God's Glorious Creation

Tropical Island Beckons

This time last week I woke up on our last morning in St. John, the smallest of the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is impossible to describe how beautiful St. John is. "Simple" is the best word I can come up with to describe how the beauty and lifestyle of St. John mesh. Pristine, white-sand beaches are uncluttered with either debris or buildings. Green forests are interrupted only by the white sand of the beach, the blue of the ocean and scatterings of homes on hillsides.

Everything is small in scale. There are no inhuman-scaled hotels or buildings: Everything and everyone is casual and laid-back. Most tellingly, there are absolutely no fast-food chains. In fact, the only "chain" of any type is a Westin hotel tucked into a wooded bay, fairly obscure and away from the small-town fabric that makes St. John unique.

To get to St. John, one must fly to St. Thomas and take a ferry to the island. Large portions of the island once were owned by the Rockefeller family, who donated their property to the National Park Service, encouraging other large landowners to do the same. As a result, two-thirds of St. John is a national park. St. John protects its beaches and coral reefs as much as it does the forests, so St. John is a snorkeler's paradise.

In the words of Fodor's travel guide, "Of the three U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John has the strongest sense of community, which is primarily rooted in a desire to protect the island's natural beauty." Whoever Fodor is, I believe he got it right. The environment is at the heart of this little island, and it's why people want to visit and stay. Just stepping off the ferry is an invitation to join with the community and live in harmony with God's creation.

Community, communion and commune all come from the same root word. Holy scripture shares the story of creation and how God created everything, making order out of chaos and calling it good. Humanity was created to commune with God and to be stewards of God's creation. But we violated that trusted relationship, and we have continued to be poor stewards of the environment God entrusted to our care. We have broken community with God and the Earth.

It was wonderful to experience one of those rare places on Earth that approximates the type of community we could have if we prioritized our relationships with others, with this Earth and with God. Imagine what a paradise the whole world could be!

It is a challenge to choose to spend more on environmentally conscious products -- particularly for those with limited incomes. It is a challenge to support legislation that protects our environment, when it means sacrificing the financial rewards of development. There are compromises that must be made.

But, if we say, we prioritize God in our lives, how can we not prioritize God's creation?

NAN Religion on 02/22/2014

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