Covenant Harrow Blog

  A Farewell Reflection      There are seasons when life gathers itself at a threshold—when one chapter closes not with a slammed door, but with a gentle turning of the handle. I find myself standing at such a threshold now. And as I step across it, I feel compelled to leave not simply a goodbye, but a reflection. A way of seeing. A way of living.      For me, that way begins in a garden (Note 1).      Genesis (2:15) tells us that God placed humanity in Eden “to work it and take care of it.” Two verbs—abad and shamar—that carry more weight than their English translations can hold. To work is also to serve.  To keep is also to guard, to protect, to watch over with intention.      We were never meant to be overlords of creation. We were meant to be servant guardians—sovereign agents within a living web of relationships, responsibilities, and reciprocal care.      And though Eden is sealed—its gate held by...

         Across the Christian landscape, churches continue to wrestle with how best to teach, guide, and shepherd their people in a world that is reportedly  changing faster  ( Note 1 ) than any generation before us. As I’ve been reading Laudato Si’ , reviewing Assemblies of God Position Papers, and remembering the teaching rhythms of my LDS childhood, I’ve been struck by how each tradition carries its own way of offering wisdom — and how these differences reveal something important about the nature of teaching in the Church today. Of David. A psalm. The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; [ Psalm 24:1 NIV Blue Letter Bible.Org  (BLB)] 1. The Catholic Tradition: A Single Global Pastor Speaking to the World      In the Catholic Church, an encyclical is more than a document. It is a pastoral letter from one global shepherd to the entire Church — and often to “all people of good will.” It carri...