You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
We’re talking about the end of the world; must be Advent. The end of the world, Jesus suggests, will not sneak up on us, tiptoeing in quietly: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
Nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves; sounds like the latest headlines – and decades of warnings from environmental scientists. For those who track the melting of ice caps and the rising of seas, the increasing ferocity of storms and fragility of food production, also sound the alarm about the conflicts the resultant scarcity will unleash among humans. What are we doing to each other, and to the planet we call home, with its wondrous diversity of creatures and abundant food supply?
Will the end of this world, when it comes, be man-made or God-ordained? Are we to work to save God’s creation or hasten its implosion? I’m still betting on the former – I don’t believe God is inviting us to help destroy the earth, but to build God’s reign in the here and now, bringing about a just and merciful creation built on the promises of God. In that sense, we are all to be about the business of climate change. And by that I mean more than environmental ministry.
The people who follow Jesus as Lord are charged with fostering a climate of godliness, humility, generosity, justice-seeking, peace-making, love-giving. Not only are we to live this way – we are to create a climate in which others can experience transformation and live this way too. That is the pattern we see in the community of sinner-saints who surrounded Jesus and later his apostles.
What marks the emotional climate in your community? On your social media feed? In your local media? Is it a climate of suspicion and division, or honest inquiry and supportive assistance? Is it a climate of violence in word and deed, or generous debate? Does it celebrate death or nurture life?
And then this: how are you being called to change that climate? Where does God want you to show up?
What does God want you to say? Who does God want you to love, to challenge, to break down, to build up?
We are responsible for the climates in which we live in more ways than one. As well as working to undo the ravages we’ve wrought on this earth and its creatures, I pray we can truly be climate changers in the spiritual sense, creators of emotional, political and spiritual climates in which children can thrive and all those who are wounded can be loved back into wholeness. Even us.
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Showing posts with label climate change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label climate change. Show all posts
9-6-24 - Healing Our Earth
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
This month my parishes are having a worship series on “Celebrating Creation,” following the “Season for Creation”resources developed for worship by the Episcopal church. How might we explore this story of how Jesus healed a man who could neither hear nor speak clearly through that lens?
First we have to discern – are we the man, who cannot hear and or make himself understood? We might add blindness to the list of ailments, if we’re talking about 21st century Western folk – for the evidence of damage is all around us, yet we seem not to see what’s right in front of us. We seem not to hear the cries of the poor upon whom the effects of climate change fall disproportionately, or the wildlife endangered, maimed and killed through our self-serving practices. (Straws! Plastic bags! Let’s give them up, people!) We cannot make ourselves understood to our fellow citizens who persist in destructive practices, refusing any change in lifestyle, any “inconvenience” to ensure a habitable planet for their grandchildren. If we’re the ones in need of healing, are we willing to let Jesus change our hearts?
Or, how does it alter our understanding of this story if we put the planet and its ecosystems in the place of the man? How might we stand in for Jesus, offering healing of waters and skies, forests and rivers, plants and animals? We see him draw near – very near. We see him use his own resources, and also use the earth, making a mud with his saliva. This offers us a model for environmental healing… to give of ourselves in partnership with the natural healing processes already operative in the natural.
I am reading a book on “Biomimicry,” the intentional imitation of processes we find in nature. This discipline is slowly revolutionizing the way people approach design, manufacturing, financial structures – there is no limit to how much we can learn from the organisms that have figured out how to survive, adapt and thrive. These organisms also know how to bring healing – to scorched earth, to denuded forests – but the pace of climate change is pushing many species past even their tremendous capacities. They need our help. And we need theirs. (Listen to this Krista Tippett "On Being" interview with biomimicry practitioners and get your mind blown! And this one…)
The earth is crying out to us. Can we bring the faith we’ve been given, join it to the perfect faith of Jesus, and begin to bring healing? It is likely we cannot heal our planet without inviting Jesus’ healing for ourselves. Let us pray, let us imagine, let us imitate, let us get to work.
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
This month my parishes are having a worship series on “Celebrating Creation,” following the “Season for Creation”resources developed for worship by the Episcopal church. How might we explore this story of how Jesus healed a man who could neither hear nor speak clearly through that lens?
First we have to discern – are we the man, who cannot hear and or make himself understood? We might add blindness to the list of ailments, if we’re talking about 21st century Western folk – for the evidence of damage is all around us, yet we seem not to see what’s right in front of us. We seem not to hear the cries of the poor upon whom the effects of climate change fall disproportionately, or the wildlife endangered, maimed and killed through our self-serving practices. (Straws! Plastic bags! Let’s give them up, people!) We cannot make ourselves understood to our fellow citizens who persist in destructive practices, refusing any change in lifestyle, any “inconvenience” to ensure a habitable planet for their grandchildren. If we’re the ones in need of healing, are we willing to let Jesus change our hearts?
Or, how does it alter our understanding of this story if we put the planet and its ecosystems in the place of the man? How might we stand in for Jesus, offering healing of waters and skies, forests and rivers, plants and animals? We see him draw near – very near. We see him use his own resources, and also use the earth, making a mud with his saliva. This offers us a model for environmental healing… to give of ourselves in partnership with the natural healing processes already operative in the natural.
I am reading a book on “Biomimicry,” the intentional imitation of processes we find in nature. This discipline is slowly revolutionizing the way people approach design, manufacturing, financial structures – there is no limit to how much we can learn from the organisms that have figured out how to survive, adapt and thrive. These organisms also know how to bring healing – to scorched earth, to denuded forests – but the pace of climate change is pushing many species past even their tremendous capacities. They need our help. And we need theirs. (Listen to this Krista Tippett "On Being" interview with biomimicry practitioners and get your mind blown! And this one…)
The earth is crying out to us. Can we bring the faith we’ve been given, join it to the perfect faith of Jesus, and begin to bring healing? It is likely we cannot heal our planet without inviting Jesus’ healing for ourselves. Let us pray, let us imagine, let us imitate, let us get to work.
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
11-22-21 - Climate Change
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Scroll down for news about an Advent "Spa for the Spirit" December 11.
We’re talking about the end of the world; must be Advent. The end of the world, Jesus suggests, will not sneak up on us, tiptoeing in quietly:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
Nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves; sounds like the latest warnings from the U.N. Climate Change Conference – and environmental scientists for decades. For those who track the melting of ice caps and the rising of seas, the increasing ferocity of storms and fragility of food production, also sound the alarm about the conflicts the resultant scarcity will unleash among humans. What are we doing to each other, and to the planet we call home, with its wondrous diversity of creatures and abundant food supply?
Will the end of this world, when it comes, be man-made or God-ordained? Are we to work to save God’s creation or hasten its implosion? I’m still betting on the former – I don’t believe God has invited us to help destroy the earth, but to build God’s reign in the here and now, bringing about a just and merciful creation built on the promises of God. In that sense, we are all to be about the business of climate change. And by that I mean more than environmental ministry.
The people who follow Jesus as Lord are charged with fostering a climate of godliness, of humility, of generosity, justice-seeking, peace-making, love-giving. Not only are we to live this way – we are to create a climate in which others can experience transformation and live this way too. That is the pattern we see in the community of sinner-saints who surrounded Jesus and later his apostles.
What marks the emotional climate in your community? On your social media feed? In your local media? Is it a climate of suspicion and division, or honest inquiry and supportive assistance? Is it a climate of violence in word and deed, or generous debate? Does it celebrate death or nurture life?
And then this: how are you being called to change that climate? Where does God want you to show up? What does God want you to say? Who does God want you to love, to challenge, to break down, to build up?
We are responsible for the climates in which we live, in more ways than one. As well as working to undo the ravages we’ve wrought on this earth and its creatures, I pray we can truly be climate changers in the spiritual sense, creators of emotional, political and spiritual climates in which children can thrive and all those who are wounded can be loved back into wholeness. Even us.
We’re talking about the end of the world; must be Advent. The end of the world, Jesus suggests, will not sneak up on us, tiptoeing in quietly:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
Nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves; sounds like the latest warnings from the U.N. Climate Change Conference – and environmental scientists for decades. For those who track the melting of ice caps and the rising of seas, the increasing ferocity of storms and fragility of food production, also sound the alarm about the conflicts the resultant scarcity will unleash among humans. What are we doing to each other, and to the planet we call home, with its wondrous diversity of creatures and abundant food supply?
Will the end of this world, when it comes, be man-made or God-ordained? Are we to work to save God’s creation or hasten its implosion? I’m still betting on the former – I don’t believe God has invited us to help destroy the earth, but to build God’s reign in the here and now, bringing about a just and merciful creation built on the promises of God. In that sense, we are all to be about the business of climate change. And by that I mean more than environmental ministry.
The people who follow Jesus as Lord are charged with fostering a climate of godliness, of humility, of generosity, justice-seeking, peace-making, love-giving. Not only are we to live this way – we are to create a climate in which others can experience transformation and live this way too. That is the pattern we see in the community of sinner-saints who surrounded Jesus and later his apostles.
What marks the emotional climate in your community? On your social media feed? In your local media? Is it a climate of suspicion and division, or honest inquiry and supportive assistance? Is it a climate of violence in word and deed, or generous debate? Does it celebrate death or nurture life?
And then this: how are you being called to change that climate? Where does God want you to show up? What does God want you to say? Who does God want you to love, to challenge, to break down, to build up?
We are responsible for the climates in which we live, in more ways than one. As well as working to undo the ravages we’ve wrought on this earth and its creatures, I pray we can truly be climate changers in the spiritual sense, creators of emotional, political and spiritual climates in which children can thrive and all those who are wounded can be loved back into wholeness. Even us.
To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Next Sunday’s readings are here. Water Daily is now a podcast! Subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Advent Spa for the Spirit - Saturday, December 11
Taking the Advent theme of awakening, we'll explore how we can wake to the still voice in our own spirits, to the lives of others, and to the Life of God all around us. We'll gather on Zoom at 9 and be done around noon.
You can register here - more information and the link will be sent. Please invite others who may like to come.
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