Joy . . . Blessings Far as the Curse is Found!

I've been thinking a lot as of late about the expansive significance of the coming of Christ on a cosmic and global scale; I get to talk a little about how God has been leading me here tonight at Grace Chapel's 5pm Christmas Eve Service (all are invited!)

I recently came across this interview with Old Testament professor Dr. Ellen F. Davis of Duke Divinity School. Davis, being a Bible scholar and heavily influenced by the writings of Wendell Berry, . . . I found her reflections to be extremely helpful, disturbing, encouraging and thought-provoking all at the same time. Also, recently, I've been working through Davis' book:

"From a Biblical perspective, the covenant is not purely a two-way relationship between human beings and God. The covenant is a three-way relationship, . . . thinking about the aftermath of the flood story in Genesis when God makes a covenant with kol basar, "all flesh," . . . all of the nonhuman creatures. . ." -Ellen F. Davis

"Eating is. . . the primary ecological act. Eating is the thing that most regularly connects us to the rest of the created order." -Ellen F. Davis

"We're in a system that does not have a long future. The good news. . . is that we will not be farming the way we are farming now fifty years from now. The bad news is we won't have the resources to do it. More than 50% of the topsoil in Iowa has been eroded; . . . and similar in other places. Our erosion rates far outpace replacement rates. . . ." -Ellen F. Davis

"Anyone who gardens understands that the earth is not an 'it' upon which we act at our will; it's a creature with whom we have an opportunity to have a fruitful relationship." -Ellen F. Davis

"For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." -Colossians 1:19,20