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In her book, Wild Souls, environmental journalist Emma Peters offers a concluding chapter titled, “How to be a Good Human in a Non-Human World.” One big things she mentions is this: We can try to “take up less space.” It’s about ensuring that animal habitats are protected, but also about finding better ways to live together in our shared spaces. Although Peters is not a faith-based writer, her call-to-action echoes Bible stories:
Make room for others; stop climate change; fight for justice, be compassionate, be humble; admit you don’t know everything. Make homes for snakes. Sit quietly in the last hours before dusk, the shadows of the junipers long and the colors bent blue. Listen to the swallows call as they swoop above you, snatching midges from the air, and know we are not alone on Earth. All you can do is your best, every day – until that day comes when you lay your human burdens down and become, as an animal, part of that great feast (Wild Souls, p. 26).
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “Scripture and nature: Teachers of faith” by Sara Olson-Smith from the January/February 2024 Gather magazine.