I AM THE LORAX
The Twins….
Whenever you hear me mention “The Twins” and we are on a call together, it’s a reference to these two.
They are Basket Oaks, and while Cedar and Faye usually drop their leaves earlier in The Fall, The Twins wait till the last minute, here in late November, early December to drop their crop.
What’s more interesting for me, is that they behave mischievously for me. I will hear them laugh or chuckle or roll over in uproarious guffawing, as they remark on the bird poops and the leaves and other aspects of how they attempt to irritate or vex me. And I speak to the with love and logic, and I enjoy their reparteé.
And I do talk to, listen for, and hear plants speak with some level of understanding as to what is being said.
So many people love to tell us how preaching “the gospel to all creation” means to all Homonids.
I disagree.
πάντα τα έθνη from Matthew 28:18-20, can be taken to mean, “all the ethnic groups/nations/races”, but the longer ending of Mark 16, which says to all creation/every creature (DOT: depending on translation) uses a different word that isn’t primarily limited to the two legs with 46 chromosomes. The Greek there is κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει “confess/preach the gospel to all the creation”.
Now, κτίσει (roughly transliterated with pronunciation as k-TEE’-say: below is the beginning for the BDAG Lexical entry for the word in question) refers to creation, “the result of a created act, creation).
And this dynamic of stewarding or managing creation means that there are those who are meant to be skilled at connecting with the land. The original design of the Druids would have included some understanding of these dynamics BEFORE their design got twisted and perverted by the enemy.
See the link below for more on this concept.
I think we are designed to have a bevy of differentiated gifts to work with ALL aspects of creation. And part of that stewardship is to interact with not just humans and preach to them, but to all the created order.and to speak of the hope of His coming and all those dynamics, and to work with the land as we build so that we do so in light of how the King wants this or that tree or bush or plant to be planted here or there, or to see a plant removed.
So, part of our late fall task is to corral the harvested crop of these two jocular arboreal teenagers and to care for them as they provide much-needed shelter for myriad birds, and to be able to hear them for what they need before they become sick and endanger property.
There are dynamics that need to be dealt with as we engage with these sorts of things. And part of what the King looks for from us, is the capacity to not only speak to those things we are ministering to, but also be able to listen for what they might say.
Be blessed, gang. And please, feel free to post as you have something you wish to discuss.