{"id":246,"date":"2015-09-01T20:04:05","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T01:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jillmaria.com\/wordpress\/?p=246"},"modified":"2015-11-17T20:05:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-18T02:05:05","slug":"stewards-of-the-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jillmaria.com\/?p=246","title":{"rendered":"Stewards of the Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pope Frances has declared today as the “world day of prayer for the care of creation.” I again find my self thinking of the lessons my parents taught me. When we would go camping on the Missouri River, kids would rush to carve their name in the white rocks. Dad was quick to tell us,”Fools names and Fools faces are always found in public places”.<\/p>\n

I learned early on that fishing was about a lot more than catching fish. If you got “skunked” after taking the drive out to Ross’s reservoir there was no shame in that. The drive to the mountains was worth your trip.<\/p>\n

My brothers and I still marvel at the lessons in perseverance and doing a job well done that were required to clean a hedge up to Pat Murdy standards.<\/p>\n

Mother’s garden was a teeming example of beauty and function. The flowers there were just as important as the food. That garden fed is through out the year. Mother taught us to share generously, and we were always walking over to so and so’s with a bag of lettuce, tomatoes and cukes.<\/p>\n

Nowadays organic and compost gardening and blah blah are such big terms. Nahhhh. You simply keep a plastic bucket under the sink. All the day’s coffee grounds, veggie peelings and dinner scraps (if such rare critters existed) were thrown in the bucket, and in part of doing the dishes was dumping the bucket out in the garden. Mom had the best soil around.<\/p>\n

My brother would sell worms in yellow margarine cups at the local gas station. Not only were those little guys helping the garden, but they introduced Joel to the world of commerce.<\/p>\n

Mother could run her household on a thin dime. To some it would appear chaotic, but for us it was a breeding ground for creativity and self respect, and constantly testing your own limits and life long learning.<\/p>\n

We were taught to respect creation. The earth, the arts, and basic human dignity. I began making weekly nursing home visits in second grade, and later cut my musical teeth playing for the residents there.<\/p>\n

Mother and Dad always mourned the infant death of their first born son, Timothy James. His tombstone and the few pictures were a thing of mystery to me as a child. I recall Mother weeping as she received a graduation announcements the year he would have graduated. There was no escaping the pain. This devastating loss as a young couple would stay with them throughout their lives, even though they were blessed to have four additional children. I learned that all of life was sacred.<\/p>\n

Our household had a menagerie of cats and dogs, kids and frogs, snakes, guinea pigs, rabbits, gophers, and Lord knows what else. Yes our house was like Genesis, “teeming with life.”<\/p>\n

From my dining table in town I could see cows in a field, walk 200 hundred yards and shimmy across an irrigation pipe to pick fresh asparagus. The wheat and Bear Paw mountains co existed side by side. There was no way NOT to respect creation.<\/p>\n

In the Summer, we played outside until it was dark, and the rule was only that you had to stay “within hollering distance.” In the winter, it didn’t matter how freaking cold it was. You bundled up, and went outside and played. It may have taken you longer to put on gear then you were outside, but fresh air was important. There were no snowblowers and LOTS of snow, so you learned early how to dress for bitter cold, and how to function in it. You always did the neighbor’s walk. In a land where 20below\/ 40 below wind chill was the norm, you respected the weather, and had the proper provisions.<\/p>\n

Mother commuted 20 miles to Havre working nights. The car always had extra hats and mittens and she was always giving them away to college kids or someone down on their luck.<\/p>\n

Some of our first pin money came from collecting aluminum cans, and I recall our grade school classes getting on a school bus, and going out along the highway picking up litter. A town cleanup day was a normal thing too. Now I laugh, thinking, “whose bright idea was to put an eight or nine year old me and a class of kids like me, out beside an open highway and moving cars?” Probably wouldn’t be legal now or would involve copious amounts of waivers and forms…..but we all survived.<\/p>\n

On driver trips and camping trips we learned that garbage we brought in packed out. The goal was to always leave a site better than when we found it.<\/p>\n

Nowadays we speak of “random acts of kindness” and “paying it forward.” Both are marvelous concepts, but you see, the thing is, those were just givens. That was just the way you showed respect to the people and the world around you.<\/p>\n

Lest I paint a picture of small town eutopia, sadly there were the shadow lands as well. I and many others knew the shame of abuse from a beloved individual who should have been our protector. He betrayed the trust of my parents and many others.<\/p>\n

Or you knew exactly whose pickup was in front of the bar too many nights last week. But one learned to be grateful for the good moments and to use the pain of an experience to help others heal,………and to again heed the call to respect creation, respect life.
\n.<\/p>\n

Later, as I would pray the Divine Office at Sacred Heart Monastery, one of the passages that would reach me most would be singing the “Canticle of Daniel.” The mode used was very ethereal, and one choir would sing the trips, but we would come together on the refrain, ” God of Creation, We Praise you Forever.” Or as this translation says “praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestors,
\npraiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
\nAnd blessed is your holy and glorious name,
\npraiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.a
\n53
\nBlessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
\npraiseworthy and glorious above all forever.
\n54
\nBlessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
\npraiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
\n55
\nBlessed are you who look into the depths
\nfrom your throne upon the cherubim,
\npraiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
\n56
\nBlessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
\npraiseworthy and glorious forever.
\n57
\nBless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n58
\nAngels of the Lord, bless the Lord,
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n59
\nYou heavens, bless the Lord,
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n60
\nAll you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n61
\nAll you powers, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n62
\nSun and moon, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n63
\nStars of heaven, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n64
\nEvery shower and dew, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n65
\nAll you winds, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n66
\nFire and heat, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n67
\nCold and chill, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n68
\nDew and rain, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n69
\nFrost and chill, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n70
\nHoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n71
\nNights and days, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n72
\nLight and darkness, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n73
\nLightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n74
\nLet the earth bless the Lord,
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n75
\nMountains and hills, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n76
\nEverything growing on earth, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n77
\nYou springs, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n78
\nSeas and rivers, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n79
\nYou sea monsters and all water creatures, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n80
\nAll you birds of the air, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n81
\nAll you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n82
\nAll you mortals, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n83
\nO Israel, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n84
\nPriests of the Lord, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n85
\nServants of the Lord, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n86
\nSpirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n87
\nHoly and humble of heart, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\n88
\nHananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord;
\npraise and exalt him above all forever.
\nFor he has delivered us from Sheol,
\nand saved us from the power of death;
\nHe has freed us from the raging flame
\nand delivered us from the fire.
\n89
\nGive thanks to the Lord, who is good,
\nwhose mercy endures forever.
\n90
\nBless the God of gods, all you who fear the Lord;
\npraise and give thanks,
\nfor his mercy endures forever!<\/p>\n

May that be the prayer on my lips today and every day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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