The Book of Revelation: Hope for the Earth

"Then the angel showed me that river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the city. One either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."
Barbara Rossing, in her presentation at Trinity Institute this year gives a vision of hope and healing for the world in our day through the Book of Revelation. Countering the picture put forth by those who see only "end times" and a message of use it or lose it when it comes to our resources, she offers the reading that shows the non-violent power of Love - Jesus as Lamb. In her reading Earth becomes the hero of the story. By turning away from the demands of empire and it lust for more power and riches, Christians are called to live in a way that leads to healing, to live an ethical life for all creation. It is not a book of destruction but a book of life. Listen and watch. Click HERE for more.

My Family Footprint

Bishop Smith of Arizona has made a strong statement about the spiritual importance of our relationship with the environment (see below). He calls for repentance and action with regard to our own harmful impact on the world around us.

To help with efforts in this regard, we have a new tool available on the Diocesan website entitled "My Family Footprint." The link is HERE

Upcoming Nature and Spirituality events in the Diocese of Arizona:

Diocesan Ministry Fair March 3:
Workshops on Celtic Spirituality and Natural Outreach

NAS Hike to Cathedral Rock:
March 31, 8:15am-11:30am
Alma School Road 1 mile north of Dynamite

Here is the letter from Bishop Smith:
E-pistle for February 23, 2007
by Bishop Kirk Stevan Smith

At our Ash Wednesday services, we said together this line from the Prayerbook:

"For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, Accept our repentance, Lord."
Although this line was written almost 40 years ago, it reflects an increased concern about our environment. The ecological crisis we have created can no longer be ignored. The recent report from a distinguished panel of scientists reported that there can be no doubt that global warming is a reality that is already affecting our world economy (See Global Warming articles on other posts at this Blog). The environmental damage has already been done, and that in some cases, it is already too late to do anything about it. This has prompted renewed attention by our government (which was often in the past in a state of denial). Universities are giving this crisis renewed attention, and even the private sector now competes to see which are the "greenest" companies (See the EPA's leading corporations). The results may surprise you!

Sadly, churches have seldom been in the forefront of environmental stewardship, in spite of the fact that we have a highly developed theology of creation. The Bible makes it clear that we have been entrusted by God with the care of the earth and its creatures. It is a job at which we have failed miserably.

I would like to see that attitude change in our Diocese, and there are many steps we can begin to take even now. In our June ArizonaLife newspaper, there will be a full page of resources for you and your parish to use, compiled by our Nature and Spirituality Program Group . Many of their suggestions are already available on our website. There will be environmental offerings at our coming Ministry Fair (March 3) and more opportunities are on the way.

Perhaps even more importantly, all of us can begin to make changes in our own lives that have a combined effect on the environment. We can ask ourselves, how "green" is my house, my office, my car? It begins with such simple efforts as turning off unnecessary lights, limiting our water use, recycling trash, and curbing our tendencies towards "gas guzzling" and waste.

Lent is a good time to begin these simple disciplines. They may not only help save our planet, but could also help save our souls.

A Final Thought . . .

As a Lenten reflection on our place in creation, I share with you an article from our former Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold:

A much-loved saint associated with the natural world around us is Francis of Assisi. Francis is the author of a text known as the Canticle of the Sun, which expresses an enthusiastic thanksgiving for the world around us and is also a profound theological statement about creation and our place in it.

"Praised be you most high good Lord with all your creatures especially Sir Brother Sun... Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon... through Brother Wind...through Sister Water, through Brother Fire... through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs."

Clearly Francis' inspiration came in part from the psalms, which he would have recited in the course of the daily office. He also would have been familiar with the canticle found in our own prayer book that begins, "Glorify the Lord, all your works of the Lord, praise him and highly exalt him forever." What is unprecedented in Francis' canticle is that he refers to sun and moon, wind and water, fire and earth as brother and sister, thereby establishing an intimate, and affectionate, relationship between humankind and all created things.

The canticle situates humankind within creation as sister or brother to all created things and never in a position of domination. This radical reordering of humankind's relationship to creation flowed from a profound sense that sun and moon, earth and all creatures, colored flowers and herbs are all revelatory of God and God's goodness. Everything speaks of God and praises God in fulfilling its own nature and function in the vast web of relationships and interdependencies that constitute creation - us included. This relationship of mutuality and respect and affection reflects God's own love of the world God created.

This sense of being in harmony with creation is very much part of how native peoples understand themselves and is reflected in the Navajo Blessing Way Prayer:

In beauty may I walk. All day long may I walk. Through the returning seasons may I walk. On the trail marked with pollen may I walk. With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk. With dew about my feet may I walk. With beauty may I walk. With beauty before me, may I walk. With beauty behind me, may I walk. With beauty above me, may I walk. With beauty below me, may I walk. With beauty all around me, may I walk. In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk. In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk. It is finished in beauty. It is finished in beauty.

I wonder what would happen if we said this prayer as we walked through life. What would we see differently or perhaps for the first time? How might a new consciousness - a new sense of relationship - brotherhood or sisterhood with creation - move us to a stance of respect and even affection for "this fragile earth our island home" and call us to deeds of healing and reordered relationship? Would we then be mindful that a break in that relationship opens the way for our misuse and violation of creation?

In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul comes at the reciprocal relationship between humankind and creation from a different perspective. He speaks not of mutual blessing leading to a song of praise but of bondage leading to inward groaning and cries of pain.

"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God ... creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies."

These words make clear the indissoluble link between the children of God, which is all of us, and creation. The future and well being - redemption - of one is bound up with the future and well being of the other. The bondage of the one is reflected in the bondage of the other.

Put another way, the spirit of ingratitude that occludes one's ability to see God's "hand at work in the world around us" leads to a relationship with creation that is characterized by domination, disrespect and misuse. Our blind ingratitude throws us off
balance, creates disharmony and makes us unable to walk any longer on a trail of beauty. Our relationship to creation reveals the disposition of our souls and says a tremendous amount about whether we are children of light or children of darkness.
Our focus on the environment moves us not simply to admire and rejoice in the beauty that surrounds us, but also to recover and renew our gratitude and reverence for the wonder of creation of which we ourselves are a part. In so doing, may we indeed be faithful stewards of the world God has given into our care.

For a copy of Kingdom of Green, click here

HOW AM I DOING?

After publishing the resources I have found to date and having lived 6 days of Lent, here is how I am doing on my personal commitment to Green Lent.

Driving - I am not driving around our little town. Walking the mile to the shops instead of jumping in the car each time I need something. We (my husband and I) aim for one shopping trip per week that needs the car. So far so good on that. I have to drive to work as it is 120 miles (one way) to the church I serve. I decided to try 55 mph instead of my usual 65-70 mph. Took a little longer (especially the with the flat tire that had to be changed) but not much and I was surprised at the difference on my gas gauge. Will start a record of that next time I fill the tank.

Recycling - continuing with the newspaper, magazines and plastic bottles. Started with office pack - wow has that ever cut down on our per can amount for the garbage company. If we had glass and tin can recycling it would be even better.

Heating - keeping the house at 58-60 F. Only warming spaces where we sit for longer periods of time. This has been our pratice all along but reporting it anyway. Cuts our heating bills almost in half.

Other stuff - washing clothes in cold water. Hard for me to give up whiter whites - oh well.

And An Inconvenent Truth won an Oscar!! Along with my favorite best actress - Helen Mirren.

Green Blogs

Thanks to comments on this blog I am discovering other blogs about being Green.

The Christian Environmentalist explores environmental issues from a Christian perspective. She is keeping a Local Lent. From her blog:
"And so, I've decided to being my own celebration of Lent by attempting to eat in a way that is fully appropriate for this season. I'll try to follow the vegan diet that is the traditional observance of Orthodoxy (I say try, because, after all, I never have given up chocolate for Lent before!). But I will also spend the first week of Lent on a more strict diet: all my meals will consist of only local food."

The Evangelical Ecologisthas some ideas for a Green Lent and other faith based ideas about taking care of the earth.

Easy To Be Green?

Newsweek lists 10 things you can do for greener living.

1. Feed the Bees: Pesticides, pollution and habitat destruction are taking a toll on the birds and insects that pollinate about 80 percent of the world's food supply (or about one out of every three bites of food we eat), says Rose Getch of the National Gardening Association. To lend a helping hand, plant a pollinator garden. Yellow, blue and purple flowers will attract bees, while red and orange will attract hummingbirds. For more information, go to kidsgardening.com.

2. Clean Up, Naturally: Household chemicals contribute to both in-door and outdoor pollution. This year, use more natural cleaners like the Greening the Cleaning line at imusranchfoods.com. Or make your own using vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice. For some great tips on green cleaning, go to eartheasy.com.

3. Ditch Your Junk: Not only is junk mail annoying, it kills trees. Do yourself—and the forests—a favor by getting off the mailing lists of companies you don't support. You can contact the firms yourself, or check out subscription services like greendimes.com or 41pounds.org that promise to lighten your junk-mail load. For more information: thegreenguide.com.

4. Air Your Laundry: Make like Grandma and line-dry your clothes once in a while. It not only saves money, but also decreases your yearly carbon- dioxide emissions. Likewise, run your washer on cold whenever possible—and use it only when it's full.

5. Recycle Your Gadgets: Don't clog landfills with old electronics. If you're dumping a computer, manufacturers like Dell (dell.com), HP (hp.com) and Apple (apple.com) offer recycling options. Or consider donating. The National Cristina Foundation (cristina.org) will hook up your old PC or Mac with a nonprofit organization. Drop off your old cell phone at your local Staples store as part of a Sierra Club recycling effort (sierraclub.org/cellphones/). To find a drop-off center for rechargeable batteries and cell phones, check out the nonprofit Call2Recycle program at rbrc.org. Take advantage of community resources like hazardous-waste pickup or e-waste recycling events.

6. Cut the Lights: Trade your old incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones, says Jenny Powers of the Natural Resources Defense Council. They use about 70 percent less energy than regular bulbs and last 10 times longer. For help in picking the best bulb for your needs, go to energystar.gov. Also, plug all your major electronics into a power strip, suggests eco-lifestyle expert Danny Seo, author of "Simply Green Giving" ($19.95; HarperCollins). Appliances and e-gadgets use electricity even when turned off, but flicking the switch on the power strip when you leave the house effectively unplugs them. Finally, check with your local utility company to see if it offers a "green power" option for its customers. Though that might cost slightly more, it's one way of supporting renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power. The U.S. Department of Energy provides comprehensive "green power" info at eere.energy.gov/green power.

7. Eat Your Veggies: Have a meatless Monday. According to the Cambridge, Mass., environmental-advocacy group the Union of Concerned Scientists, meat production is energy-inefficient, sucking up a lot of natural resources. In fact, it takes about 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef. "You don't have to be a vegetarian—just take a break once or twice a week," says group president Kevin Knobloch. "If everyone tried to do something that simple, it could have a huge environmental effect." And when you're shopping for that food, think local. It's more fuel-efficient (your food didn't have to travel thousands of miles to get to your table), and you're boosting the local economy. Use the search engine at localharvest.org to find farms, markets and other food sources in your area. And, of course, bring a reusable cloth bag to the market so you don't have to take the plastic ones.

8. Save a Tree: According to the folks at stop globalwarming.org, the paper industry is the third largest contributor to global warming. If every U.S. household replaced one toilet-paper roll with a roll made from recycled paper, 424,000 trees would be saved. If every household in the United States bought recycled napkins instead of virgin-fiber napkins, we could save a million trees. If the thought of recycled paper doesn't do it for you, plant a tree. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation, the net cooling effect of one healthy tree is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day. You can go to arborday.org to find out which trees will do well in your ZIP code. If you don't have any room to plant, hundreds of eco-organizations have tree-planting projects. All you have to do is donate money.

9. Turn On the Tap: Instead of spending big bucks on bottled water, drink the stuff that comes from your faucet. The reason? "It takes a lot of oil to make and ship those bottles, and once they're empty, most wind up in landfills or as litter," says Jen Boulden, cofounder of the online environmental community idealbite.com. If you're squeamish (Americans really do have some of the best tap water in the world), buy a water filter. For comparisons, go to waterfiltercomparisons.net.

10. Find an Eco-Date: There was the metrosexual. Then the retrosexual. Now there's the ecosexual. So if one of your goals is to find that special, ecofriendly someone in 2007, check out social-networking communities like Vegan Passions (veganpassions.com), Earth Wise Singles (ewsingles.com), Green Singles (greensingles.com) or Green Passions (green-passions.com). Because two recyclers are better than one.

Yale to go green

MSNBC reports that Yale University plans to be the "greenest" university. Maybe this gives Ivy League a whole new meaning!
Click Here for Yale University and their work for the environment.
Click Here for the full article.
Jan. 26, 2007 - Global warming is one of the most-talked-about topics in Davos this year. But for many gathered in the Swiss mountain town for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, mere talk isn’t enough. “We cannot wait for our governments to act,” Yale President Richard Levin told delegates on Thursday. “Large organizations with the power to act independently should take matters into their own hands and begin to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions now.”

Levin has made good on his own call, implementing a program that he hopes will make Yale the greenest university in the United States. He spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Arlene Getz in Davos about his strategy and its progress. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What prompted you to implement this program?
Richard Levin: Global warming is real, and human activity is a major contributing factor, so it was clear that something had to be done. We concluded a year ago that the reduction of greenhouse gases [at Yale] is both feasible and not prohibitively expensive.

What’s your end goal?
We set a target of reducing our greenhouse-gas emissions to 10 percent below our 1990 levels by the year 2020. That’s a 43 percent reduction from our mid-2005 levels [a projected total of 203,000 metric tons of carbon equivalent, or MTCE, the international standard of measure of greenhouse-gas emissions].

How far have you gotten?
We’ve reduced our campus greenhouse-gas emissions by 6 percent in one year [15,486 MTCE].

How are you doing this?
We’re using a variety of instruments, including better controls on lighting and heating in existing buildings and including green architecture for all new buildings. Where we can we’re using renewable sources of energy: photovoltaic [power], ground water for heating and cooling, biodiesel fuel in our bus fleet. We plan to replace our cars with hybrids. We’re also increasing the efficiency of the university power plant, which currently generates all of our steam and water and two thirds of our electricity. There’s 13 million square feet of space on campus, and all of this makes a big difference.

European Union to cut carbon emissions

EU Emissions Plan to cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2020.

By Mark Mardell
BBC Europe editor

Europe's environment ministers have backed a plan to cut the European Union's carbon emissions by 20% by 2020. Perhaps they should wear a blue carnation to celebrate.
They have also set a further target of 30% - but only if other industrialised nations join them.
This is the latest step in the EU's desire to lead the world towards a new deal on climate change. If the 27 presidents and prime ministers sign up to the targets at a meeting next month there are hopes this could lead to an agreement of the G8 nations in the summer.
The big prize is of course persuading the United States to come on board.
UK Environment Minister David Miliband said: "We've always said that 2007 is a crucial year in our ongoing efforts to combat climate change and today's agreement is an important first step.
"The unilateral commitment to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 - the first of its kind - shows we're willing to take concrete action on an issue that citizens care about." Click HERE to read the rest.