earth week thoughts

Friends,

My father-in-law passed on this NYtimes article related to earth day - by John Tierny, and it got my juices fired. Give it a read – and see if any of my thoughts below make sense to you:

To many of these points I agree. Never can the movement of eco-stewardship of the earth shun technological innovation on principle alone. Clearly, technological solutions have been a critical part of the equation. However, an important (dare I say crucial) missing sound bite to this mantra is the important role of a moral framework for decision making around using such technologies. This is where I feel so strongly the church (and other faith communities) can/should play a key roll. For instance, with genetic modification, if not for the voices of some faith communities, our system that encourages larger yields on ever increasingly smaller (or more degraded or mono-cropped) land (efficiency) would have left the final word to companies like Monsanto who may someday control (and copyright) all natural seeds - and thus make it illegal for small farmers to practice holding seeds year to year - all in the name of efficiency (while ultimately for profit and power - and thus adding to the list of agro-businesses that become "too big to fail"). 

Now, that being said, if innovative companies work hand in hand with small farmers AND larger farmers (with controlled use of genetic modifications and engineering) - AND communities of faith who have the moral mandate to care for the least of these in communities and developing countries - what I feel would be very sustainably communities might result. 

I'm for nuclear IF we can develop a sustainable plan for the waste (and not put it on Indian reservations only!?)

I am also for faith communities helping teach instill the lessons I learned my parents - simplicity, thrift, and using less in the first place. 

At Watershed last night, during Station 4 of our rogation liturgy (Visions of Sustainability), we sat around a table together and used crayons, watercolors, pencils and magazine cut-outs to creativily depict how we sensed God calling us into new visions for living, and lifestyles that represented greater sustainability. The pictures that came out in just 10 minutes brought me a lot of hope for our shared, alternative future.  May we remember we are as God’s stewards, and have to get good at it. 

Holy Earth Day and Charles River Clean Up

It has been 40 years since the first Earth Day, and we join the rest of our planet this day to give thanks for the utter gift of Creation.  This day is indeed holy, because it is a divine gift - just as the earth is holy as it also is a gift. We are called to be tillers and keepers and stewards of it (Gen. 2:15). May there be healing in all the places of fragility and degradation on our planet.
Here is a powerful reminder of a need for such healing (thanks to my mother -in-law for passing along):

• We have a great chance to help respond as God's eco-stewards: THIS SATURDAY - for our annual Charles River Earth Day Clean-Up Day. Please show up at FPCW at 8:30am for some nourishment, and then we'll head to Logan Park off Woerd St. in Waltham to begin the clean-up at 9am. After all the Spring flooding, there is lots to be picked up. Free T-shirts to those who join us!
• And this sunday, come to church and celebrate Earth Sunday with a special Rogation liturgy (come at 7pm to watershed to find out what this means). We'll have some special music from Violinist Angela Leidig (who will be planning at Oasis May 14) at our morning service 10:45am.
• GARDEN BOXES - we've begun the process of making 3 new garden boxes to put out front of our church this season to grow veggies & plants. Let us know if you want to lend a green thumb!
• And let's mark our calendars for 10-10-10 action day (we are planning an faith service day in Waltham):

• Also check out the earthday link to take some legislative action, as our Presbyterians for Earth Care encourage us. Or check out the Environmental Ministries eco-journey blog. 
• Or, if you know any 20-30-somethings, there is still time to apply to the Eco-Stewards Program in West Virginia, May 16-23, 2010 or for some PAID summer long internships. 

A shout out from our "sister city" of New Bedford:

holy saturday - holy silence

On this day when we keep a special silence, while Jesus lies silent in the grave, this icon seems to speak profoundly. Details below. Please join us at 7pm for our "intentional agape meal" tonight, followed by the great vigil of easter, the service of the light. Tomorrow's one easter service is at 10:45am.
About Icon, written by W.H.McNichols: "The title of this icon is "Jesus Christ Redeemer Holy Silence." Icons of Holy Silence are found in Greece dating back to the 14th century, but interestingly, they seemed to begin appearing with more urgency in 19th century Russia- this itself is a clue to the importance of this icon, as a prayer for then and now.

Holy Silence ("Hagia Hesychia" in Greek) was commissioned  be a "picture of unconditional love." The first thing to notice about Holy Silence, with a pleasant sense of shock and surprise, is that it pictures a female angel with the letters "IC XC" on either side of the top of the image announcing this is Jesus Christ. Although some icons of Holy Silence are more obviously male, this one appears to me clearly female. This is not unusual, since icons portraying angelic wisdom or "Hagia Sophia" are found dating back also to the 14th century. In the Hebrew Scriptures wisdom is more often female. And in the New Testament, "The Divine Wisdom" (I Cor. 1: 30), became an appellation given to the Son of God by Byzantine theologians. Behind her lovely flowing hair, in the aureole or halo is an eight pointed star: six, points for the days of Creation, one for the day God rested, and the final point for the "Day of Eternity" to come. This type of icon, also known as "The Silence of God," is a symbolic depiction of Christ as an eternally youthful angel - or even, as in this example, a female angel. The image was developed in 18th and 19th century Russia, and is associated with the Prayer of the Heart (the Jesus Prayer = "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, sinner that I am").
Icon "written" by William Hart McNichols

A celtic blessing for Holy Triduum