Quick Summary:

Marcia Olson, the messenger for this second of three Sundays in a Season of Creation, has traveled to Africa twice in recent years: to Botswana and Namibia in 2015, and to Namibia again in May of this year for the Lutheran World Federation Assembly. In this sermon, she reflects on our common origins as a Homo sapiens, emerging from African soil.

WORSHIP THEME: ANTHROPOS
“Anthropos” is Greek for “human being.” This week’s theme continues the exploration of life on Earth, this week from a human scale perspective. The Latin name for our species—Homo sapiens (“wise human” or “knowing human”) reflects the intellectual prowess of our species. As the link between human activity and climate breakdown becomes more evident, the decisions we make as a species become more and more critical. The Holocene Epoch—a period of tremendous stability and natural harmony for Earth that began roughly 11,700 years ago—is ending, and we are entering the Anthropocene Epoch, the era of massive human impacts on Earth. “The world as we know it is becoming increasingly complex, turbulent, and globalized, not only socially and economically but also ecologically. What we do in one corner of the planet now affects, in real time, living conditions for fellow citizens in other parts of the planet.” (Big World/Small Planet) Today we continue exploring how connected we are at every level of existence. From the smallest form of microorganism to the largest stellar galaxy we are, by God’s design, connected to one another.