Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Carol Swanson.
In the Deuteronomy text God says, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity…. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, and I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.” Pastor Steve pointed out in his sermon that we need to make this decision daily. And as Scott Tunseth wrote, “we are reminded that how we treat one another and the world makes a holy difference.” For encouragement in our choosing, let us meditate on a hymn text by Brian Wren:
#112
Come, cradle all the future generations,
and guard their right to live upon this earth,
lest human deeds, by stealth or conflagration,
snuff out all life, and put an end to birth.
Come, contemplate the sadness of extinction:
a wasted earth, with empty sky and sea,
no mourners to lament its desolation,
no voice, no words, no thought, no eyes to see.
We cannot stifle knowledge or invention.
the ways divide, the choice forever clear:
to drift, and be delivered to destruction,
or wake and work, till trust out-matches fear.
The precious seed of life is in our keeping,
yet if we plant it, and fulfill our trust,
tomorrow’s sun will rise on joy and weeping,
and shine upon the unjust and the just.
Our calling is to live our human story
of good and bad, achievement, love and loss,
then hand it on to future shame or glory,
lit by our hope, and leavened by the cross.
Come, let us guard the gateway to existence,
that thousands yet may stand where we have stood,
give thanks for life and, praising our persistence,
enjoy this lovely earth, and call it good.
Concerning this hymn text, Brian Wren noted: “Inspired by Jonathan Schell’s book, The Fate of the Earth, a profound reflection on the fact that, by ecological collapse, nuclear catastrophe, biological warfare, genetic tampering, or otherwise, the human race can henceforth destroy itself, and possibly all life on earth. We need to express these realities in prayer and lament, hence this hymn.” He echoes Genesis 1:31 and Matthew 5:45 [and I think our Deuteronomy text very well].
––1983 copyright Hope Publishing Company
From Piece Together Praise: A Theological Journey by Brian Wren, (p 107)