Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Jerusalem had fallen and many of its inhabitants had been dragged off into exile in Babylon. After this complete disaster, Jeremiah the prophet writes a letter to the exiles in Babylon (of course he writes “Thus says the Lord” so it’s presumably a letter from GOD). And what does God tell them to do? They are not told to despair, to give up. They are not told to resist or rebel. They are not told to seek vengeance on the people who conquered them. No, they are told to live: build houses, plant gardens, eat, marry, have children. When confronted with a disaster, and with no clear way out, God tells the people to go on living, to go on “planting seeds” in the future, no matter how desperate the present looks. And one other thing: God tells them to “seek the welfare of the city”—of the very people who conquered them!—because the exile’s welfare is tied to the city’s welfare. In other words: we’re all in this together. How might our world be a different place if we did not give in to despair or vengeance and instead continued planting seeds in the future, knowing that the welfare of everyone (indeed, all creation) is tied together?