God's story, your life.

Unfolding short stories.

Marine biologist Rachel Jordan spent years diving among coral reefs,

until a deadly disease swept through, killing the very creatures that she had long studied. But even as she

watched the beauty fade, Rachel began to see her work as an invitation to minister to creation,

trusting in the God who is restoring all things. My name is Rachel Jordan. I am a professional

marine biologist, a lay theologian, and now a storyteller.

One of the things that I've experienced in my career and my personal life that's made me say, wow, God, is the way that I see God and the cosmic story of what Jesus has done for all of creation from Genesis to Revelation,

the way that that restoration story is represented through coral science. I study these amazing

underwater creatures that are typically firmly fixed to the substrate of the ocean. They're

in one location for their whole

lives. They do not senes. Corals don't age. They can basically live on forever because their cells

have this everlasting regenerative ability. They're phenomenal animals and they're in trouble.

Quarles around the world are rapidly declining because the environment

of the ocean is changing faster than corals can keep up with. Basically, their health is at risk,

and we're seeing an increase in bleaching events where corals get extremely stressed and are more

likely to die. We're also seeing extreme increases in coral diseases.

One of the diseases that has dramatically impacted my life and my job is stony coral tissue loss

disease, commonly called SCTLD. And this disease swept down the coast of Florida during my time

as a coral biologist for Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles south of Key West.

It's actually a little bit closer to Cuba than to the mainland United States.

While I was coral biologist at the park, I was getting to scuba dive and drive boats and work with a team of field scientists

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