Creation Care Network E-news
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Dear friends,
• On #EarthDay, The Episcopal Church launched a
new Creation Care webpage
,
with revamped resources on loving formation, liberating advocacy, and life-giving conservation. Check it out
here
.
In Jesus, God so loved the whole world. We follow Jesus, so we love the world God loves. Concerned for the global climate emergency, drawing on diverse approaches for our diverse contexts, we commit to form and restore loving, liberating, life-giving relationships with all of Creation.
• The power of Easter continues to break into our Good Friday world. In my Easter morning sermon for First Congregational Church, Williamstown,
“
Arise to new life: Easter for Earth and for all
,
”
I reflected on what the empty tomb meant to the first followers of Jesus. Here’s an excerpt:
That same wave of Easter hope fills Christians today and it will sustain us now. Even now, as we walk together through the valley of the shadow of death, acknowledging our fears and grieving what – and whom – we’ve lost, we know that the Lord of life is with us. The day will come, once this pandemic is behind us, when we can return very actively and publicly to building a world in which human beings live in right relationship with each other and with the Earth. What would it look like if we emerged from this pandemic with a fierce new commitment to take care of each other and the whole of God’s Creation?
• On the Second Sunday of Easter I was blessed to preach (though remotely) at Washington National Cathedral for the Holy Eucharist to mark the 50
th
anniversary of Earth Day. As of this writing, the service has been viewed more than 40,000 times. You can watch the service
here
.
My sermon,
“‘Do not doubt but believe’: The promise of eco-resurrection,”
begins 40 minutes into the video. (If you prefer, you can read the sermon
here.
)
Here’s an excerpt:
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” Jesus says to his disciples, and then he breathes the Holy Spirit into them – the same creative wind and energy that moved across the face of deep at the very beginning of creation. He is sending them out to bear witness to the resurrection, to the wild, holy, and completely unexpected fact that through the grace and power of God, life – and not death – will have the last word.
Through the power of the Risen Christ, we, too, are sent out to be healers of the Earth, sent out to take our place in the great work of healing the wounds of Creation, sent out to restore the web of life upon which we, and all creatures, depend. For as long as we have breath, Christ will be breathing his Spirit into us. We can be more than chaplains at the deathbed of a dying order; we can be midwives to the new and beautiful world that is longing to be born.
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I was particularly moved by Rev. Blackmon’s closing words, when she described how she handles despair: she takes action for the sake of future generations. “I may not be here when we reach where we need to be, but I can see it because I live for those generations.”
• The article I co-wrote with Leah Schade about six lessons that the coronavirus can teach us about the climate crisis was published in Daily Hampshire Gazette as
“
Earth Day turns 50: ‘The Earth is where all of us are sheltering in place.’
” We believe that “When COVID-19 is finally behind us, instead of returning to normal life, we must hold on to these lessons in the fight against climate change.”
• During the pandemic, Chautauqua Institute is offering a weekly series of prayers from different faith traditions. At their request, I contributed the following prayer (posted
here
on my website).
Jesus, you are my friend and Savior. You know me through and through, and you are with me in every part of my life: in my sadness, anger, and fear, and in my gratefulness and joy.
Gracious Jesus, on the day of your resurrection you came to your frightened disciples and breathed the Holy Spirit into them. Breathe into me, as you breathed into them, the same creative wind and energy that moved across the face of the deep at the very beginning of creation.
As I breathe in, I breathe in your courage and strength. As I breathe out, I breathe out your loving-kindness and compassion.
Help me to remember that you are with me always and that every day you invite me to bear witness to your healing love. Thank you for the people you have given me to love and for the tasks you have given me to do. Give me the guts, audacity, and resolve to stand up in the midst of a great catastrophe and to do what is mine to do.
Speak in my heart and grant me the peace that passes understanding, so that I may know in my deepest core that whether I live or die, I am yours, and you will never leave me.
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• This month I’m recommending a short (50 pages) but useful book
,
Cathedral on Fire: A Church Handbook for the Climate Crisis
.
Its author, Brooks Berndt, is Minister for Environmental Justice, United Church of Christ. Description: “The urgency of the climate crisis requires that we act as if our cathedrals and churches are on fire. Indeed, God’s creation can be seen as one grand cathedral on fire with burning forests and rising temperatures. Amid this dire situation, Brooks Berndt focuses our attention on the unique and vitally needed gifts that churches can offer.”
The book’s seven chapters include discussion questions and a suggested action – making this a perfect choice for a church book group. Some congregations are reading one chapter every week. You can order the book from the UCC resource webpage
here
.
• Let’s hear a round of applause for the ongoing flow of resources that deepen our understanding of the human predicament!
The New Yorker
has a new weekly
Climate Crisis
blog by Bill McKibben. Sign up
here
.
The National Catholic Reporter
has a weekly environmental newsletter,
EarthBeat Weekly
.
Sign
up
here
.
• Please read and consider signing GreenFaith’s “
Multi-faith Statement for Care and Resilience.
” Written in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the statement concludes with these lines: “As people of faith and spirit, we believe that the measurement of a healthy society is how we treat those who are the most vulnerable. We have a moral responsibility to build that healthy society together – a society rooted in love, justice, and compassion.” To read the statement and to add your name, click
here
.
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• We urgently need principled, well-informed, and trustworthy leadership in this country. Let’s talk about voting.
Vote for climate
Get out the vote
Environmental Voter Project
is a non-partisan group with a mission to get more environmentalists to vote in every election.
“The Environmental Voter Project aims to significantly increase voter demand for environmental leadership by identifying inactive environmentalists and then turning them into consistent activists and voters.” They don’t endorse politicians; instead, they focus on voters. Please consider signing their
pledge to be an environmental voter
and, if you are able, please join me in
making a donation
to support their work.
Support voting by mail
Our efforts to encourage voting won’t be worth very much if elections are not accessible or don’t happen on schedule. Call on your senators to support national vote-by-mail legislation by clicking
here
.
Be an informed voter
The Episcopal Networks Collaborative has published “
Vote for Justice
” for use by Episcopalians and congregations as they meet with candidates for public offices during this election year. Even if meeting with candidates in person isn’t poss
ible for a while, we can use this material as we prepare op-eds, make phone calls, and push candidates to clarify their positions on a range of interrelated issues.
The short chapters cover a range of topics, from economic inequality to climate change, health care, immigration, mass incarceration, and more.
“Vote for Justice” – also known as “Voter Guide 2020” – is available for download
here
.
• I wish each of you a blessed and healthy Fifty Days of Easter. The Risen Christ is with us all the way. Together, let’s breathe in his courage and breathe out his compassion. As St. Anthony, one of the Desert Fathers, used to say: “Always breathe Christ.”
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Blessings,
(The Rev. Dr.) Margaret Bullitt-Jonas
Missioner for Creation Care
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Rocky Mountains. Photo: Robert A. Jonas
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Opportunities for engagement
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It's time for environmentalists to vote
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Environmental Voter Project
Politicians won't listen until we start voting. The Environmental Voter Project wants your voice to be heard on every Election Day. The Environmental Voter Project aims to significantly increase voter demand for environmental leadership by identif...
Read more
www.environmentalvoter.org
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Join the Faith Community Calls for Care and Resilience
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GreenFaith.org -
every Thursday at either 11 am or at 4 pm New York Time.
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It’s been four weeks now since we’ve started the regular
Faith Community Calls for Care and Resilience
during this global crisis. Thousands of us have come together for a spiritual break in these hard times, and to find ways to build deeper community. For each call, we spend the first 30 minutes in spiritual reflection, and then break into smaller groups for 30 minutes to deepen our relationships. There, we’ll also share helpful tools for creating Communities of Care and Resilience.
www.greenfaith.org
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Pledge to be a Faith Climate Voter
Pledge to be a Faith Climate Voter to put love into action for every living creature and for every vulnerable community suffering the impacts of our changing climate, from sea rise, to extreme heat, to devastating droughts, to supercharged storms.
Read more
www.interfaithpowerandlight...
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If you've enjoyed this newsletter, please feel free to forward to one or two friends you think may be interested.
Blessings!
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