Let us pray: In soil bringing seeds to life, in rocks holding the mysteries of time, in prairies alive with wind-blown grain, in mountains holding hearts on high: You, Holy One, are present. You are the life of all life, and all creation is blessed. Amen.

You might think in a place like Yellowknife, it would be easy to spend some time in reflection on the theme of Land – the focus of this week in the Season of Creation. And of course, at one level, it is. We live in a place which is inextricably linked with the land, whether that means a short walk to the shores of Frame Lake, or a quick one block walk to the green space (although one is tempted to call it red granite) space which lies between 50A and 51A Avenues, or a drive out the Ingraham Trail or the other way, heading towards the Mackenzie River. Or, as we all know, with aviation being such an integral part of who we are in this place surrounded by a vast and largely uninhabited land – if you take a short flight in any direction, we are confronted by the land as it has been for many millions of years – most often covered with snow and for a short time (at least in the geological timeline) all covered with ice. The experts tell us that the rock which surrounds us here, part of the Canadian Shield is some of the oldest rock in the world. It's kind of exciting really, if we reflect as we are invited to do today, on our relationship with the Creator to think that this place, this ground on which we live, has the oldest fingerprint of the Creator to be found anywhere on earth.

What I noticed however, as I read and studied some of the resources for this week in the Season of Creation, that many people see Land Sunday as far from a love fest in which human beings are called to wax eloquent about the beauty and wonder of wilderness, untouched, pristine landscapes oozing with spiritual significance and opportunities to get in touch with who we are as God's people because of the opportunity we have to be close to the very real experience of God's creative work.

You may have noticed yourself, that the readings chosen for this day in this new season of creation were surprising ones. They were about broken relationships and misunderstandings. They evoked for me a deeper reflection on the complicated ways in which we exist in relationship with the land. As much as many, many people see wilderness; undeveloped, beautiful, treed and watered vistas as sure and certain signs of blessing by the One who created us and it, we also know that there are many things we do on this earth that betray our understanding of the earth as sacred gift. And it is not something that we can pass off as happening elsewhere, this northern land is dotted with examples of this complicated relationship. One of the first situations I was alerted to when we moved to Yellowknife almost six years ago was the massive environmental risk represented by the arsenic buried at the Giant Mine. We can barely go through a week without hearing something about the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and whether or whether or not it will ever get built. Questions abound and disagreements proliferate about whether it will ultimately be a good or bad thing for northern residents.

We live in a place in which land is plentiful, with some of the lowest population density numbers anywhere in the world, yet even here where you would expect that human impacts on the land would be minimal, as low as could be expected anywhere, we have ongoing discussions about the size of caribou herds, and what effect human activity may be having on them. Northern people know that the effects of climate change are affecting the land and the water and ice which is so much a part of not only the landscape, but the culture of this place to a degree much larger than we deserve if such things were based only on our own practices and customs. Our economy is largely founded on the practice of taking things from the earth – diamonds, gold, other precious metals, oil and while we can rightly see these resources as part of the way in which God has gifted us, we also know that the land can be irreparably harmed by the actions of retrieving these resources, and even when good and conscientious remediation plans are in place, we know that those resources are forever gone, Inevitably questions can be asked about limited resources and what happens when these things run out. How can there be an unlimited supply of anything on this earth, our planet home, especially when we can see it, as we have been able to do for some fifty years now, as a finite globe, spinning in its orbit around the sun. Scripture encourages us to be good stewards of the land on which we live, and so the question must be asked, what will our descendants do when any of these resources – oil, diamonds, gold, zinc, you name it, run out.

So, I hope you can see that Land Sunday is much more than an invitation to respond simply in gratitude for the land on which we live. I can go even further however. I read somewhere recently a short quote from former moderator, Bill Phipps, who is certainly a friend of this congregation, in which he invited us to think about cities as being blessed by God. He is right on the mark. I think there is a tendency among us to see cities as representing a few extra degrees of separation from God. I certainly know that part of my childhood was infused with the idea that cities are bad, a necessary evil. There is no City, Town, or Village Sunday in the Season of Creation, but surely there should be some kind of recognition that most of us live in communities of more than a few people. As I write this there is a copy of our Capital Update newsletter with a colour coded map of Yellowknife's Land Use designation map. There are lots of ways in which Land is part of our connection with creation, and cities, like the one in which we live, are an important element of our existence as communities of created beings, blessed and commissioned by God to be messengers of love and hope to each other. As much as many people, especially in the north, will say that going back to the land is so vitally important in their spiritual journey, there are also many people who find connection, solace and soul renewing community in cities. I am especially reminded of stories I heard from a conference I helped plan in Jasper over a decade ago which focused on HIV and Aids in rural communities and the heartbreaking stories of rejection of lesbian and gay women and men in small towns across our country and the ways in which a move into the city was a way to healing and healthy self-esteem,and communities of love and support.

So, the simple designation of this Sunday as Land Sunday in the new Season of Creation, has led me in ways I might never have imagined. Without encouragement by the scripture passages chosen for this day, and some of the resources I used in preparing for this service of worship, I might well have led us on a journey of thanksgiving as we considered the beauty, wonder, power and soul restoring aspects of the land – especially in a way we understand land as being wilderness. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the expression going out on the land, since I came to Yellowknife, and I acknowledge just how important that is for many people as part of their spiritual journey and re-connection. But as I hopefully have helped us to see, Land Sunday is more than that – more than an invitation to thanksgiving. It's an invitation to be in deeper relationship. And that's where I want to end today, with a connection to the gospel passage we heard today.

I thought about the word “grounded” and how it is used as a consequence for bad behaviour. I also thought about “grounded” which was what happened to a lot of people on this day ten years ago. I also thought of “Ground Zero” which has been so much in the news on this poignant anniversary. And yet I think of singer Rita McNeil who sings in her barefeet so that she can be grounded, and I reflect on how we often describe someone who exhibits deep spirituality as being well grounded. In other words, the very word “grounded” has multiple connections – both positive and negative attached to it. Just like Land Sunday. And like the gospel passage today, we are encouraged to go deeper, to ground our relationship with Creator in both thanksgiving and in repentance, to give thanks for the gift we've been given, and to renew our commitment to honour the gift by doing better, by calling for justice for the earth, by reflecting on our own actions and responses. The spinning globe reminds us – it's all we have. Let us give thanks and let us live in commitment to renew and deepen the relationship we have been given. Amen.