Selections from Joel 1-2
(2) “Hear this, O elders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this happened in your days?
Or in your fathers’ days?”
(4) “What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
Awake, drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you wine drinkers,
On account of the sweet wine that is cut off from you mouth.
For a nation has invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has fangs of a lioness.”
(10) “The field is ruined, the land mourns, for the grain is ruined.
(13) “Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament…”
(17) “The seeds shrivel under their clods;
The storehouses are desolate,
The barns are torn down for the grain is dried up.
How the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle wander aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
To Thee, O Lord, I cry;
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
Even the beasts of the field long for Thee;
For the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”
Questions
1. After discussing what lament means to you please spend a little time with the question: how can participating with creation in lament help sharpen people’s resolve to actually do something?
2. Is Dr. Tallamy’s proposal realistic in the sense that it could actually make a difference? Why or why not?
