We have made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when we plant shade trees under which we know full well we will never sit.
D. Elton Trueblood

As we enter the liturgical season of Pentecost, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit which gave birth to the church almost 2,000 years ago.  In the original Greek, the word for Spirit is pneuma, a word also used for ‘breath’ and ‘wind.’  This same word creeps into English when we refer to the pneumatic tools or tires which operate on pressurized air.

It is this same wind which moved over the face of the deep in the Genesis account of creation.  It is the same breath which brought life to Adam and Eve.

I remember, as a child, being taught in grade school about ecology.  The teacher, trying to convey the importance of keeping our air, earth, and water clean, said these are things which belong to everyone.  If we foul the air around us, others will have to breathe it.  If we pollute the water, we are polluting something which we will later need to drink.

Woodsy Owl said, ‘Give a hoot, don’t pollute!’  It only seemed fair that we needed everyone to do his part.  The part I didn’t care for so much, as a germaphobic 10 year-old, was the idea that I was breathing the same air that everyone else in my classroom was.  It almost made my head spin–I mean, that air was going way deep down inside of me.  To think of where that air had been!

The apostle Paul tried to teach his congregations that spiritual gifts were those gifts given for the common good.  Like the air, which we all share, spiritual gifts, by definition, are gifts which can’t be hoarded.

As we move from the springtime celebrations of Earth Day to the season of Pentecost, we are reminded that the growth of our spiritual lives coincides with the awakening of our consciousness to all that we share with all of God’s creation.

Elton Trueblood reminded us that this consciousness is necessarily multi-generational.  As surely as our pollution will make it’s way downwind and downstream–into the world’s atmosphere and oceans–the way we live will affect the way our children live.

In May, our congregation will be designating our outreach offerings to Earth Ministry, a Seattle organization that helps Christians who care about environmental stewardship to make a real difference.  I hope you’ll consider what you can do to help us care for the earth we’ll leave for the generations to come.