During our Season of Creation Sunday morning series I spoke of the difference between optimism and hope. A certain sort of optimist cheerfully claims that everything will be okay, despite the evidence. Hopeful people are aware of the evidence and then work for change. As Christians we live in hope because of the One who embodied God's hope.
I came upon an article in the New York Times which certainly stirred hope in me. In a small way it countered the grim and overwhelming evidence of environmental destruction brought about by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
A small army of volunteers worked to carefully move loggerhead turtle eggs away from the "scene of the crime." If the hatchlings headed out in their mad scramble to the sea they would surely have died. One of the volunteers has done turtle nest monitoring for years and said of the turtle dash after hatching, "You just wonder how God put all this together." Momma turtles return to the beach where they were hatched even if they have travelled far out into the Atlantic in adulthood.
This mass evacuation took huge coordination, but it worked. More than 28,000 eggs were relocated. And nests which weren't moved were guarded from the people and machines used to clean oil off the beaches. Some people whose livelihoods were ruined by the spill turned their efforts to protecting the turtles.
Hey, we need to give credit where credit is due to those want to "live with respect in creation."
Are you encouraged by hearing about this? What do you think you would do in similar circumstances? What are you doing to live with respect these days?
4 comments:
It makes you wonder what would happen if only larger and larger pockets of the human race joined in hope and coordinated themselves in like fashion around even larger issues.
I would love to have been able to go down to the Gulf of Mexico and help rescue turtles and other marine life - not withstanding the tragedy of the entire situation. It is so nice and uplifting to hear stories about those that were saved.
Your recent post about seeing numerous painted turtles reminded me of my annual visits to my sister's cottage, in which I kayak to numerous islands and see so many turtles and birds. I feel good seeing these creatures in the wild.
I have a confession: while I take my frequent walks along the creek in Bowmanville and watch the dozens of people fishing in such a narrow stream, I realize the fish have little chance. I feel like cheering when one actually gets past someone. Okay... I have cheered!
Thanks guys. You're right Ian, and why is it that humans are inclined to rally together to fix the messes they make, but are slow to work collaboratively to avoid the messes in the first place.
Johnny, what you say speaks to that sense of helplessness we often feel about making a difference in a tangible way. I too find it uplifting to read the stories of real people making a real difference.
P.S. I'm rooting for those salmon and lake trout as well. And I hope that in the next few months the new fish ladder actually materializes.
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