Stirred on Beaver Island

Standing in a little museum on Beaver Island, in the middle of Lake Michigan, Joy and I read a display that described the history of the fishing industry of the Great Lakes region. We were both struck by the same thing. The native Americans were the first to fish those waters. They fished for subsistence. They took what they needed. Then European settlers came, drawn by the bounteous supply of fish, and over 150 years or so, driven by greed, they decimated the fish population, destroyed habitats, and eked every last drop of profit from the water. Now, there is no real commercial fishing in Lake Michigan. How does the story of fishing in Lake Michigan affect us, 4000 miles away in the UK? Honestly, it probably doesn’t. But to Joy and myself, it was a reminder. A reminder that as followers of Jesus we are called to care for creation….to work for its flourishing. We are to steward on God’s behalf, His good creation and all that is in it. But too often, rather than care for, humans have abused…desecrated and decimated, polluted and plundered, ravaged and wasted - we have not done a good job of working for the flourishing of creation. There are no easy answers. No quick responses. But there on Beaver Island, Joy and I felt the Spirit’s stir, challenging us to a greater mindfulness as to how we live.