Recently, we had a brief few days of sun amidst what has been a record-breaking year for rainfall in the Pacific Northwest. While residents here tend to be intrepid when it comes to exploring nature in the rain and mud, I’m somewhat less so, and the sun provided a great reason to get outside. We …
Creating Energy
Over the next few weeks, a few of us here at A Rocha will be posting a series of short meditations on waiting in God’s creation as we prepare for the celebration of Christmas. The other day, I found myself at a standstill in a nasty traffic jam that is becoming more and more common in my rapidly …
Waiting in Hope
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about time, and the different ways it exists. First, there is the rather arbitrary way that we measure time, independent of the natural world: things happen on the first or last day of the month, or every two weeks, or the second Tuesday of November. These …
Feast Time
Earlier this month, we published a piece about Grace Spriggs, Children’s Pastor in Nashville and coordinator of the Creation Care Camp there. During our conversation about the camp, she shared with me a story that resonated deeply, and stuck with me long after we talked. She told me that this …
Taking Care of Our Places: Grace Spriggs and Creation Care Camp
Creation Care Camp began in 2008 with A Rocha’s first chapter in Santa Barbara, California. It then moved up the coast to Santa Margarita, where it was piloted and further developed in partnership with the Santa Margarita Community Church. It is now being adopted by communities around the nation and …
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Planting Is An Act of Faith
I’ve been visiting some family in Canada this past week – in Manitoba, not too far from A Rocha Canada’s Pembina Valley Guesthouse. Sitting in the hot afternoon sun watching the poplars shimmer in the wind, we saw a large flock of blackbirds fly overhead. “That means fall is coming,” said my dad. …
Where Our Wonder Takes Us: Children, Nature, and Faith
“Faith-based communities and religious organizations could play a much larger role in helping children and adults know the world, and beyond, through nature.” – Richard Louv Last fall, Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods and founder of the Children and Nature Network, wrote a blog …
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