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| Image by Pai Shih |
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The Ancestors of Jesus:
Tamar
A GREETING
I bless the Lord, who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
(Psalm 16:7)
READINGS
....and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar,
and Perez the father of Hezron...
As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “It was the owner of these who made me pregnant.” And she said, “Take note, please, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” 26 Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “She is more in the right than I.
(Genesis 38:25-26a)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
(Psalm 16:9)
A REFLECTION
I was told I would be the last child from the Brehon world, from the ancient world of Ireland. And I was told to bring the message of the ancient world into you. And the time is now. I was told at the time now that the world would be in very bad shape. It would be heating up, and there would be a lot of floods. And the ancient wisdoms — not necessarily the knowledge — but the ancient wisdoms of the Celtic world were important to discuss with all of you now. And... I’m here. I’ve done it, and I’ve written all these books, and it has happened.
- Diana Beresford-Kroeger, speaking to a climate conference hosted by The New York Times
October, 2022. You can watch the interview here.
VERSE OF THE DAY
You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy.
(Psalm 16:11)
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| "November evening in a Welsh wood (1885-95) by James Thomas Watts |
The bible includes many moments when women have been both carriers of wisdom and carriers of story. Tamar continues the example of Jesus’ women ancestors who survived through their own courage and faith. Betrayed by her father and brother-in-law after her husband’s death, Tamar contrives to carry the child of the patriarch Judah, thereby ensuring her future and the continuation of the Davidic line. Without her tenacity Jesus would not have been born into the family he has.
Courage, and perseverance in a patriarchal culture, belong also to Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger, an Irish climate scientist, biochemist, botanist, and more who has made her home near Ottawa, Ontario for the past several decades. Her life work has been studying, working in and building up the boreal forests of her region that have the capacity to be restorative of a carbon-filled atmosphere. She has also catalogued much of the world’s tree seeds in order to preserve them. In recent years, as we have finally begun to talk about climate and ecological degradation, her voice has become a prophetic one, attracting writers and celebrities, scientists and analystis. In all of these connections with others, she demonstrates a profound spirituality about nature.
In today's reflection, we hear her own account of her childhood. Her deepest influence has been an Irish childhood exposure to Celtic culture and the laws of Brehon, a medieval Celtic legal system that seeks to preserve the land as it was meant to be. It has much in common with Indigenous knowledge and in its time was often led by women.
Diana Beresford-Kroeger's use of words and language is part of how she expresses her life's passion. Her books are how she has communicated that passion with the world. “That is what a forest does for you every day: it farms the sun,” she says in another interview. The forest draws the carbon out of the air and cycles it into oxygen. Her words speak to the essential cycle of how life becomes renewed.
Over the next few days we will continue to explore Dr. Beresford-Kroeger's witness to the boreal forests of our world. How do forests hold the promise of new life -- in any season? Where can you walk in one today?
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| Image by SC |
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Scripture passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
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LC† Vigil in Hope is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!
