September 10 - Season of Creation

Friends

This Sunday we begin the Season of Creation, a newer season of the church year that emerged as churches around the world responded to the growing ecological crisis. It invites us to slow down and reflect more deeply on our relationship with God, one another, and the earth.

The invitation itself has ancient roots. The Hebrew scriptures understand our relationship with God as inseparable from our relationship with the land and one another. The Bible has a beautiful word for this: shalom. We often translate shalom as peace, but it means something richer: the flourishing that comes when relationships are made whole: with God, one another, the land, and the whole created world.

This is also why we pass the peace in worship. When we say, “Peace be with you,” we are doing more than greeting one another. We are practising shalom, remembering that the peace we seek with God is connected to the peace we seek with our neighbours.

This Sunday, we’ll hear two stories of broken relationship and healing: Genesis 50:15–21, the story of Joseph and his brothers, and Matthew 18:21–35, where Jesus responds to Peter’s question about forgiveness.

I’ll also draw on one of my seminary teachers, Cherokee theologian Randy Woodley, who sees deep connections between biblical shalom and Indigenous wisdom. He speaks of Eloheh, or the Harmony Way, living in harmony with Creator, one another, and the whole created world.

This brings us back to what we have been exploring together: belonging. Shalom is, in a sense, belonging made whole. We belong to God, to one another, and within the larger Community of Creation.

Yours in Shalom,

William Brook