It is remarkable the knowledge that the human species has been able to acquire. Considering the time that has elapsed between the inception of Creation, the evolution of homo sapiens sapiens, and the present moment, humanity has progressed at breakneck speed. And the speed of the acquisition of knowledge is ever increasing. With the spreading use of Artificial Intelligence, new vistas of knowledge open up. Advances in science and technology may make it possible for human life to improve for everyone.
Or maybe not. With all this knowledge, we still seem beset by problems. Like delivering healthcare to all. Being attuned to the heart attack symptoms of women. Seeing that everyone has a safe, secure place to live. Making sure all people, including children, especially children, have enough food to eat. There are many things that seem to be lagging despite our attainment of knowledge.
Addressing some of these situations is not so much a matter of knowledge as a matter of will. And wisdom. When we choose to take care of everyone, we avert many other problems. We don’t seem to have learned that yet. It is wisdom that eludes our species as a whole.
Shaun, an American astronaut on the spaceship in Samantha Harvey’s novel, Orbital, has a prayerful moment. Harvey relates: “With his eyes closed he can hear that gibbon call, hollow and echoing. . . . Imagines placing his hand on the warm neck of a horse and can feel the smooth, oily lie of its coat, though he’s barely touched a horse in his life. The dart of a jay between the trees in his backyard. The dash of a spider into cover. The shadow of a pike beneath the water. A shrew carrying her young in her mouth. A hare leaping higher than seems warranted. A scarab beetle navigating by the stars.
“Pick a single creature on this earth and its story will be the earth’s story, he suddenly thinks. It can tell you everything, that one creature. The whole history of the world, the whole likely future of the world.” [pp. 162-163]
I am not sure we can say that about the human creature. The human creature seems to be the creature most capable of deception, ignorance, bias, and greed. I’m not sure there is even one human creature alive today that can tell Earth’s story. Let alone the story of Earth’s future.
Prayer: We hold Earth’s story deep in our bones, in our sinews and synapses. May we listen to that story and appreciate it’s wisdom so that we may create a new future not just for humanity but for Earth and the cosmos. Amen.
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Devotion prepared by Rev. Kim P. Wells, pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ in St. Petersburg, FL.
The devotions this Lenten season will be based on the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey. Orbital won the Booker Prize in 2024. It is a beautifully written story about the experience of a group of people orbiting the Earth in a spaceship. They see 16 sunrises and sunsets in a 24 hour period. The book is a reflection on the experience of living together and appreciating planet Earth in a new way.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 