Lection: Genesis 2

September 6, 2026

Genesis 2:4-25

“The Wonderful Things God Made” (A short message that was part of an interactive intergenerational service for Creation Sunday.)

Well, that was fun, being God in the Bible story. I got to imagine myself forming a human being out of the dust of the ground, and then making all the plants and animals and creatures of the world. I don’t think I would have the imagination to come up with all the different things that God made.

Of course, we know that God made cats and dogs and mice and maple trees and salmon and blue jays, and lots of other things that are pretty nice. But God also made some very strange and wonderful plants and animals. For example…

Axolotl: A smiling salamander that never grows up! It keeps its feathery gills, lives underwater its whole life, and looks like it’s always happy. Why it’s fun: It reminds us that God makes creatures in all kinds of shapes and stages.

Baobab Tree: A giant tree from Africa that kinda looks like it’s upside‑down— its branches look like roots reaching into the sky. Why it’s fun: It shows that God’s imagination can turn things upside‑down and still make them beautiful.

Leafy Sea Dragon: A sea … Read more »

September 29, 2019

Genesis 1:1-2:3
Genesis 2:4-15
Romans 8:18-21

“Love the Trees”

The opening Scripture reflection in my sermon today comes from a sermon by Dr. Paul Ladouceur. Paul teaches Orthodox theology at the University of Sherbrooke and Trinity College in Toronto, and I know him personally through our involvement in the Canadian Council of Churches at which he is a representative for the Archdiocese of Canada of the Orthodox Church in America.

On a path on Mount Athos, the monks put up a sign for passing pilgrims: “Love the trees.” Father Amphilochios, an elder on the island of Patmos in Greece, used to say, “Do you know that God gave us one more commandment, which is not recorded in Scripture? It is the commandment ‘Love the trees.’”

“Love the trees.” Why should this be important for Christians?

The Genesis account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden contains two valuable indications of how humans should relate to the world around them. In the first chapter of Genesis we read, “God said to the man and the woman: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and … Read more »

February 10, 2008

Matthew 4:1-11
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19

Did anyone watch the show “Little Mosque on the Prairie” this week? It’s the CBC comedy about a little Mosque in a community somewhere on the Canadian Prairies. There aren’t a huge number of Muslims in the fictional town of “Mercy” but there are enough to gather together in a rented space in an Anglican Church. And there are enough to hire a young Imam from Toronto (the clergy person in an Islamic community).

This week’s episode of “Little Mosque on the Prairie” began with Friday prayers and the Imam’s sermon. It’s the beginning of the festival of Ramadan in which Muslims fast and pray, read the Qu’ran and re-focus their lives on following the ways of God, including good deeds, kindness, and helping others. Though the TV show wasn’t concerned with giving many details about the meaning and significance of Ramadan, what was clear was the call to individuals to rid themselves of bad habits, negative practices, or what in a religious context, we would call sin.

Are you reminded of the Christian season of Lent that we began a few days ago on Ash Wednesday? That’s what came to my mind as I listened to … Read more »