Fr Alex Swain

Beloved in Christ,

As the seasons change and the temperatures cool, I find myself reflecting on the wonders of God’s creation. The cooler temperature feels particularly blessed because the house I currently live in has a swamp cooler—meaning that this summer was a tad warm!

But now? Now it is most wonderfully cool(er) outside (and inside the house)!

In today’s Epistle, St. Paul pulls a metaphor from the natural world to expound on spiritual truth.

Someone asks, “How are the dead raised?”

To which St. Paul responds, “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.”

The cycle of death and life are prominent in our faith. Baptism is, in effect, us dying to the world and rising in Christ.

“Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised form the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)

St. Paul understands the burying of a seed into the earth, and the rising of the plant in a shocking changed form, in a glorious new body, as an example of the wonder of what the resurrection will be like.

A small seed, containing some nutrients and the genetic material to produce a massive tree, or a harvestable crop, is a wonder. Although we may understand more of the science behind what goes on, it is no less an utter marvel.

St. Paul continues by regarding the glory of the earthly bodies and heavenly bodies, of the sun, the moon, the stars, of the animals, and of the angels. All creation has different glories but glories they all are!

That is to say, the world and all that lies therein reflects God and God’s creative act, and God continuing to sustain the universe.

I encourage you to step outside, perhaps read the Scriptures on your porch or at a park. Perhaps walk and pray for your neighbors as you meander through your neighborhood.

Breathe in the temperate air and rejoice in the glory of creation this week!

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Alex