It is meaningful to turn your beliefs into action, no matter how small. And that’s what we are doing in our Creation Care work - small things, but meaningful things. We are creating needed habitat for pollinators, we are trying to gradually reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, we are slowly changing hearts and minds in our congregations and our communities. Is this enough? Of course it isn’t. These actions are a fraction of a drop in the bucket when it comes to the enormous environmental problems our world is facing. Why do we keep on going? Why Creation Care?

I have asked myself this question many times over the last few years especially. Sometimes I feel so completely overwhelmed and it’s impossible to see how any of the minute things I can do will make any difference at all. But then I remember that’s not the point. Our world is broken; it always has been. We can’t fix it, no matter how many aluminum cans we recycle or how many pollinator gardens we plant. Lately my “why” has shifted from a vision of repairing the earth to a vision of repairing my relationship with God.

Why do we care for creation? Not because we have any power to fix it, but because God wants us to. He commanded our species to take care of this place, knowing full well we were going to mess it up. Creation Care in all its many forms, is a spiritual practice that aligns us with our Creator. I know that I feel better when I’m doing the right things - when I’m recycling, when I’m teaching my kids about the birds in our backyard, when I’m buying my food from local farmers. I feel best when I’m outside, in community as part of God’s creation. So, I will continue to care for creation through my small actions because it is my calling, my way of finding meaning, and my way of

bringing myself closer to God.