Like a cancer, we spread across the land,
stretching ourselves to the furthest extent,
crowding out
and devouring
all else
in our beautiful, mysterious home.

It doesn’t have to be this way.
There’s a better way of living:
one that doesn’t exploit
or ravage
or waste.

We can live
and move
simply,
slowly,
graciously,
intentionally
upon the land:

This good gift from the God
who loves us even though
we are bent toward wreckage,
who sees us in our quiet and our despair,
who knows us in our ugly and sublime,
who calls us to be filled
and live
as new creations
within Creation.

That is our only hope.
That is our only path forward.
As a new kind of humanity.