The Reverend Christine V. Hides
The Red Knot
Monday, February 19, 2024
“Every single creature is full of God
and is a book about God.
Every creature is a word of God.
If I spend enough time with the tiniest creature,
even a caterpillar,
I would never have to prepare a sermon.
So full of God is every creature.”
— Meister Eckhart
In the spring Red Knots from as far south as Tierra del Fuego begin a 9,000 mile journey to the Arctic. As they take wing an instinctual wisdom guides them toward a vital rest stop near Delaware Bay. During May as the Red Knots arrive, Horseshoe Crabs will make their way to shore to spawn, leaving behind countless green eggs just larger than a grain of sand. If there are enough crabs and the timing is right, the Red Knots will fill their starving bellies with enough eggs to carry them the rest of the journey.
On my desk is a five-volume set of books titled Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations that highlights the “the relations—vital, wild processes—that are always present yet not always visible.” Red Knots depend on Horseshoe Crabs. Species thousands of miles away depend on the survival of another. The idea of kinship is not a noun but a verb. Too often we’ve assumed that the world is filled with things: “journey. some small, some large, some shiny, some dill, some with wings, some with legs, some with leaves, some with fur.” As a verb kinship invites us into a world of relationships with microscopic bits of life on a Delaware shore and the Red Knots hemispheric
Christians often define stewardship as using well what God has gifted us. What if we changed up the verbs a little to shift our concept of stewardship from using things to relating well to God’s creation? One way I’ve become a better friend to birds is to place decals on my windows during migration season. Let this be our prayer for our feathered friends:
My heart aches in joy,
My heart aches in longing.
I sing and pray to the birds.
May those who have ears, hear.
I sing and pray to the birds.
May those who have life, transform.
—Lisa Maria Madera
Here are a few other tips to care for our creation kin, written by our Kenilworth Union Church Family:
Turn lights off when not needed, Mark S.
Say no to plastic straws, Rose D.