MAM's Musings

 

IU Graduate Commencement

          Once again, it was an honor to offer the Invocation at the Indiana University Graduate Commencement which took place Friday at Assembly Hall. Reading the titles of all the dissertation topics gives me a sense of hope for the future. So much curiosity and creative problem solving abounds in these new graduates. The honorary degree candidate was Rita Rossi Colwell, a woman who was a pioneer for women in science; Rita was the first woman director of the National Science Foundation and has made major contributions to biomedical science and environmental policy. The Commencement Speaker was N. Thomas Linebarger, chairman and chief executive officer of Cummins Incorporated. I talked to Thomas after commencement and learned that he and his family attended our congregation 1998 to 2002, the exact years I was away from Bloomington serving a congregation in Madison, Wisconsin. :-)

          My friend Ting-ting Chen made this video of the Invocation from the perspective of a guest viewing the Jumbo-tron

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Qa5VFSjw-Ii1Tyha15rcryfXsOdk7N0/view?usp=drivesdk 

 

Hope in Hard Times

As Unitarian Universalists, we are called by our 7th Principle to have "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part ." Climate Change is challenging us to have hope and to offer help in these hard times of environmental degradation. In her song "Help in Hard Times" singer songwriter Carrie Newcomer offers in part:

 

I am learning to walk with grace in the dark
I am learning to trust and to lead with my heart
When the old moon is gone into silence and sighs
It's the one and only time a new moon can rise...
I can't tell you it will all turn out fine
But I know is there's help in hard times

         

On Friday morning I received an email from Green Sanctuary Co-Chair Stephanie Kimball regarding an article in The Guardian with contains disturbing statistics regarding our planet earth. Below is her message.   If this is too hard to take in right now, then I believe the first step of help and hope is clear---eat lower on the food chain. My intuitions are already taking me on that journey.

 

If you want more information, here is Stephanie's message:

 

In case you haven't seen it, here's a link to a "must-read" (in my view) from the Guardian this morning.  It announces the UN's just-out report on the status of the natural world, and, of course, it's dire.  There are stunning facts throughout:  - nature is being destroyed at a rate tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10m years- biomass of wild mammals has fallen by 82%, natural ecosystems have lost about half their area and a million species are at risk of extinction - all largely as a result of human actions- Two in five amphibian species are at risk of extinction, as are one-third of reef-forming corals, while other marine animals are down by close to one-third.- Pollinator loss has put up to $577bn (£440bn) of crop output at risk, while land degradation has reduced the productivity of 23% of global land

 

(It goes on...) she says then points to this paragraph that caught her attention

 

Agriculture and fishing are the primary causes of the deterioration. Food production has increased dramatically since the 1970s, which has helped feed a growing global population and generated jobs and economic growth. But this has come at a high cost. The meat industry has a particularly heavy impact. Grazing areas for cattle account for about 25% of the world's ice-free land and more than 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Crop production uses 12% of land and creates less than 7% of emissions."

 

In conclusion, Stephanie suggests that it is time to step up our "efforts to help people eat lower on the food chain."

 

I agree. Stay tuned for more information. Awareness is a key, as is creative problem solving.

 

Peace, Hope and Love, 

MAM

Reverend Mary Ann Macklin, Senior Minister

[email protected]