NYT 2022

Why I’m Giving to this Environmental Group

By Tish Harrison Warren, in the New York Times Opinion’s Giving Guide, 2022.
“Christians understand Isaiah’s prophecies as culminating in Jesus’ return, and that this vision of a restored heaven and Earth is the ultimate destiny of the universe. Still, some Christian traditions, particularly white evangelicalism, emphasize a more individualistic view of God’s work of redemption. In the evangelical church I grew up in, salvation was primarily seen as an internal, spiritual experience — getting “saved” or being “born again” — so that we could go to heaven when we die. In the readings of Advent, however, Isaiah shows how incomplete this view is. God’s intention, Isaiah seems to say, is not evacuation from Earth to some far away afterlife but the healing and restoration of all things, even the material world of oak trees and orangutans, jellyfish and jalapeños, mountain laurels and desert willows.”

Dear Daughters

Joy in the Garden: Veronica Godoy #183

I am so excited this week because I love my garden and creeks and mountains and a big blue sky and we are talking about joy in nature! Verónica Godoy spent most of her life out in nature, climbing trees and playing on the beach in Argentina where she grew up. God opened her eyes to the biology of His creation when she was just 8 years old and she knew then that it was what she wanted to study (and sure enough, she earned both a B.S. and PhD in biological sciences). She has been a scientist and a teacher, and now works at A Rocha, a national community of Christians working in biodiversity conservation to take care of our environment.