dripping faucet.  During our time on the floating classroom, we learned water is a very discrete resource.  Water is essential for all life, especially man and a significant part of our biological makeup.A week later I asked my Outdoor Learning students what they remembered about our trip on West Point Lake. Amazing!  They were listening.  Our leaders, Henry Jacobs (CRK) and Hannah Shultz (GIPL), did a fabulous job.  We were reminded about the importance of water in our eco-system, both fresh and salt water. We examined the water quality of West Point Lake in LaGrange, observed the balance between people and nature in this pristine environment and enjoyed the company of a blue heron, osprey babies, and the majestic eagle.As a church group, when Hannah offered the story of Creation from Genesis, it gave real meaning to our personal obligation to care for the earth.  Some of the kids in our group recalled the story of Noah and the Ark on the van as we returned home.  Environmental ethics or stewardship is a big fuzzy word to them, but climate change is not.  Their immediate list of things they hope to do includes recycling bottles, cans, and paper products,  reducing pollution in our rivers and lakes, and living in harmony with the animals that also inhabit our planet.  A great trip all around!If you are interested in taking a group from your community of faith on a floating classroom excursion, click here, and reach out to Hannah Shultz at hannah@gipl.org._____________________________________________________________________About the Author:Trudye Morgan Johnson is the retired Executive Director of the Maryland National Capital Planning Commission and a Sunday School Teacher at Goodsell United Methodist Church in Lanett, Alabama.Photo Credit: Henry Jacobs, Samad Deldar