One thing most religions seem to agree on lately is that we have to do a better job at taking care of our environment.  Whether you believe that God made the Earth or that it evolved through natural processes (or both, or something else), it’s up to us to take care of it and our natural resources.

I love to garden–even when I hate to garden (you gardeners know what I mean). For me, weeding is meditation and therapy, and caring for plants gives me a sense of connection to all life.

Two things I have done this year to make my gardening more environmentally sound is to get a couple rain barrels, so that this week I’m watering my plants using water from last week’s deluge, and to plant more edibles, especially those that come back each year.

This month I have been enjoying eccentric but delicious backyard salads of mint, chives,…

Last year, around the time of Earth Day (April 22), I posted an essay from Concordia Seminary theologian Chuck Arand on the connections between Christian theology and the environment.

Now he’s started his own blog on the subject: Together with All Creatures.

The title quotes from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism: “I believe that God has made me together with all creatures…” As Dr. Arand sees it, this means that we share a common beginning, a common life, and a common future with all of creation.

Just passing it along for those of you who, like me, care about this stuff, i.e. the “stuff” of this earth.

A veiled woman and child illustrate the story of Mary and Jesus in Bible Illuminated.

Just heard this story on NPR’s Morning Edition in the car this morning: “Two New Bibles Present a Hip, Eco-Friendly Gospel.”

The first is Bible Illuminated: The Book, a coffee-table book of the New Testament with stunning contemporary photography. The second is The Green Bible, literally a “green” Bible (made of recycled materials) that highlights  “environmental” passages in (what else?) green.

Of course, these two “new” Bibles aren’t really new translations. More like new ways to present the biblical text in a provocative, engaging way. What I think the story illustrates is how the Bible (1) is perhaps the single most interpreted text in western literature, and (2) continues to inspire countless incarnations of itself in culture and the marketplace. With all these countless variations, it is still the world’s best-seller.

As for me, I believe I’ll add Bible Illuminated to my…

Next Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day.

Whether or not you celebrate Earth Day, and share its concern for the environment, typically falls out along stereotypically liberal vs. conservative lines. Ain’t much room for middle ground. And religion often gets caught up in the mix, it too falling along stereotypical liberal vs. conservative lines.

Except for this… Charles Arand, a theologian here at Concordia Seminary, makes a convincing case from a theologically conservative position for why religious people, and Christians in particular, should celebrate Earth Day. His thoughts center on the first article of the Christian creed: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

Simply stated, Arand demonstrates that a belief in God as creator—a belief that transcends not only denominational lines but many interreligious boundaries too—should engage the believer, a fellow creature of God’s creation, in deep care and concern for the earth and for all life…