Season of Creation 2022 Sunday Vespers

Since 2001, the Season of Creation has invited God's people around the globe to pray and care for creation and to protect our common home. This emerging liturgical season runs annually from September 1 through October 4. Rolling Ridge invites you to celebrate the Season of Creation with weekly ONSITE Sunday Vespers from 6:00-7:00 pm at our Point of Pines Outdoor Chapel.

You are free to attend as often as you are able, but we would encourage registration to monitor registration.  Although there is no fee for registration, please consider a financial love gift to support our ongoing ministry.

This year, the theme for the season is "Listen to the Voice of Creation".

Sunday Vesper dates and themes for the 2022 Season of Creation:

• September 4 = Seeing with our Owl Eyes
• September 11 = Listening with our Deer Ears
• September 18 = Smelling with Bear Nose
• September 25 = Touching with Racoon Hands
• October 2 = Tasting with Reptile Tongue

Check this web page the day before for weather preparation updates.
FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th = Weather TBA. We will meet in the parking lot of Rolling Ridge at 6:05 pm for those who have not yet been to our Point of Pines Outdoor Chapel and will begin our Vesper by the lake at about 6:10 pm. You are invited to come earlier on Sunday to enjoy the grounds. The labyrinths and lake beckon.

ABOUT THE SEASON OF CREATION 2022:  Listen to the Voice of Creation
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have become familiar with the concept of being muted during virtual conversations. Often, people using a platform do not have the capacity tounmute themselves. Even more do not even have access to digital platforms, and so theirvoices are never heard. Many voices are muted in public discourse around climate change andthe ethics of Earth-keeping. These are the voices of those who suffer the impacts of climatechange. These are the voices of those who hold generational wisdom about how to livegratefully within the limits of the land. These are the voices of a diminishing diversity of more-than-human species. It is the voice of the Earth. The 2022 Season of Creation theme raises awareness of our need to listen to the voice of all creation.

The Psalmist (19: 1-4) acknowledges that hearing the voice of creation requires a kind oflistening that is increasingly rare. Within the ecumenical Christian family, there is a diverserange of traditions to help us recover our capacity to hear the voice of creation. Some of theearliest Christian writings refer to the concept of creation as a book from which knowledge ofGod can be read. The theological tradition of the book of creation runs like a golden threadfrom the writings of Origen through the Patristic writers such as Tertullian, Basil of Caesareaand others. Like the Psalmist, St. Maximus reminds us that the entire cosmos praises andglorifies God ‘with silent voices’, and that praise is not heard until we give it a voice, until we
praise God in and with creation. St. Augustine writes, “[Creation] is the divine page that youmust listen to; it is the book of the universe that you must observe. The pages of Scripture canonly be read by those who know how to read and write, while everyone, even the illiterate,can read the book of the universe.” Martin Luther wrote, “God has written [the gospel] notonly in books, but also in trees and other creatures.” A “book” or a scroll was meant to be read aloud, and therefore, it was a spoken word that wasmeant to be heard. The scrolls, and books of Scripture were meant to be read aloud, breathedinto a community, and heard as proclamation. The Psalmist who declares that creationproclaims God’s handiwork also knows that the book of Scripture perfectly revives the soul,makes the simple wise, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes. (Psalm 19:7-8) The book of
creation and the book of Scripture are meant to be “read” side by side.

Care must be taken not to confuse the two books, nor to blur the lines between reason andrevelation. But what we “hear” from creation is more than a metaphor drawn from ourunderstanding of ecology and climate science. It is more than the biological and physicalsciences that have shaped the dialogue between theology and the natural sciences since thescientific revolution. In his encyclical on Faith and Reason, Pope John Paul II recognized thatwhile Christ is the heart of God’s revelation, creation was the first stage of that revelation. Theharmonies that emerge when we contemplate the books of creation and Scripture form ourcosmology about who we are, where we are, and how we are called to live in right
relationships with God and our co-creatures.

Contemplation opens us to many modes of listening to the book of creation. Psalm 19 saysthat creatures speak to us of the Creator. The harmonious balance of biodiverse ecologies andthe suffering cries of creation are both echoes of the Divine because all creatures have thesame origin and ending in God. Listening to the voices of our co-creatures is like perceivingtruth, goodness or beauty through the lives of a human friend and family member. Learning tolisten to these voices helps us become aware of the Trinity, in which creation lives, moves andhas its being. Jürgen Moltmann calls for “a discernment of the God who is present in creation,who through his Holy Spirit can bring men and women to reconciliation and peace with
nature.”

The Christian Tradition helps us learn to listen to the book of creation. Christian spirituality isreplete with practices that move our bodies to contemplation in words and silence. Liturgicaland spiritual practices are accessible from early childhood to adulthood. Cultivating a
spirituality of active listening helps us to discern the voices of God and our neighboursamongst the noise of destructive narratives. Contemplation moves us from despair to hope,from anxiety to action!

For Christians, Jesus Christ holds the two “books” of creation and Scripture together. Facedwith the reality of brokenness, suffering and death, Christ’s incarnation and resurrectionbecomes the hope for reconciling and healing the Earth. The book of Scripture proclaims God’sWord so that we can go into the world and read the book of creation in a way that anticipatesthis Gospel. In turn, the book of creation helps us to hear the book of Scripture from theperspective of all creation that waits with eager longing for the good news. Christ becomes akey to discern God’s gift and promise for all creation, and particularly those who suffer or arealready lost to us.

During the Season of Creation, our common prayer and action can help us listen for the voicesof those who are silenced. In prayer we lament the individuals, communities, species, andecosystems who are lost, and those whose livelihoods are threatened by habitat loss andclimate change. In prayer we centre the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor. Communitiesof worship can amplify the voices of young people, Indigenous people, women and affectedcommunities who are not heard in society. Through liturgies, public prayers, symbolic acts andadvocacy, we can remember those who are displaced or have disappeared from public spacesand political processes.

Listening to the voice of creation offers members of the Christian family a rich entry point forinterfaith and interdisciplinary dialogue and practice. Christians walk a shared path as thosewho hold different kinds of knowledge and wisdom in all cultures and sectors of life. Bylistening to the voice of all creation, humans joined in our vocation to care for our commonhome (oikos).

We hope that you will join us for our Season of Creation Sunday vespers at the Ridge.
For more on the Season of Creation, please check out their website.