Creation Sunday
Messages
Genesis 1:26-28,
2:15
Reading from “Call to a Renewal of
Concern…Humility…Hope…and Action”
Some prosper, others languish. “Lazarus, full of sores, desires to be fed, but Dives does not look.” God in creation wills for all to be filled with good things. But the fruitful land becomes a desert, bonds of community break, the hungry and displaced are scarcely noticed. Those with much grow weary of charity, oblivious to justice. Those anxious before unsettling change turn inward, resisting insight and compassion. O God, we care, help our unconcern!
The modern spirit falters, confidence fades. Technology and aid, trade and development were dispatched to make all nations modern. Yet poverty persists, disparities widen, nature revolts. The Cold War ends in cold, fragmented peace. Promise of progress and prosperity extended to the world with pride but without sacrifice, without sharing, without acknowledgment of limits turns to dust. O God, we repent of pride, help our continuing presumption!
In light of the Resurrection despair is always
premature. God has a project in today's events. In paths we have not known God
leads, turning darkness into light. We may follow, chastened but emboldened,
acknowledging the failures of development but willing to reconceptualize it,
coming to terms with the radically new factor of sustainability, realizing that
the “developed” world does not have answers for every “undeveloped” place, but
trusting that when justice is the central focus, justice as a people's
participation is sustainable sufficiency, we can remove some roadblocks to a
community's own development and accompany struggling, hopeful people with
enabling resources. O God, we trust and hope, help our
hesitation!
Mae Coover
We've often heard that we are what we eat. And, indeed, we are physically almost always what we eat. I believe that it is equally true that we are what we read for we feed our minds and souls with the books, newspapers and periodicals we read. We read the Bible. It supplies the food for thought we need to guide us in the way we live and the way we interact with others....including all of "the others" of God's creation....people and critters.
Because of my parents teaching day by day on the Iowa farm and nursery where I grew up my concerns and consequently my reading has focused on literature about the state of the earth. Soon after World War 2, I noticed that more and more was being written about our loss of wetlands where many of our insect, fish and wild bird species are birthed and where our waters are purified. Laws were sometimes passed but not enforced and by now California, for instance, has lost over 90% of its wetlands. The same is true of our air quality and essential sunlight. And, these problems are traceable time and again to the world's rapid growth in population and to the burning of fossil fuels in automobiles, planes, ships, railroad locomotives, factories and power plants.
It appears to me ludicrous that we are presently cutting down our beautiful hardwood forests of the eastern United States for toilet paper and facial tissue. As our world population grows our forests will shrink for that one use alone... more facial tissue and toilet paper for more people. Environmentalists have scolded, cajoled, pled, demanded, and worked to convince our government to pass laws requiring great improvement in the efficiency of our engines and smokestacks, to less cutting of our forests which produce the oxygen we require and greater attention to the purity of our rivers and lakes and oceans which we are now warned not to fish or swim in.
We have many problems and our earth, this precious gift from God, is convulsing in an agony of extreme weather changes. How I wish I could do more to help it recover.
A friend of mine, knowing my concerns for the health of our earth, and acquainted with how much my fears were affecting my own health, kindly looked me in the eye one day four years ago and with compassion and conviction quietly but firmly said, "Mae we aren't going to make it." My friend knew me well and was sincerely trying to help me face facts and deal with them. The reality he expressed is that we humans are going to destroy this beautiful planet, our home and source of our air, food and water for our bodies and, with its beauty, food for our souls. This man knows me well. He is my internist, an intelligent person and someone on whom I depend for sound advice.
The very real possibility that my doctor was right was not new to me. The failing air and water quality has been in the news often, but there appears to be only a small number of our world population interested enough in the subject to become informed. And so it is with the topic of global warming. Denial is all around us in our nation and nowhere is it more evident than in our own community of Cache Valley. The response I hear if I am involved in a conversation on the subject is almost always, "God will take care of us so I'm not worried."
I have a very real faith that God is and will be with us as we ascend the heights of joy or struggle with the rough spots in life. To me God's great design includes creating us with brains capable of learning the best way to live and divining the right road to follow. And, God has given us free agency to live our lives as we see fit. But, I question, don't we ask too much of God to rescue us time and again from ignorance?
Now global warming is belatedly much in the news. It has taken a radical change in our weather patterns and immense destruction of property and lives to bring it about. It seemed out of character for Fortune Magazine to publish a thorough coverage of the issue last year. It concluded that the US would be affected by the weather change but not as badly hurt as Canada and Europe. The article reported on a study done by the Pentagon on global warming. The Pentagon had concluded that, with the predicted scenario, it could not defend the US borders from the invasion of desperate people. It also concluded that the Gulf Stream could be interrupted in 10 years bringing about cataclysmic events for our earth.
"Time" magazine came out last week with a cover that read, "GLOBAL WARMING-Be afraid. Be VERY afraid." Fortune and TIME and The National Geographic had all noted that the global warming we are experiencing now could very possibly be a forerunner of a new glacial age. Currently our gulf stream picks up warmth in our southern oceans and carries it north to warm the shores of Europe and then, meeting the cold waters of the Arctic, is forced downward and returns to the southern oceans like a belt to again pick up warmth and return north for another cycle of seasons. But, now with rapid thawing of Arctic ice, the colder waters could interrupt the Gulf Stream flow further south in its travels and steal away Europe's and Canada's growing season. It is a sobering thought made more so with the expectation that it could happen in 10 years according to the Pentagon study. Last year some 70 eminent scientists joined together to address our government with similar conclusions.
Our Bible reminds us of the importance of Faith, Hope and Love. When we are down, we remember that and we grasp for Hope knowing that life the way we long to live it is possible only if we have Hope
There is Hope in the fact that the Presbyterian Church has written thoughtful resolutions on earth care over the past 50 years to state the churches position.
There is hope in the people we meet and the environmental causes they have taken up. I take courage in the work they do in Cache Valley, in the State of Utah and the nation on behalf of our earth and its creatures.
We invite you to join us in the church gym after the service to find hope in the things already being done in our community to restore our piece of the earth. You can connect with the energy of the people you might want to join in these activities. There are excellent farming practices being promoted in Peru by the Caffe Ibis owners. There is an old but renewed diet for a sustainable planet which has already brought back excellent health to a husband and wife in our midst who were coping with numerous health issues that are now a thing of the past. Their diet takes a lot of pressure off the earth in ways too many to mention now.... but that subject we will treat at another time soon. The children will be interested in the Stokes Nature Center display. The Bioneers table will hopefully inspire you and the organic treats at the food table restore your energy for the day.
We've recognized the importance of Hope in our lives. We need to also have Faith that it is not too late for us to make a radical change in the way we live that is necessary to heal our earth. And, we can learn to Love our earth like a dearly beloved family member. Faith, Hope and Love. These three are the ingredients that can make for a healthy life on a restored planet.
Marta DeBerard
Wise, humble stewardship of the
Earth
I am humbled today by the request to speak to you
about my point of view on wise and humble stewardship of the Earth from the
perspective of a parent of young children. I am not an expert on environmental
stewardship and I know I am "preaching to the choir" in many ways today as even
in my limited relationships at First Presbyterian there are many of you I know
who have inspired me in the ways that you care for the environment. It is my
hope that I serve as a reminder of simple ways that we can all make a difference
and a reinforcement for the wisdom that you have already shown. Just like the
light of faith, I believe that our small actions can combine to create a strong
community of stewardship and make a strong impact in the future of our
planet.
I was fortunate to grow up in Boulder, Colorado a
place where environmental action and awareness have always been high. Starting
in school I often heard the messages of reduce, reuse, recycle and certainly
being a child during the energy crisis of the 1970's I have always been aware of
the cost of gasoline, of heating a home, the importance of conserving to save
money. However it seems like the 1990's were a time to lull me into a sense of
complacency - fuel costs were relatively low, SUV's and large vehicles became
the norm, and emissions.
As most of you know, "having children changes
everything." All around me I see cause for concern. From the visible cloud of
pollution that can hover over our little valley, to the less tangible idea that
global warming, if unchecked, will forever alter this planet with weather
patterns and loss of species that seem biblical in their proportion. I search
for answers with how to protect my children's health in their environment today,
how to help protect the earth that they and their children will inherit and how
to instill in them a sense of wise stewardship.
Here is what I know that I
know:
We are all connected on this planet. Each action we
take, impacts the world in which we live.
Here are some actions that I have been inspired to
take:
1. Inside the house:
purchasing energy star appliances and products; using truly biodegradable cleaning products; turning off lights and water when not in use; turning the thermostat down in winter and up in the summer; purchasing wind power blocks from BlueSky; recycling with the county's blue cans; cloth napkins;
paint; changing 3 light bulbs to CFL. For
example, if every household in American exchanged three standard lightbulbs with
three energy efficient compact florescent lightbulbs (CFL), it would be the
equivalent of taking 3.5 million cars off the road.
2. Outside the house:
Water wise landscaping; Planting trees; 10 trees per
person to offset CO2; 94 trees a year. Can purchase through - http://www.americanforests.org
3. On the road:
Choosing to live close to work, schools, family; Biking and walking whenever possible; One non-car day a week as a goal;
Not idling for more than 10 seconds!!!!!! Does not include idling in traffic time, just turning car off when waiting, shopping, etc.;
Carpooling for school pickup; Driving the speed
limit in a well maintained car; Pooling errands into 1 trip; Making the best
environmental choice when purchasing a new car.
4. In community:
Choosing companies and products that have an environment benefit; Speaking to elected officials; Town Meetings; Letters to Editors;
Leading by Example; Modeling to our children that
the environment is worth fighting for.
I thought that every town had bike paths and that
open space was the right of every town's citizens. I have since realized that
these are qualities that have to be planned and for which we have to fight.
Supporting programs like Stokes Nature Center; how do we see our connection with all that surrounds us: namaste - I am a part of all I see. The light in me sees the light in you. Planting a garden - water wise plant berm; skiing, hiking, biking in our Canyons;
biking to and from school, friends and family;
reading books about our world - other cultures, other landscapes; trips like
mission trips, teaching abroad; carpooling; prayer, yoga, mediation - tapping
into that force that connects all living things
How do our actions and intentions impact our environment:
Limiting driving - growing up "out of town";
how to choose a new car - web sites for info on emissions for air and greenhouse gasses;
turning off lights and saving water - appliances we choose, lightbulb choices;
making our voices heard on growth in our valley - voting, going to city and county council meetings, trail planning sessions. 6 votes for Mayor of North Logan; choosing to walk as lightly as we can on the earth - home (proximity to work and schools, solar, landscaping, planting trees- 10 per person in each household), car, food choices - buying organic, buying local - the Farmer's Market., biodegradable cleaning products, reduce, reuse and recycle; support organizations - Nature Conservancy, Arbor Day, Audubon Society, Stokes Nature Center, etc.;
supporting companies and products that support and
help the environment: patagonia, organic cotton, Shaklee corporation,
alternative gift market
Each and every one of us can take simple steps in
our everyday lives to fight global warming.
Bess Dennison
Most mornings, I get up at about sunrise and take the dog, Gary, for a walk down a dirt road behind our house in Mendon through pastures which are right next to the wetlands. And of course with it being spring, the air is filled with the calls of geese, hawks, sandhill cranes, and all kinds of other birds. The walk never gets old to me and every day I look out across this Cache Valley in awe of its beauty and thankful to God who has created all of life.
The other day as I was walking, I was thinking about those birds out there in our wetlands. In their own way, they love this valley, too, coming back to it year after year for thousands of years to raise their young here...just as we do. Yet, in a sense, they have taken much better care of it than we have. They live simply and walk lightly. They have as much right or more to be here and that needs to be protected for their future generations as well as ours.
I grew up in a third world country, the Philippines, where my parents were missionaries with the Presbyterian Church for 16 years. I know a little about what it is like to live more simply; that it can be done; and that you can be just as happy with less. It is much harder in our culture and in this country to live that way. We make so many demands on this planets' resources, using way more than we should, polluting, not giving back to it, and not thinking ahead about what we are leaving for future generations. Since 1940, Americans alone have used up as large a share of Earth's mineral resources as did everyone before them combined.
In the New Testament, there is a verse where Jesus says “To whom much is given, much will be expected.” He is talking to us. As a nation, we have the responsibility to lead out in making the changes necessary to insure that future generations have clean air to breathe and water to drink, healthy food to eat, preserved natural lands and wildlife to appreciate, fuel to heat homes, and other cultures to learn from.
In the last few years, I have found myself feeling more and more discouraged about the future of this planet and all life on it. This last fall, in mid October, I decided to attend the Bioneers Conference at USU. What an uplifting experience it was for me! It gave me a new sense of hope for this planet. I would encourage every one of you here to go this next fall.
Bioneers are modern day pioneers. It is a movement and organization made up of people all across this country and the world from many different backgrounds who have a reverence for life and passion for learning how to do things differently to insure quality of life for future generations of all living beings on this earth. This diverse culture of people--biologists, anthropologists, entrepreneurs, gardeners, artists, public servants, poets, ecologists, architects, religious leaders, and activists -- share a common ground of values.
Let me share with you a few of these values. First is Diversity, a core condition of life. Ecosystems rich with diversity are strong and resilient in the face of environmental crisis and change. Those that are not are weak and vulnerable. Without it, organisms cannot adapt to change, the one constant in life. The predator that extinguishes its prey will also perish. Nature teaches us how interdependent we really are, that we are part of the web of life. In nature there is no waste. Everything is something's food or energy source. There are no by-products, only products.
Another core value is sustainability. This means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations of all living things to meet their own needs. The things we make must not only rise from the ground but return to it, soil to soil, water to water, so all that is received from the earth is freely given back without causing harm to any living system.
Community is another keystone. The life of the system is conducted by a cooperative symphony, not a soloist.
God has created all of life with its own intelligence and there is much we can learn from what we often “consider to be lower life forms”. In fact, some of those life forms are teaching us things that will help us solve the very complex problems we have created for ourselves. When we take from other life forms, what are we willing to give back?
Finally comes spiritual connection to nature. We must have a reverence for life. We have much to learn from the indigenous cultures of this world in this regard. Because they live so close to nature, hunger, disease, natural disaster, they truly understand how delicate the balance can be and come to honor the web of life in a way that we don't. At times we live under the false illusion that all will continue to be well, protected by our big homes, cars, medical system, decent paying jobs, and retirement systems. But at what cost to this planet and to those living on the edge? Jesus was pretty clear about how important it was to take care of the poor and the powerless. A Colombian anthropologist had this to say. “The difference between a colonist and an Indian is that the colonist wants to leave money for their children and that the Indians want to leave forests for their children.”
The Bioneers conference runs Friday through Sunday. USU was one of about 16 locations across the country that participated as a downlink site. The national conference takes place in California. In the mornings, we sat in an auditorium at USU to watch and listen to keynote presenters beamed to us by satellite. The caliber of their talks was both excellent and electrifying. I never knew there were so many people doing so many wonderful and
exciting things in so many different fields. In the afternoons, we chose from workshops on various topics conducted by local people in our community.
Let me share with you some of the highlights for me. First was a talk given by a biology professor from Montana who discussed a whole new field called biomimicry. She shared many stories about projects and studies around the country successfully learning from nature how to do things better. One story is about John Todd, a biologist who developed an advanced system of wastewater treatment based on simulated ecosystems and solar design. He uses a variety of plant and animal life in different ponds and parts of the treatment system to clean up the water. These “living machines” do their work with the intelligence of 3 ½ billion years of experimentation by life forms. They know how to self-design, self-replicate and self-repair. It has a consciously directed ecosystem. His system does not use chlorine or toxic chemicals. He has started a company called Ecological Engineering Associates which designed a living machine for Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory and for the Body Shop plant. The city of Chattanooga is using living machines. He states “Nature can design at four orders of magnitude or ten thousand or more efficiency than human engineers”. He feels it is possible for humans to live lightly on the planet using only 1/10th of what contemporary society uses. He's now working on a way to treat wastewater from boats and on producing food in water gardens.
I learned that agriculture is actually the biggest polluter of toxic chemicals and the largest user and waster of fresh water supplies, in part due to our heavy meat-centered diet. As one person put it “We need to learn to stop spitting in the soup.” It was great to hear about organic farming cooperatives that are working to change that…teaching other farmers that you don't have to use all those pesticides and chemicals to succeed….that there is a better way.
I heard a talk on the precautionary principle which basically states that when an activity raises threat of harm to human health and the environment, we should not wait until a cause/effect relationship is fully established before precautions are taken. For example, we now know that many of the chemicals found in our food that may not have as adverse affects on adults are very toxic to the brain of the developing fetus, resulting in disabilities impacting childrens' lives in significant ways and costing society billions of dollars yearly. The prevention of brain damage by neurotoxic exposures should be assigned a higher priority for policies focused on public health,
education, human capital development, and environmental protection.
I learned about businesses and companies that are working to make fairness and concern for life the bottom line, not profits. These individuals are working to create a new way of doing local as well as international business. Joshua Mailman, who works in capital investment for socially responsible business, had this to say. “My father always told me, “Money is like manure. If you pile it up, it stinks. But if you spread it around, it can do a lot of good”.
I could go on and on. The book “Bioneers” is full of uplifting stories about these new Bioneers all across this country and world and how they are making a difference. I left that conference enlightened and motivated to do what I can to make a difference in my little piece of this world.
Here are a few of things I started to do since that conference.
1. I am buying more organically grown foods because I want to support farmers and businesses that are trying to use methods that care for this earth.
I was thrilled to see the new organic grocery store “Sweet Peas” open up down on Center Street.
2. I have been trying to do more ride sharing with people. Now that the weather is warmer, I plan to use my bike more whenever I can.
3. I have started to look into ways to make more purchases from and invest retirement money in green companies. Buying gifts through the Alternative Gift Market at Christmas time is another great way to help along with donating to efforts of groups locally, nationally and internationally who are trying to make a difference.
4. As a family, we continue to recycle all that we can.
5. I have joined the Bioneers and plan to help with the conference this next fall. I have also been trying to read and learn more about the work of Bioneers around the world and have been telling family members and friends about the Bioneer movement.
It is so important that we
each realize that we can make a difference, with the changes we make in our
lifestyle bit by bit. I'd like to close with a quote from John Perkins,
who has been working with indigenous groups in the Amazon Rainforest. “We
are like a small stone in a big pond. Drop us in, and despite our small
size, the waves we create will cover the whole pond.” Just imagine what
thousands of these small stones can do!
References:
Notes and handouts from the October 2006 Bioneers
Conference and their book “Bioneers”.
Report from the National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child, Spring 2006, “Early Exposure to Toxic Substances Damages Brain
Architecture” and winter issue of Zero to Three newsletter on recent
large national studies on toxic chemicals found in mother's breast
milk
Recent TIME issue on Global
Warming
April 23, 2006
First Presbyterian Church
Logan, Utah