The creek had been buried by overgrown brush and debris for fifty years until the neighborhood coalition worked to “daylight” it. Now children gather at its restored banks, learning the names of native plants from elders who remember when fish were plentiful. “This creek carries stories,” explains Rita, who helped lead the restoration. “When we heal the water, we heal the connections between people and place.”

The psalmist imagines nature itself celebrating divine shalom – rivers clapping, mountains singing. To modern ears, this might sound like mere poetry. But what if these ancient words point toward a deeper truth: that environmental healing and social shalom flow together like converging streams?

In this restored creek, we glimpse such possibility. Where careless neglect once constrained life, native plants now filter runoff. Where once-divided neighborhoods now share garden paths. Where children once saw only an eyesore, they now watch water fowl swim in clear water. This is creation care – not just preserving what remains but restoring what was lost. Not just sustainability, but regeneration.

As climate challenges mount, such small acts of restoration matter more than ever. They remind us that peace with creation isn’t achieved through grand gestures alone, but through countless local acts of attention and love. Every creek restored, every garden planted, every community gathered around healing places joins the ancient song of clapping rivers and singing mountains praising God.

Dear Lord, show us places and people who need to be restore. Show us the acts of environmental healing that we could do today. Amen.

This devotional was written by Chuck Warnock and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.