(As
the story is told the reader provides the cribbitts)
Now the village was located in a lush,
verdant area that had many acres of marsh surrounding it. At night there was a chorus of insects and
amphibians (cribbitt) that lulled the people to sleep. At least everyone except the chief. The chief often had bad dreams that would
wake him up when it was still dark. The
incessant noise (cribbitt) would prevent him from returning to sleep and he
would be really grumpy the next day.
This foul mood got worse and worse until one
night the chief lept from his bed and shouted at the frogs who were joyfully
croaking (cribbitt) to be quiet. The
chief said “Quiet! I demand
silence! And I want it NOW!” But guess what the frogs did. (Cribbitt)
The chief lay awake the remainder of that
night but early the next morning he called all the people of the village
together and said to them. “The frogs
have disobeyed me! Take your sticks and
go to the marsh. Kill them all! If I hear one single croak tonight I will
take my revenge on you!” All the
villagers except the old grandmother ran to the marsh with their sticks to kill
the frogs. The chief turned to the old
wwoman and said “since you are old and feeble I will let you stay in the
village.” The old grandmother looked and
the chief and said to him. “Since you
are so foolish in your demands I will tell you the truth!” “All things are connected!” “ What does that
mean” asked the chief. “You will see
replied the woman – you will soon see!”
That night an eerie silence engulfed the
village. The people were restless and
unable to sleep, but the chief slept like a baby. He was convinced that he had made the right
decision. And then it happened. The first night there was this faint buzzing
sound, (zzzzzzz) but it got louder and
louder and then the villagers began to feel mosquitoes biting them. (slap)
The chief was bitten too and soon they mosquitoes were coming in swarms
both day and night.
“Leave me alone!” the chief shouted at the
mosquitoes – “or I shall have you killed too!”
But the mosquitoes only buzzed louder (zzzz) and bit harder. (slap)
So the following morning the chief ordered all the people into the marsh
to kill the mosquitoes, but alas there were too many of them. Without the frogs to eat the mosquito larvae
they just multiplied and multiplied.
Thousands upon thousands so that the village was alive with hungry
mosquitoes and both farm animals and humans suffered.
That night the villiagers secretly packed
their bags and moved far away. Now the
chief had no one except the mosquitoes to rule over and they would not obey him
at all. Al last the chief knew what the
old grandmother had meant…. “ALL THINGS
ARE CONNECTED!![i]
Not too long ago we remembered with great
pride for our country’s achievement the moment when mankind first set foot on
the moon and Neil Armstrong acknowledged that it was not his achievement but
one for all of humanity.
What was your
reaction when you first saw the image of Earth beamed back from space? How did you respond when you first grasped
that Earth is indeed a green blue ball of living beings floating in air? If you were born more
recently, the image of Earth as we see it from space may be something you take
for granted. If so, maybe you might
consider how it is that Earth is different from other planets or life worlds in
science fiction books or television shows such as Star Wars? Does it make you feel a little vulnerable to
imagine the Death Star lurking out between the moon and earth? All part of the movie world though. Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about
Darth Vader setting his sights on us.
But perhaps we have something much more dangerous to worry about….
One of the blessings of the Episcopal
tradition is that it encourages us to move away from debate about the literal
text and to look instead on how this Creation story that we know so well,
written thousands of years ago, captures transcendent insights into God’s
relationship with Earth and consequently our relationship with Earth.
In this story of creation the earth is not
just one more object of God’s handiwork.
The earth is a participant, a character in the story, - giving birth so to speak; to the world that
encompasses it. The opening line of the
chapter declares that God created everything.
The birth of Earth is a revelation, and in my
Episcopalian understanding of the relatedness of all of creation - it is a
revealing of the nature of God. This is
confirmed for me after God names the land ‘Earth’ and looks at what has been
created and declares it to be good.
And then a wonderful thing happens. God
calls on Earth to be a co-creator. “Let
the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed… and let them multiply. And he does the same with the animals. This is not a clockwork God – this is God who
puts into motion the wonders for rebirth and resurrection and calls it
Good. Just as we are God’s hands and
feet and caretakers in this world, the earth is the physical source of life. All that we are and all that there is stems
from the love and attentiveness of God.
Now the earth, this birth-mother of creation, is faced with
ominous signs. Greenhouse gases are
building rapidly causing a shift the temperature that is threatening the Arctic
ice pack and the Antarctic glaciers. Sea
levels are rising and that could have more disastrous consequences for the
Earth. There is abundant evidence that
we the people are the cause of this change in climate. That is bad news but the good news is that if
we caused it then we can halt it. But
such a change will mean that we must become good stewards of our world. We must change the way we live our
lives. We must stop the wanton
destruction of our wetlands, reduce our consumption of petroleum products, and
to the best of our ability eliminate as much waste as possible from landfills.
I remind you of some of the ways that you can make a difference
for the next generation and for generations to come.
Reduce plastic – carry a bag with you to the grocery
Drive less – we would probably be healthier
Use compact fluorescent bulbs, turn the heat up in summer and
down in winter. Being good stewards is
not all don’ts though – we can also help by planting trees, using pine straw
instead of cypress mulch in our flower beds, buying energy efficient appliances
and insulating our homes. All it takes
is that we be intentional about it. Do
it for your neighbor, do it for your family, do it for your children, do it
because this is God’s creation and we are called by God to love it just as much
as God does.
[i]
Story comes from a collection of stories told at a Mississippi Center for
Justice workshop. The work was funded by
the generosity of the Feltzer Institute.
