nature Archives - Debra Rienstra

On Cicadas, Parasites, and Creepy, Slimy Things

I noticed that the way we spoke about nature almost always celebrated beautiful aspects, typically in general terms: mountains, clouds, wildflowers, sunsets, that sort of thing. We did not discuss parasitic wasps at all, or STI-infected cicadas.

Debra RienstraJune 15, 2024

liturgical year nature

Jesus the Gardener

Believing in the resurrection of Christ is a little bit easier when you’re standing in the middle of a garden. Which may help explain the long tradition of depicting Jesus as a gardener.

Debra RienstraApril 6, 2022

climate change nature theology

The Longing God: A Meditation on Isaiah 55

The most amazing thing about this passage, at least to me, is the evident fact that God is longing, too.

Debra RienstraMarch 19, 2022

liturgical year nature theology

Glory to God in the Lowest

The birth of the child is the focal point of God’s communion with the whole of creation. This is the deep wisdom of the doctrine of incarnation: the person Jesus is the crucial stitch uniting heaven and earth, spiritual and physical, entirely and forever.

Debra RienstraDecember 25, 2021

climate change liturgical year nature

Season of Creation Liturgy: An Interim Report

We are observing the Season of Creation for the first time this year, and as is our custom, we’ve put together our own liturgy. I’d like to report on how it’s been going.

Debra RienstraSeptember 25, 2021

climate change nature

Reading the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Another Hot Take

No matter what we do, things will get worse.

Debra RienstraAugust 14, 2021

memoir nature

Tomatoes: A Bagatelle*

So now my four tomato plants are producing like mad, and I’m faced with the problem of what to do with all these tomatoes.

Debra RienstraJuly 31, 2021

climate change Michigan nature

Endlessly Remarkable Quiddity

Like most butterflies, monarchs specialize in one host plant: in their case, it’s milkweed. That’s their nursery. Accept no substitutes.

Debra RienstraJune 19, 2021

nature theology

God’s Wildness

There’s something revelatory here, something we need to see about the nature of God beyond our systematic theologies and philosophical inquiries.

Debra RienstraApril 24, 2021

nature theology

Sacramental Transparency

The ordinary stuff of the physical world, the very fundamentals of survival provided by God, are transformed through human art and through the blessing of the Spirit, and they become means of grace.

Debra RienstraJanuary 30, 2021

nature

On Cicadas, Parasites, and Creepy, Slimy Things

Jesus the Gardener

The Longing God: A Meditation on Isaiah 55

Glory to God in the Lowest

Season of Creation Liturgy: An Interim Report

Reading the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Another Hot Take

Tomatoes: A Bagatelle*

Endlessly Remarkable Quiddity

God’s Wildness

Sacramental Transparency

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