It is an ambitious undertaking to write about creation, current threats to creation, and man’s relation to both. Kate Rigby has ably met the challenge in this interesting book.

The central question that runs through her series of meditations is how we can live in harmony with the created world? She begins by discussing the examples of elephants wandering outside traditional habitat because of habitat destruction, the spread of COVID in a hyperconnected world, and various effects of climate change. These and other changes to the natural world reflect what Pope Francis has described as the, “cry of the earth.” Rigby asks the reader to consider the cry of the earth and how man can hear that cry and respond. Her work seeks to facilitate discussion of man’s interconnection with all creation rather than man versus creation. She also asks for consideration of man’s impact, much of it negative, on the natural world and how that aligns with the charge of care issued in the Book of Genesis.

The book is structured as a series of seven meditations. They follow the seven days of creation and rest in Genesis. Each pairs a centering spiritual idea with technical consideration of a pressing environmental issue. It is helpful to consider each day’s chapter.

The First Day presents a meditation on the nature of the creator and creation. The meditation calls for consideration of how humans relate to both and sets the stage for the reader to consider the “cry of the earth” in specific contexts.

The Second Day considers the creation of air. It discusses the damage inflicted on the atmosphere by industrial excess and various responses that have been adopted.

The Third Day looks at the creation of land through the idea of the “birth of birth.” How creatures come to be is central. It also looks at efforts to preserve key plant-centered biospheres like the Amazon Rainforest.

The Fourth Day meditates on the light of sun and stars. Air pollution has interfered with enjoyment of both in many parts of the world. This meditation goes on to consider how environmental degradation can exacerbate economic injustice by disproportionately imposing its costs upon communities of the poor.

The Fifth Day centers on the Earth’s population by creatures of all kind in the air and water. The meditation pairs with discussion of regional initiatives to preserve aquatic species and habitats.

The Sixth Day considers the creation of creatures on land and man’s assignment of dominion over them. It proceeds to call for meditation on the role and responsibilities of “dominion” by man created in God’s image. It pointedly asks if man is meeting the responsibility of a “dominion” of true care rather than simply exploitation.

The Seventh Day considers the nature of the Sabbath. This day of rest is not a day to “do nothing,” but instead a day to deeply reconnect with creation and the creator. Rigby provides a moving discussion of how the bread and wine, the “fruit of the vine and work of human hands,” becomes the body and blood of Christ, illustrating the vital connection between man and God through the bounty of creation and man’s engagement with it. This meditation demonstrates that man cannot connect to God without retaining deep connection to creation or without deep understanding that man is part of creation and cannot separate and live.

This is a powerful, insightful, and hopeful (if realistic) book. A single reading will inform the reader of critical issues facing humanity as occupants of the earth. Subsequent engagement, slowed to the pace of deep deliberation, will enrich the mind and spirt of the reader through recognition of the bounty of God’s creation, the inseparability of man from creation, and importance of recognizing and honoring that connection and the responsibilities of stewardship.