Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

[Excerpted from Heal the Earth: A Restoration Imperative, Adult Reunion Resource, Herald House, p. 14]

The world exists in and by divine love. The Spirit is itself the spirit of livingness. God loves and sustains life in all its abundance and dazzling diversity. The triune divine community created all life as an interconnected whole. These affirmations of our faith may help us imagine creation as one neighborhood or community. Jesus’ command to love our neighbor, then, extends in our time to the whole cosmos, with its countless intricate living systems. Nature, as our “neighbor,” can as well be seen as the “poor among us,” for in the biblical tradition, the poor were the most vulnerable. In our own time we also know that human poverty actually arises from the impoverishment of the land (Exodus 20:8−11; Deuteronomy 5:12−15; Psalms 19:1−4; 104; Isaiah 24:4−13) as desertification demonstrates.

Loving our neighbors must no longer be confined to the person next door, the person sitting next to us in church, or even those who live on the other side of the street. Loving our neighbors has become a pressing global call. It will require us to live ethically and compassionately in relationship with all creation. Exciting possibilities open up when we apply Jesus’ command to love our neighbor to creatures like frogs and polar bears, to places like oceans and glaciers, and to the natural processes related to air, water, and soil. By loving all creation, we live and share God’s sacred purposes for the world, which arose from the mystery of God’s boundless love.

Prayer Phrase

“In his hand is the life of every living thing” (Job 12:10).

Trees

Watch the trees outside your window for a few moments. Close your eyes and meditate on Alma’s words about seeds and trees. If you were to plant and grow the Word of God in your heart, what tree might symbolically represent this process? Imagine a seed as it grows into a tree of life and blessing. Ask God to show you how to begin (see Alma 16:152–173).

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.