The Gospel Beneath the Waves: Honoring the Ocean in a Time of Crisis

Whenever I am weary in body or in spirit, my soul longs for the ocean. With a busy and chaotic start to this year, I am feeling that longing deeply right now and as I sketch out my family’s plans for the summer, I feel the urgency of carving out even a day or two where I can hear the waves crash, feel the sand under my feet, and stare into the horizon and again feel that glorious feeling of smallness. It’s not a smallness that diminishes my worth. It’s the smallness that comes with awe and wonder.  It is a smallness that takes me out of the center of the universe and reminds me that I am connected to a Creation that is much larger than myself. 

Derrick Weston at Duke University Marine Lab during the Pastoral Care for Climate: Weaving Science and Theology for Justice Retreat (June 2024).

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It’s ironic that when so much of the Creation is contained within the ocean, the first inclination most of us have when considering Creation Justice is to think about what is happening on land. How much more self-centered can one get than to ignore over 70% of the planet being covered with ocean and more than 90% of the living things on this planet being found below its surface? How can we so easily overlook the source of the water cycle we depend on as well as the food source of much of Earth’s population? How can we so easily take for granted that it is the ocean that is absorbing so much of the carbon that we put into the air? Even as the news of our planet’s warming becomes far more dire, we have to acknowledge that we’d be far worse off if the ocean wasn’t partially shielding us from the effects of our own actions. 

Several recent recommendations led me to watch the 2017 documentary “Chasing Coral”. The film follows a group of scientists examining the effects of the warming ocean on the coral reefs, specifically, the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia’s coast. The film demonstrates how vulnerable coral are to the rising ocean temperatures as time lapse photography shows the gradual bleaching and decay of the reef. In many ways, these coral are the canary in the coalmine of climate change, warning of what can happen to entire ecosystems due to continual warming of the planet. The film is also one of the most vivid images of climate grief that I have seen. Zackery Rago, one of the young scientists who has had a lifelong obsession with coral reefs and harbored deep desire to visit the Great Barrier Reef gets a chance to do just that in the film. As he photographs the reef over time, you can see the sadness overcome him as he watches firsthand while this ecosystem that he deeply loves and has longed to see disintegrates before his eyes. As he prepares himself to share his findings with a room full of scientists, he steels himself, saying he just has to get through the presentation without crying. While he manages to do so, many in his audience can’t contain their tears. ​

Our oceans are under threat from the effects of climate change. There are also the more direct, immediate threats of overfishing, pollution, and development. In recent years, Creation Justice Ministries has been actively working to protect Blake’s Plateau off of the coast of Georgia. This wildly biodiverse area which also serves as a sacred site to the Gullah/Geechee who recognize it as a place where many of their ancestors died during the Middle Passage, remains under threat from fossil fuel companies and other extractive industries. At some point, our society needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask itself how many natural treasures we are willing to destroy to fuel our economy. 
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June is ocean month. We have prepared a special episode of the Green Lectionary in which I speak to scientists, ocean advocates, and preachers about what it means to preach about the ocean. The responses are insightful, poignant, and inspiring. We encourage you to listen and think of ways that the ocean can be a part of your worship this month, even if you are landlocked. 
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Beaches will be crowded this summer. The ocean calls to many of us, offering us refreshment, renewal, and perspective. In return it asks us to remember that we are a small part of an interconnected Creation. Over the course of the biblical witness, the ocean represents chaos, strength, terror, and fear. Yet it is also the place where Creation begins and nourishment is found. The ocean asks for and deserves our awe, reverence, and protection. 

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education and Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

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