The Earth is the Lord's

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Psalm 24
The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

In the next several days, we hope to explain a little bit about each of these icons and events as to how they teach us about God's care for the whole of creation.

The Garden of Eden & Just Adam the First-Created

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Within the Garden, Adam was first entrusted with the task of naming the animals. The second task was given once Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden and that was to care for the earth. They were told to till and labor on the land to care for it and produce fruit from it. Caring for the earth was our first permanent job. Life has become far more complicated so this job has been often forgotten. We need to remember this job and do our best to protect the earth and all the plants and creatures living upon it.

Theophany

Theophany means the "Manifestation of God." Jesus' Baptism by St. John the Forerunner in the Jordan was the beginning of His public ministry. All three Persons of the Trinity were shown forth at one time and place: the Father testified from on high to the divine Sonship of Jesus; the Son received His Father's testimony; the Holy Spirit was seen in the form of a dove descending from the Father and resting upon the Son. Personification of the Sea and the Jordan are seen in the water, recalling the words of Psalm 113: "The sea saw it and fled; Jordan was driven back." On the left, we see the olive tree with the branch cut off and the axe laying across it. This signifies that this is the divide between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and we are grafted into spiritual Israel, the Church, by Baptism.

By Christ being baptized in the Jordan, all the waters of the earth were blessed. By being baptized in water ourselves, we are made clean. This also means that we should keep the waters of all the earth unpolluted.

Transfiguration COPYRIGHTED ART. Do not copy or deep-link to without prior permission from "Come and See" Icons, Books & Art.

Like at His Baptism, all three Persons of the Trinity were revealed. The voice of the Father spoke to the disciples saying "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." The Holy Spirit appeared as the dazzling Uncreated Light. Christ is shown on top of the mountain surrounded by a huge sun-like design representing the Uncreated and Great Light. Moses, to Christ's left, is holding the Law showing that Jesus is the Christ, the fulfillment of the Law. Elijah, to Christ's right, is supplicating God. Below the disciples, Peter, James and John fall to the ground in amazement. They too will be transfigured by God and granted to gaze upon the Light of all. This should be our hope as well.

God used earthly things to reveal the Trinity to us, thus reminding us that the earth is still holy. Despite man's corruption, the earth remains as good as the day He created it. We must remember that and care for the earth, preserving the earth and the air that contains the light.

Noah Saved From the Flood
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This icon depicts Noah's entire stay in the ark. On the left of the ark is the rain that fell for forty days and forty nights. On the right is the dove returning with an olive branch proving that there was dry land. No rainbow is shown, because the rainbow was not revealed to them until Noah and his family walked upon dry land and burned a sacrifice in thanks for deliverance from the flood. Noah and his wife, along with their sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth and their wives are shown on the ark. Many animals are shown from aardvark to zebra and many creeping things, such as snakes, spiders, and insects. Birds of the air, as well as butterflies, are shown filling the ark. The waters are filled with fish, a sea tortoise, and an octopus to show that all those creatures of the oceans remained.

God took care to preserve all the creatures of the earth, by guiding them to Noah and the ark. Noah cared for the animals during their long stay on the ark. God cares for all the living creatures of the earth, so we should too.

Prophet Jonah

The "great fish" that God prepared is a picture of "Sheol" or the grave. His time in the whale's belly was a strong prefigurement of Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Jesus said: "Even as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, even so must the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Some have said that God prepared the "great fish" in anticipation of Jonah during the Creation week of Genesis. It says, "And God created great whales ..." (Genesis 1:21). This word in the Hebrew for "create" is only used three times in the Creation story: 1) God created the heaven and the earth 2) God created man 3) God created great whales! It indicates a special act of creation. This was a very important type of Christ and a preaching to all the world.

We are to be stewards of the "great fish" of the ocean, as well as all the creatures that live in the water by protecting their habitats and being aware of how our choices affect their well-being.

St. Donald

St. Donald lived in Olgilvy in Forfarshire, Scotland. He and his wife had nine daughters. On the death of his wife, Donald and his nine daughters formed a kind of monastic home. On his death, the daughters entered a monastery in Abernathy. St. Donald reposed circa 716.
St. Donald was a farmer. He raised his daughters to respect the earth. The earth provided all their food. Their diet was that of monastics. The monastic diet is a return to the Garden of Eden. It reminds us of paradise, of heaven. Fasting brings us closer to God. Our current diet, including meat and dairy, is a part of the curse man received when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. When we find fulfillment in laboring for our daily bread by growing the ingredients or supporting those that do, we also become closer to God, as St. Donald and his nine daughters did.

St. Gerasimos of the Jordan

St. Gerasimos became a monk in the Egyptian Thebaid, then went into the Jordan valley to found a community of about 70 monks with a particularly strict rule of asceticism. He once saw a lion roaring in pain because of a thorn in its paw. The saint blessed himself with the sign of the Cross, then approached the lion and removed the thorn. The lion was immediately tame and followed Gerasimos to the monastery. He remained there until Gerasimos died. Then he died of illness.

St. Gerasimos took the responsibilities God gave us to care for all the creatures of the earth seriously by taking care of the lion. God, in turn, took care of St. Gerasimos by making the lion tame so as not to harm its caretaker.

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