By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth,
and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.
✙ Ps 104:12-15
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How can I read these words and believe in a stingy God, a God who would require abstinence of me, who would ask that I refuse the bounty of the earth in order to satisfy a small-minded divinity? God created a world that has enough to provide for all, and then some.
Yet on the flip side, the resources I waste would provide a seeming palace's supply of food and water and warmth to a person in need. And so, in good Calvinist fashion, I must find a way in my own life to enjoy what God has given me without falling under the power of material things. And I must avoid overindulgence without being ungrateful to the Giver of all good gifts.
Holy One, mother earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. Make me more like her, for you made me from her. Grant me satisfaction with your gifts, and a heart to share unselfishly the blessings that are in my care; in Christ's Name, who taught me to pray: Our Father...
