Archives For How Shall We Live?

Rulers Over the Works of God’s Hands

Nathan Aaberg —  April 30, 2025 — Leave a comment

Sometimes the words we use create a distance between us and the reality of what we are talking about.

In Christian theology, there are words like salvation, sacrament, and substitutionary atonement that are containers for a whole variety of complex ideas and frameworks. When it comes to communicating about God’s earth, there are, similarly, words like stewardship, biodiversity, green infrastructure, and environmental services. They are abstractions that take explanation.

My theory is that the greater the distance between a concept and the tangible reality of what we are talking about the more likely our hearts and minds are to be disengaged and passive. Complex and abstract words can create a slippery slope that takes us to rationalization of what we would not accept if it was understood plainly.

Framing something plainly, on the other hand, enables us to feel directly and authentically what is at stake. The decisions we must make become more clear, more stark. The power of Wendell Berry’s writing, for example, comes in part from the razor-like clarity and concreteness of the words and sentences he uses

The Bible is direct. Sometimes unsettlingly so. As an example, read Psalm 8: 3-9:

When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?[a]

 You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honour.
 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

We are, to the psalmist’s amazement, rulers over the works of God’s hands.

That is what we are. Rulers.

For much of human history, there were many places and elements of Creation that we really didn’t feel like we ruled. Creation felt, at times, more powerful and wild than we could handle. But now there is no doubt that we do rule over all of God’s earth. We, as a species, have that much power.

But do we really grasp it in our hearts?

Consider this tiny fish with its large eyes in the gentle fingers of a scientist. It is out of its element. If it stays out of water much longer it will die. If the scientist squeezes too hard, it will not survive. The fate of this fish, one of the works of God’s hands, is completely in the hands of the scientist.

This is not just a picture of a particular fish in the hands of a particular man. It is the picture of a smaller, vulnerable, weaker being at the mercy of a larger, more powerful being. It is a being under the dominion of another being.

Do you know how that feels?

You do.

If you ever have had a parent, boss, neighbor, classmate, coworker, or institution in your life exercise power over you in a way that made you feel vulnerable, weak, threatened, and at their mercy, then you know how that feels.

That is what it is like for every living creature on and in this world. They are, like the fish in the photo, in our hands. They are largely helpless before us our tools, our systems, and our technologies. Whether we speak of whales, rusty patched bumblebees, tigers, bobolinks, baobab trees, pangolins, or sharks, God has given the rest of the life of the world into our hands.

We must decide what kind of rulers we will be.

Rather than looking at human examples of rulers, we should look to Jesus as the best example. In Jesus we see God ready to become one of us, to experience our world, and to be ready, as part of God’s creative and sacrificial mission, to overcome death and evil by teaching, dying, and rising again. We see God as the good shepherd willing to lay down his life for his sheep. This should give us a different idea of what human exceptionalism really means from God’s perspective.

Through Jesus, God wants us to have the most abundant lives possible.  Shouldn’t we want the life under our dominion and power to enjoy the most abundant lives possible as well?

This photo reminds me, and especially my heart, that we need to have mercy and compassion in our rule over God’s earth just as we have desired mercy, compassion, and justice from other people who have had our fates in their hands. When we rule, our decisions have profound ethical weight. To make ethical decisions, we need to bring our hearts and our minds to the matter.

To assert or go along with the thinking that our rule is to be exercised without restraint for our power and convenience is to let our sinfulness dominate us. Dominion as license to exploit, extract, and exterminate is the fruit of sinful, selfish rationalizations.

One of the things that makes that it hard for us to be good rulers is that so much of our life is shaped by systems outside of our direct control. Like the distance created by abstract words, the distance between our values and the realities of what we control is confounding. We get our food from the grocery store which brings together a wide variety of foods and food-like items from farms and factories from all over the world. Our governments, both local and national, do things that it is hard for us to control. We don’t control the companies that make the things we buy for our lives.

What I urge you to do is to not let the confounding nature of the world beyond your direct control numb your heart.

See the world clearly, Think and feel plainly.

Pay attention to the realities of our rule and what they mean for other living creatures in this world. Use your creative imagination, one of God’s gifts, to try to understand how the creatures around us experience the world. What is their umwelt?

Then, where you have power directly, use it with mercy and wisdom. Where you don’t rule directly, do what you can to shape our collective rule in a better direction. Be a voice.

 

P.S. I took the image of the fish in the hands of scientist here in the Prairie Crossing conservation community in Grayslake, Illinois, where my family has lived for over two decades. It is one of five species of threatened and endangered fish that were introduced into a 2.8-acre manmade pond that was created to mimic a natural pond as closely as possible. The wild idea the scientist and other partners had was this – why not use this high quality pond as a fish nursery that could then be a source for repopulating waterways with those species of fish that had previously been present. You can learn more about this creative idea here. The pond’s name, appropriately enough, is Sanctuary Pond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Earth is Truly Full of God’s Glory

Nathan Aaberg —  March 31, 2025 — Leave a comment

There is a striking vision in Isaiah 6:3. The verse reads:

“And they called out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.””

They are the seraphim, six-winged heavenly creatures. Because of their fantastic nature, our mind’s eye tends to linger on them and not register what they actually say. But isn’t it striking that these fantastic beings direct our attention to the earth, the same earth that is with us and all around us 24/7?

In a sense, this shouldn’t be a surprise. In Genesis 1:31, God declares everything to be very good. That is high praise.

Nevertheless, unless we are attentive and present, it is easy to be as distracted by technology and our human-shaped world as we are by the seraphim. This deprive us of experiences of God’s glory. In doing that, we deprive our hearts and souls of the reverence and awe that are foundational for real, living faith.

In this post, I want to share just one small feature of the earth that is full of God’s glory.

That feature appears in this video of a lecture by Dr. Christine Jone about soil life and function. Dr. Christine Jones is an Australian soils ecologist who has helped farmers around the world better understand how the soil biome works. She has also taught farmers how building the ecology of soil life enables them to grow healthier, more productive plants and make more profit by using fewer (or no) chemicals. Her clear explanations of the wonders of the soil world have (along with the podcast of John Kempf) helped grow my enthusiasm about soil and regenerative agriculture. I hope you will take a look:

 

If you don’t have time to watch it right now, here is the one nugget that especially struck me. She has a slide that reads:

“There can be up to 9 billion microbes in one single seed!!

In an article on the website of Green Cover Seed, Dr. Jones explains the significance of that:

“Seeds contain hundreds of species of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protists. When a seed germinates the microbes multiply and move into the new roots and the soil surrounding the roots. The plant forms its own microbiome, distinctly different from the microbiome of bulk soil.”

So, in essence, seeds carry luggage with them on their travels. That “luggage” is the microbial community they need to thrive.

That is astounding. It is one more aspect of soil ecology that is being discovered by the rapidly growing science of regenerative agriculture. Through my work for non-profits promoting organic and regenerative agriculture, I’ve had the opportunity to learn how farming that builds soil life can prosper farmers, eaters, communities, and God’s earth. I also have been striving to translate those insights into changes in how farmland is actually stewarded by farmers and landowners.

Undoubtedly, there are particular aspects of Creation you have read about that amaze you. I would love to hear what they are.

But we shouldn’t stop there. What is to be our lived response to God’s glory filling the earth?

I would suggest that one response should be to make time to attune ourselves to that glory by immersing ourselves in the actual experience Creation. Camping. Birding Gardening. Slow walks in natural places. If you’re looking for inspiration (which is not a substitute for actually getting outside!), check out Bill Davison’s excellent substack – Easy by Nature.

We should also act in the world to restore the earth so that God’s glory is not hidden, diminished, or marred.

The Green Cover Seed company, which offers a free and wonderfully comprehensive guide to regenerative agriculture on its website, provides a great example.

Founded by brothers Keith and Brian Berns, Green Cover Seed is an energetic, faith-driven company that is helping farmers utilize cover crops to build soil, provide habitat, and produce abundant crops. Here is their mission statement:

To help people regenerate, steward, and share God’s creation for future generations. 

We believe cover crops are key to improving soil health, and healthy soils lead to healthy food and thus healthy people. 

Green Cover strives to honor and glorify God through our business ethics and practices, and to follow the example of Jesus Christ when interacting with customers and team members.

Can I get an amen??

What is your response in your daily use of Creation and the larger arc of your life?

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Let’s Move From “Creation Care” to Being “Creation Shepherds”

Nathan Aaberg —  February 28, 2025 — Leave a comment

I pay alot of attention to words. I listen to the sound of words. The nuances of their different connotations and associations are meaningful to me.

It’s in that context that I want to share why I’ve become more and more discontented with the two-word term “Creation care” in Christian circles.

In that phrase, I do hear gentleness, compassion, and almost a nursing-like quality. Without question, the attentive care of a nurse for her/his patient is a blessing beyond measure. Gentleness and compassion are indeed essential characteristics of a Christ follower. If more people lived by the fruit of the Spirit towards others and Creation, we would be in a much better place.

But here is what I also hear. I hear an action carried out in a refined, hushed, restrained, genteel atmosphere. My sense from the term is that the recipient of our caring actions is passive, small, and weak.  It is not clear from the term that the person doing the Creation care activity is fundamentally about doing the right things towards Creation as a core part of that person’s core identity. “Creation care” describes a set of actions we do outside of ourselves. The actions are not necessarily central to who we are every moment. They are a choice we can make or not make depending on the circumstances.

Moreover, the word “care” does not contain in it a sense of strong, vigorous, energetic, and even assertive energy to prevent the need for care from ever happening. It does not suggest a willingness to advocate and struggle against harsh forces.

There’s another’s problem with using “Creation care.” The term lacks clear and obvious roots in the Bible.

The term has more in common with modern social programs like MediCare than what we read of in the Old and New Testaments. Where does one read of Creation care in the Bible as an actual term or concept?

The obvious alternative in my mind is “shepherd.”

Shepherds and shepherding are deeply rooted in the whole Bible. Abraham and many of his descendants lived off of flocks and herds. King David was a shepherd. Psalm 23 extols the loving attention of God as a shepherd in a beautiful and moving way. Ezekiel 34 is dense with sheep metaphors and what a good shepherd is like (although the reference to removing wild predators is troubling). Shepherds were directed by angels to where Jesus was born. And, most importantly, Jesus called himself a good shepherd.

Jesus nested the parable of the lost sheep in the world of a shepherd. The shepherd’s search of the lost sheep suggests sweat, aching legs, a keen sense of the land, and determined thought on where the sheep in question would most likely be.

If there is a downside to using the terms shepherd and shepherding it is this – few of us are connected with agriculture anymore, and even fewer have any sense of the reality of what being a shepherd.

Being a shepherd is the antithesis of a modern office job. It is an active, dynamic, earthy, vigorous role that is demanding of your body, mind, and spirit.

The shepherd is immersed in Creation and the life of Creation. If you  meditate on the life of the shepherd, you can almost hear the sounds of sheep and cows, smell their animalness, pick up a whiff of hides and wool, and hear flies buzzing about the gifts of fertility the sheep and cattle leave behind. The shepherd enjoys peaceful moments. Even more often there are challenge and hardship. There is total immersion in Creation and its life and forces.

Psalm 23 gives a clear idea of how thoughtful and attentive to the needs of a sheep’s life a shepherd must be. This means planning and foresight about what places in the landscape will have the right plants at the right time in the right conditions. This means knowing where clean water will be available each day. The shepherd must pay attention to where there might be predators (including hostile humans) and anticipate weather patterns that could bring dangerous storms. There is a strong sense of all-encompassing competence, blue-collar work ethic, and not enjoying any luxuries of life. There is also an attunement to both the animals and to the environment.

Shepherding communicates, too, the paradox of the shepherd. Shepherds give constant protection to their herd that exist to provide humans wool, milk (yes, that’s a thing), and meat. But that doesn’t mean that the care for the sheep is any less dedicated or important.

In fact, life and death is an everyday part of the shepherd’s work. The reality of this (which the video above shows) is something that people working in offices don’t fully understand. Sheep and lambs get sick. They get in trouble. They run off. There are predators. Being a shepherd means dealing with death on a regular basis. A shepherd needs to be compassionate and tough.

Jesus spoke of this in that context in John 10:14-15. Here are the words:

“I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

The good shepherd laying down his life for the sheep is not doing so because he signed a contract. A good shepherd (as opposed to a lackluster, lazy, self-focused one) would lay down his life for his sheep because he cares for them. He does not want to see the gentle creatures, who know his voice and trust him, torn apart. Like a good police officer, fireman, or soldier, the shepherd accepts the responsibility the shepherd has been given and is ready to sacrifice all in the process.

I am convinced that there is a strong parallel between the nature of the relationship between God and humanity (as exemplified in Jesus) and the nature of what our relationship should be with God’s earth.

Jesus, as the good shepherd, was ready to lay down his life for his sheep. Are we ready to act as bravely and selflessly for God’s earth which is under our care?

Interestingly, since I began writing this post, I’ve come across other Christians using “shepherd” (like here and here). Perhaps I was unconsciously aware of this already, But none of the uses I have found so far have made clear the more challenging and inspiring implications that “shepherd” actually entails.

This is where we must defend the uniqueness and distinctiveness of words. Words matter.  They communicate to our conscious minds and to our unconscious minds.

So I am going to use “shepherd” and “shepherding” going forward when I refer to what it means as a follower of Jesus to protect and restore God’s earth. I hope you will, too. Let us commit ourselves to being shepherds of Creation. May we make this an essential part of the dedication of our whole lives to God.

Here is my prayer for you and me:

Loving God, guide us to be good shepherds of your earth as you are our good shepherd.  Like good shepherds, help us more deeply and intimately understand your earth and how land, water, and life work together. Equip us to be ready to act and speak for your vulnerable Creation in all circumstances and in all conditions with compassion, wisdom, strength, and grit.  Send your Spirit so we will be more determined to prevent your good world entrusted to us from being stripped of life and breath. We pray, too, for you to be with us when we lament the suffering of people and Creation. May your will be done by us each day.

 

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How is Your 2025 Creation Goal Going?

Nathan Aaberg —  January 31, 2025 — Leave a comment

In my previous post, I encouraged you to set a goal for doing something for Creation in 2025 beyond what you already do. And I urged you to make that goal a stretch goal.

How has that been going?

As I mentioned in that same post, I am committing myself to getting a podcast off the ground this year to explore the themes I have been exploring in this blog.

I’m happy to say that I’ve made some progress. I’ve worked with a designer to get a logo completed, which I will share eventually! I have also built out my guest list a little further, and I have done some further preparations by reading an excellent book about the podcast production.

What has made the difference?

Keeping a log in my journal of the time I spend each day on my blog and podcast launch project.

Since I started keeping track on December 30, I’ve done some sort of work on either or both in 33 straight days. Sometimes it’s just 30 minutes, but even in that small amount of time, I can make some progress. More importantly, working every day keeps the momentum going. It also keeps the ideas and questions I need to tackle fresh in my head. And, honestly, it just feels good to keep the streak unbroken.

Why not try it?

Even if you cannot make time every single day, logging the time you do put in will show you that you are translating ideals and goals into your life on a regular basis. It will help you make progress and get the momentum going.

The key is the habit of tracking your new habit. Whether it’s time committed or some other meaningful metric, the tracking will inspire and compel you.

One last thing – can you share any recommendations for podcasts you especially like? They can be about anything, from the Bible to politics and books. I’m always up for learning and for ideas on how to make the podcast I will do as good as possible.  You can email me at wholefaithlivingearth@gmailcom

 

P.S. One of the guests I plan to have on my podcast is Raymond Epp. I met Raymond recently at the AcresUSA EcoAg Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, and we hit it off pretty quickly. His calling is to make available the insights of regenerative agriculture of North America to people in Japan where he lives with his family. He has brought creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit to that calling. 

In the photo below, he joins the participants of a two-day workshop he organized in Hokkaido entitled My Regenerative Journey. The participants were mostly farmers from around Japan but also included representatives from three major corporations. All of the participants were eager to learn more about the mindset, principles and outcomes of regenerative agriculture.

Raymond and the community of Christians he is part of are also making plans to build a sacred retreat place this spring “devoted to contemplating the incarnation of the Lamb of God and the ongoing life of redeeming creation that God is inviting us all to participate in.” He closed his recent email with this encouraging phrase – “Blessed be the journey!” Isn’t that a good perspective? Blessed be your journey of whole faith.

 

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What Are Your Creation Goals in 2025?

Nathan Aaberg —  December 31, 2024 — Leave a comment

Have you already created a list of goals for 2025?

When you do, I urge you to include at least one goal that not only relates to Creation but stretches you.

It’s traditional to create goals that relate to our personal health, professional goals, and hobbies. We may even have goals that relate to how we develop our faith, like committing to reading the Bible over the course of a year or praying each morning (which I recommend).

But I don’t often hear people develop goals that relate to doing our part for God’s precious earth.

If you believe that Creation matters to God, then embrace that conviction and turn it into sustained action that stretches you. As Jesus tells us in the story of the wise builder and the foolish builder, one’s faith is not real without putting it into action.

One example of a stretch goal would be committing to significantly increase your purchases of local, organic, and regeneratively grown food. This will be healthier for you and your family. It will also support good stewards of God’s earth and send a signal to our food and farming system about what kind of agriculture people want.

Another example would be to apply your love of God to your yard, farm, or even your business facility’s landscaping. Expand the amount of area that provides sustenance to birds and bees in the form of native vegetation. Treat your yard or farm as if it was God’s (which it is) and as if God cares about the life of this earth (which God does). Then enjoy the life that will come.

Why not commit to increasing the giving your family makes to Creation protection and renewal causes?

You could move your family or your church to more renewable energy sources.

You could decide to volunteer on a regular basis to restore a local natural area or to help a nature conservation organization. You’ll meet good people and learn a great deal about Creation.

Perhaps, you could even plan to organize people you know to address a Creation-related issue. This might include preserving a  natural area threatened with development or prompting your local school district to offer meals to its students with healthy foods.

Pray about it. Listen to what stirs your heart and mind.

Write it down.

And plan out the first few steps.

Then act.

The hardest part is getting going. Inertia is a killer.

When it comes to moving past inertia, here’s a video that my wife and I found useful. The speaker shares five tips for how to increase your odds of actually achieving your goals for a year. Good stuff. We plan to apply these principles this coming year.

You may be wondering what my 2025 goal is for Creation. One is to launch a podcast as a complement to this blog. There are so many Christians who are caring, tending, and defending Creation in courageous and creative ways. I’d like for you and people like you to hear their stories. I also want to explore the theology of Creation with theologians and other thinkers. I would like to explore the marvels of Creation, from new discoveries about the soil biome to the social lives of killer whales. And I want to talk with people who can give you and me insights into how to better live out our whole faith in connection to Creation.

Why is this a stretch?

Well, I am not good (in other words, I stink) at technology. I’m also quite busy with my work for The Land Connection, a food and farming non-profit. How will I fit this in? Do I want to inflict my voice on innocent people?! And, if I am honest, I will say that I feel a bit of reticence (In other words, fear) at doing something so new and different.

But it feels very right.

I started this blog 10 years ago because I literally couldn’t not do it. There were ideas and questions and convictions I couldn’t just let continue to boil in my heart and mind. They were going to explode if I didn’t express them and address them. Over the course of the last 10 years, I’ve learned a great deal that has further bolstered my convictions, my love of God, and my appreciation for Creation, even as it has also made me hurt even more to see what is being done to Creation. The best part has been hearing from people like you who appreciated particular blog posts. I have realized I am not alone. You are not alone.

I feel the same pent-up energy for podcasting.

You’ll be the first to hear once I get it going.

I’d love to hear what your goals are, too.

I hope and pray you will have a year of abundant life and whole faith in 2025.

 

P.S. And don’t forget to get to enjoy Creation in 2025 with your loved ones. Hike, Birdwatch. Study plants. Read books about it. Grow some of your own food and cook with it!

 

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