Falling in love with creation

Where does one start in responding to our warming climate and caring for our planet home? It’s easy to feel instantly overwhelmed and immobilized by the science, data, and calls from climatologists. I understand the anxiety onset that urges one to change the channel when there is a news report on wildfires, or extreme weather events knocking the wind out of entire communities and regions. I watch how people waste energy, voice, and time on fear, hate, and violence to other human beings…and because all things are connected, I also find myself holding how this is harming our other-than-human neighbors, such as trees, rivers, insects, critters, land, and air. I’ve had enough conversations with people of varied perspectives to say that more often than not humanity together is open-eyed in what is valued and needed to live sustainably, but at the same time it is our humanity that so often gets in the way of the way forward.

Mother Teresa once said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Her words are a reminder that the place one begins in climate or creation care is falling in love with a small part of creation near you. I believe we will care for that which we love, for that which we have practiced a deep and living connection with. I find hope in this way forward…as I watch young and old alike fall in love with a dog or cat, hummingbirds, a houseplant, a garden, a child or grandchild or parent or grandparent, a friend or neighbor. We have been practicing for this moment in time our whole human story. We are always about claiming and reclaiming the way we have been created and connected together.

In April, my son and I officially became beekeepers. Bees are the part of creation I have chosen to fall in love with in this moment in time. It’s amazing what you do when you are falling in love. When I first placed them in their hives, I would check on them daily. Watching. Wondering. Marveling. Fretting! (Is everything okay?) My reading has gone from beekeeping 101 books, to books by entomologists sharing what they are learning about how bees think, communicate, learn, and make sense of the world. My son and I attend monthly bee club meetings to learn more…but also to get to know others who are still just as in love with bees after decades of beekeeping. Over the past four months, I have learned to listen to the bees when I inspect the hives. They are not shy in telling me if things are going well, or if they are stressed by something and could use some help. When I randomly drop by during the week to kneel by the hives and just watch, there is always the moment when a bee will buzz me, or even bump into me. It’s their cue that my visiting time is over for the day…that love is a partnership to be honored and held in sacred trust.

What are you (interested in) falling in love with in creation around you?