Since the 1980s, many Japanese doctors have encouraged their patients to engage in “Forest Bathing.” To spend time among the trees. In the 1980s the world became aware of how urban living started to have a detrimental effect on our health. There were spikes in anxiety and depression as there tended to be sensory overload in urban settings, making it difficult to relax.
Dr. Qing Li, MD, Ph.D., is a doctor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, who wrote a book called Forest Bathing. Dr. Li estimates that we spend 93 percent of our time indoors. Although her research shows that prolonged indoor time leads to negative feelings, spending just a few hours in nature can help counteract those effects.
This should come as no surprise as we as humans were created to have strong bond with the rest of God’s creation.
As we see in Genesis there is a hierarchy in creation. Humans are the only creatures who were created in the image of God. Not an elephant, a tiger or a horse. What sets men and women apart is that together we form the image of God. It can be said then that humanity is the climax of the creation account. This therefore, makes us God’s representatives to the rest of creation.
It is why God entrusted us with having dominion over all of creation.
The original Hebrew word for dominion means “to rule.” It could be translated as “to Lord over” or in the case of our translation “to have dominion.”
Those two phrases “to lord over” or “to have dominion,” tend to have negative connotations.
They give the impression that to have dominion means you have the right to do whatever you please with whatever or whoever is under your rule. That as the ruler your subjects have no say.
That is not how we are to understand dominion in this passage. We need to understand the word dominion (as in all things in scripture) in light of Jesus Christ. Who as a human was not just the image of God, but was God.
This is why Jesus is our Lord. But Jesus is Lord like no other Lord found on earth. When we look to Jesus we see that the one who rules is the one who serves.
It’s no wonder the disciples were so taken aback during their last night together as they celebrated the Passover meal. In the middle of dinner, Jesus got up from the table, poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet. First of all, feet are gross. And the disciples’ feet must have been really gross — after all, they wore sandals while walking on dusty roads in ancient Palestine, where the dirt was mixed with who knows what else. You can imagine their shock: the one they had seen perform miracles, the one they had come to know as their Messiah and Lord, was now lowering himself to the role of a servant, cleaning their filthy feet. Afterward, Jesus told them, “You must do what I have done.” Jesus, our Lord and King, is also the one who serves. That’s why we remember Jesus’ actions every Holy Week on Maundy Thursday — the night he gave us a new commandment: to love one another as Christ has loved us.
Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew: “whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Walter Brueggemann, in his commentary on Genesis, writes that for humanity to have “dominion” over the earth is comparable to how a shepherd cares for their sheep. A shepherd makes sure the flock flourishes and stays healthy. We then have a responsibility that all of creation flourishes as willed by God. We are to care for every creeping thing both on land and in the sea not just for our own enjoyment and sustenance, but for the sake of creation itself. When we fail to care for creation, all of creation suffers, including us.
When we fail to care for creation we all suffer. We are familiar with the images of sea life destroyed by oil spills or the extinction of certain species due to deforestation. We are now familiar with images of thousands of homes destroyed in the LA fires and thousands more homes destroyed in North Carolina alone during Hurricane Helene. Many lost their lives while trying to flee rising flood waters that caught them by surprise.
Developing countries such as Chad, Somalia, and the Philippines — where my family emigrated from — have suffered the most due to climate change. According to the United Nations: “The world’s most vulnerable nations are already on the frontline of the climate crisis. Not only do they contribute the least to carbon emissions, but they continue to suffer disproportionately.”
When any of God’s creation suffers all of God’s creation suffers.
One of my favorite coffee shops in town is Aldea. Not only is it a great place to work, but their coffee is great too. I also love their mission and vision. Aldea describes itself as “a people-and-planet-before-profit” corporation. They partner directly with farmers in La Union, Honduras, and seek to pay them fair wages. Aldea sees their business as also benefiting the community of La Union. I appreciate that Aldea is not just about good coffee, but about operating a business that takes into account the wellbeing of both the environment and people.
While Aldea is not a Christian company, their vision to care for all of creation is a Christian concept.
God cares about everything that God created.
Unfortunately, in some Christian circles, there is a misguided belief that God cares more about souls and the spiritual realm rather than the physical. This puts more emphasis on the spiritual rather than the physical world. This is not biblical. Otherwise why did we celebrate on Easter, the physical resurrection of Jesus? Jesus was resurrected mind, soul and body. This shows that God is not just concerned with the spiritual, but the physical world as well. You could say that to God all matter matters. When there is an overemphasis on the spiritual, this results in the danger of forsaking the physical in the here and now, including neglecting God’s call to be good stewards of the earth and all that is in it.
When Christ returns it not just us who will be redeemed, but all of creation. All will be restored to what God originally intended all of creation to be. Paul describes in Romans chapter 8 that all of creation groans in anticipation for the day when it is released from its bondage to decay. In Revelation 21 John writes there will be a new heaven and a new earth when Christ returns.
The last book in C. S. Lewis’s beloved series “Chronicles of Narnia” is The Last Battle. It ends with Aslan, the Christ figure and Lord of Narnia, restoring Narnia to what that land was meant to be. The Old Narnia was just a mere reflection of what Narnia was intended to be. One of the main characters describes restored Narnia as: “A deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can’t describe it any better than that: if you ever get there you will know what I mean.”
One resident of Narnia enters into the new Narnia and exclaims: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for my whole life, though I never knew it until now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked like this.”
While we await Christ’s return and we look forward to the day when all is restored, we are still called to be good shepherds of creation.
While tackling the massive climate change crisis on our own can feel overwhelming, there are still meaningful ways we can be good stewards of creation. For example, we can use reusable grocery bags or plant more native species of flowers, plants, and ground cover in our yards. This idea really appeals to me, especially since our sprinkler system isn’t working at the moment. I’ve been researching native ground cover that doesn’t require much water. Not only would this help reduce our water usage, but it’s also a better choice for supporting native birds and insects — a win-win! Another small step could be being more mindful about where we buy our clothes. Some brands prioritize eco-friendly materials, production methods, and use fair labor practices. I’ll admit, I love clothes and I love low prices, so this is definitely a challenge for me.
God could have made our world extremely boring and plain. Instead God gave us the beautiful diversity that is creation. It is God’s gift to us to enjoy, but also a gift we need to take care of. While we only see glimpses of Jesus in nature, God does use nature to point us back to Jesus Christ. And In Jesus Christ we have hope that when he returns, all of creation – including ourselves, will be redeemed.
