If time travel were possible, where would you go? Forward in time to see what your city was like 1000 years from now? Back in time to a historical event such as the building of the great pyramids in Egypt or perhaps to 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue? Tough questions! If you are like me, there are multiple destinations/eras that would be intriguing to visit. If I could choose just one destination for time travel, the Garden of Eden would make the short list.
I’d love to see the creation as it was then. Unspoiled. Perfect. In harmony. Not groaning. I know we can get glimpses of the garden in the moments and places of beauty we still find in nature, but I’d like to see the whole garden and hang out there for awhile to go for a walk with God!
I am quite certain that the garden of Eden would be beyond incredible. It is amazing , then, that after creating this astonishing and unfathomable planet we call home, God put the people that were created in charge. Humans. Us. You. Me. We are the caretakers, the gardeners, the keepers. If you don’t believe me, check out the last verses of Genesis one.
This month, our devotional focus is on Earth Keeping. The garden has changed and it clearly reveals the brokeness that sin brought to all of creation (insert stories of pollution, climate change, species extinction, resource exploitation HERE). Still, we believe that one of the roles our students at Edmonton Christian Schools can play in God’s story is that of Earth Keeper. Like the other through lines, earth keeping threads it way through so much of our curriculum. It is something we grapple with in Science as we study water and plants and atmospheric gases and waste management. In Social Studies, we wrestle with what it means to be an earth keeper in a consumer-driven global economy. We try to find practical ways to take care of the garden while enjoying it in Outdoor Education and Physical Education. In Language Arts we write poems, stories, essays and letters advocating for environmentally sound policies. Those are just a few of the ways we challenge students to consider their role as Earth Keepers.
Bio 20 “Riverwatch” (Oct)
ECNS Gr. 1 “Caring for Bears”
Cleaning up litter on the ECWS grounds
Time travel isn’t real. But God’s story is. We are still called to to be the “gardeners” and as we steward and restore our small part of this planet, we will move closer to that day when the whole creation will be made completely new and time will not need to be measured! And that beats time travel any day.
by Brian Doornenbal, Edmonton Christian Schools’ Storyteller.
