I am writing in the middle of Lent. In Lent we focus on our need to repent. We confess the many things we have done and left undone, for which we must repent; turning our lives around and getting back on the path that Jesus prepared for us.
I write at a time when it would be easy to repeat the litany of all the things that are propelling the world off course, heading us down a path of destruction and death. They weigh heavy on us: COVID, Ukraine, climate crisis, genocide, racism, lack of civil discourse, and on and on.
It’s vital that those words not be our final words. We Christians have something to say and to do.
All too often, too many of us have been guided by a notion that we are meant to dominate and exploit. Too many have maligned our Creator’s giving us dominion over every living thing by interpreting dominion that way.
Bishop Zinko writes (p. 27) that dominion really means to exercise care and control. Those who have dominion over others have an obligation for care and protection. Sounds like something Jesus modelled for us, doesn’t it?
What you read in these pages is intended to support and encourage you in helping to provide such care and protection. Acting on the climate crisis is one of those opportunities that must not be left undone.
Katarina Kuhnert provides both a global and a Canadian perspective on the climate crisis in our feature. She writes as a representative of The Lutheran World Federation at COP26 and as a white settler living north of the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories.
In addition to providing a great deal of information about how others, particularly church members, have been involved, the article provides some suggestions about what you can do (p. 14).
The 2022 ELCIC National Convention will be a virtual online gathering to conduct essential business of the church. If you are not a delegate, you will still have an opportunity to watch the convention online via livestream.
The article Climate crisis is designed to provide you with some background on part of a report presented to convention from the Task Force on Carbon Neutrality.
GLIMPSES
Ever wonder what might be involved in installing solar panels on your church roof? See in sight on the inside back cover.
Nicodemus provides a model for listening as a first step in any conflict (Voices from scripture, p. 31).
At each and every suggestion of war, we must make a moral decision whether or not that war is just (Q & A p. 15).
For a change of pace in your devotions, why not consider devoting one week to reading one of the columns by our bishops from Monday to Saturday? There are lessons about fig trees, the Sabbath, holy conversations, dominion, bearing wounds and a message of hope.
Kenn Ward, Editor
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