When my children were tiny, I had the habit of referring to them as my “critters.” Occasionally, someone would overhear and side-eye me with horrified judgment. I suppose this is because, in our neck of the woods, the word “critter” is often interchangeable with “varmint.” But, I would proudly point out, “critter” is just a lazy variation on the word “creature.” And that they are: creatures of our God and King, born of the love between a man and wife, and made in our “spittin’ image” (itself a lazy way of saying ‘Spirit-and-image.’) I just really like thinking of my kids in Edenic terms.
In much the same way, I also like to romanticize the vision of my wife as she takes her walks in the garden she tends in the cool of the day, little bunnies tumbling at her feet. Arguably, these critters fall more on the varmint side of the Creation spectrum, yet their delight in our own Eden’s version of Mother Eve is apparent. Her rabbits do these things called zooming, binkying, and flopping, all of which, I’m told, are indicators of the peace and pleasure such creatures find as they dwell in the shadow of their Mistress. In those moments, she’s just the spittin’ image of our Maker.
This week, as we turn our study on Practicing the King’s Economy toward the area of Creation Stewardship, I have to confess I can think of a lot of reasons to avoid the conversation altogether. Much of this debate (like everything else these days) is held in over-politicized arenas using hyper-charged rhetoric. It’s hard to talk about any of it without unwillingly and unwittingly getting lumped into one camp or another. Let me assure you that if you ever hear me making purely political statements, then I have been possessed by aliens. And yet this is a discussion about which the Bible has much to say, from page one to weights and measures. So, I want to encourage us to intentionally mute whatever a particular political party might have to say on the topic and instead immerse our imaginations in the language and lavish imagery of Scripture, letting it shape our hearts to love creation the way the Creator created us to.