Let It Be: Teaching Respect for Creation
By Joanna Dailey
A new elementary school principal was walking through the school and greeting members of the faculty in person. She opened the door to the school patio and found the science teacher in the school garden, weeding and tidying up. After greeting the teacher, the principal happened to look down at her feet. There was a small but unusually shaped rock. She picked up the rock and put it in her pocket, thinking about displaying it on her desk.
The science teacher interrupted her reverie. “Do you need that rock?” the teacher asked.
The principal was taken aback. “Need?” she thought. “Well . . . no,” she stammered.
“Then would you mind putting it back?” the science teacher asked.
My friend Rita was that school principal. She tells that story about herself often, because, she says, “It completely changed my way of looking at creation. We are so quick to take ownership of creation. We think it is beautiful and we love it, but that often leads us to take what we see and move it, change it, pick it, even kill it if we want to. That science teacher taught me that sometimes the best way to show respect and true love for nature is to just let it be.”
“Letting nature be” is a hard lesson for adults to learn, much less children. But if we explain this vision of nature to children “as we go along,” and teach them that respect and love does not always mean take for ourselves, or use as we wish, we can gradually widen our vision, and theirs, to God’s vision for the world. Yes, human beings may use the world and often must use the world, but that does not mean “loving the world to death” (as one park ranger described visitors’ attitudes toward the park he was caring for). Yes, enjoy the world, but also “let it be,” and let it be where and how God put it!
Start Small
So let’s start small . . . with bugs and ants, on the playground and even, at times, in the classroom. Sometimes our first reaction is less than desirable: “Eek” or “Eew!” Ants! Bugs!
A different approach might be: “Let’s stop a minute and look at the ants in that corner. Ants work hard to get food for their colonies. We are not going to spray them or kill them. We are going to let them be until they all go back to their home. Then we are going to put lemon juice on the floor so they will not like the smell and not come back in.” (Granted, if this doesn’t work you may have to use bug spray on the floor, after the children have gone! But spray in the area and not on the ants directly. They will avoid the area and leave, rather than being killed by the spray.)
Shoo flies out a window rather than going after them with swatters. Pick up a bug in a napkin and take it outside. Be an example of loving respect for God’s smallest creatures.
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Take Field Trips
Field trips to parks and nature preserves are wonderful opportunities to teach “let it be.” Explain the meaning of the signs often posted in these areas: “Please do not walk on the grass,” “Please do not pick the flowers,” etc. Explain that if everyone walked on the grass, there would soon be no grass left, but only a field of dirt. Explain that if everyone picked flowers, there would soon be no flowers left for others to see and enjoy. Explain that God meant us to share his beautiful creation with others, and not simply to take what we want for ourselves.
Encourage Photography
You may want to take nature photographs on field trips or even in your local community and teach your children to do so. Explain that many people go on “photo safaris” to Africa or South America, where they seek to take pictures of the plants and animals they see. Single-use cameras are still sold in stores, and purchasing a few of these to share among the children (each one being allowed to take two or three photos) might be a good way to appreciate the beautiful plants, flowers, and animals met on a field trip. Other camera and photo-taking options may be available to you, depending on your technical abilities and resources! Display these photos in the classroom.
Think Globally
The following worldwide organizations support the preservation of God’s creation:
You might like to guide older children in researching the goals and activities of some of these organizations. Form small groups, one for each organization, and involve the children in writing letters, asking for one set of print materials to be sent to them in care of your school or parish. Sponsor a “Creation Preservation Fair” for your school or parish, and have each small group design a booth or table to display information on the organization they have researched. You might ask the entire group to choose one or two of these organizations to support with a fundraising project.
Some of these worldwide organizations might have local representatives willing to meet with your group, especially if the organization has helped your local area. Has the Nature Conservancy purchased wetland or prairie in your area to preserve for future generations? Is the Sierra Club active in your area? Perhaps members of the National Audubon Society could be asked to come along on a nature hike to help the children listen for the calls of local birds they might see or hear every day.
Preserve God’s Gift
Creation is God’s gift to us. Yes, we find it helpful and useful to us in many ways. What would we do without the plants that provide food and medicine, the animals that provide food and clothing, and the magnificent but everyday gifts of creation (like sunrises and sunsets, cloud formations and stars) that give us joy and hope? The psalmist asks, “What can I offer the LORD / for all his goodness to me?” (Psalm 116:12, GNT). Sometimes, in thanking God for creation, the greatest gift we humans can offer is to just?let it be.
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