Last week was a wonderful celebration of the wedding of my only niece.   The bride and groom were beautiful, both physically and spiritually, and the pictures that were taken reflected that.   As I watched the photographers painstakingly position the happy couple I felt the faint summer breeze against my face and the warmth of the sun embracing me.   It was a good day.  Then I thought about the many wedding parties that I had witnessed posing for their pictures outside.  I had gone to a park in Windsor just over the water from Detroit to write on Saturday afternoon.  While there I saw six wedding parties that day, two were married in the park.  Then  I thought about the eleven wedding party picture poses I saw while in Israel at Caesarea Philipi, all taken among the ruins.  There is something revelatory  about bridal pictures that are taken outside among  the monuments, the trees, the lakes, the ruins.  I think it speaks to hope of longevity just as the trees, the plants, the streams, yes even the monuments, the ruins. 

Most states have their answer to places for outside enjoyment.  There are many parks and walking areas around the district and they are full of runners, walkers, riders, roller bladders, people with babies, people with dogs, couples – older and younger, photographers, artists, dancers, writers.   People who love getting out in the fresh air, beneath the clouds or under the stars.  This Fourth of July weekend brings more events of celebrations outside.  Many will be heading to the mountains, the lakes, the beaches; well, I think you get the picture.   Most people love being outside. 

Don’t you just love the outdoors?  There is something serene, pastoral , about walking a quiet forest path.  One can marvel at God’s work with the trees, the plants, animals and with self in that place.  What about relaxing by a mountain stream, or a lake, or even at the beach on the ocean?   There is indeed so much to be observed, learned, revealed in any of those places.   And they offer relaxation, rejuvenation, restoration and exploration, all right there.

I am speaking to those who love the outside, whether you golf, fish, hunt, hike, whatever you do outside in the parks or in the wilderness areas.  You have already developed an appreciation of the glorious resources that God has provided mankind.  In the United States alone there are 623 million acres of land of four types: National Parks, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, and Western areas all overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.  The Wilderness Act of 1964 created the National Wilderness Preservation System, and at that time designated 9.1 million acres of Wilderness. Congress expanded that to 107 million acres in a total of 702 wilderness areas in every state except: Kansas, Iowa, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.  There is so much to explore!

In the Bible, over 300 references are made to wilderness and sometimes interchangeably with desert as uninhabited land, land used to pasture flock, abode of wild animals, a remote place, a wild place.  In order to bring clarity, we will use the partial definition as per the Wilderness Act of 1964, while understanding that we are speaking a larger population than those places left unchecked inside Public Lands.  That definition of wilderness: “Where the earth and its community of life are untamed by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

Using that definition, we can feel something larger than self, something uncontrolled by man, yet always controlled by God.  And we can marvel at the sheer magnitude of possibility that something has gone for so long without mankind’s help; it causes us to yearn for whatever that level of sustainability is and that points us to our Creator God. 

We have a responsibility to Creation to aid in the sustainability though Creation care.  What can you do?  Speak out for the endangered species that inhabit the public lands and wilderness.  Make your voice heard on the stripping of the land through mountaintop removal. Find out the great things being done to preserve these areas. There are many ideas of support for the public lands and wilderness areas. I invite you to view pictures from our wilderness photo contest and join me in creating your own photos, your own memories by getting out.  While out, take time to marvel at the biodiversity in those places.  Enjoy!

Me?  Oh I’m golfing, and I’m trying a new thing for me – kayaking.   Happy Fourth of July! Type to you later.

Last week, the Obama Administration announced that they were implementing an interagency procedure to review permits for Mountaintop Removal Mining (MTR).  Their press release read, “Obama Administration officials announced today that they are taking unprecedented steps to reduce the environmental impacts of mountaintop coal mining in the six Appalachian states of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia through a coordinated approach between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of the Interior (DOI) and Army Corps of Engineers.”.

However, as EarthJustice noted in their press release, this is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. MTR is a process whereby coal mining companies literally blast off whole portions of mountains.  This exposes the coal located deep within the mountain, allowing it to be extracted more easily.  Excess debris from the explosion is dumped into neighboring valleys and streams, sometimes completely burying them.

On this, the member communions of the NCC are very clear:

From the United Methodist Church: Therefore, be it resolved, that the General Conference of The United Methodist Church, meeting in Cleveland, Ohio in May of the year 2000, implore those state and national governmental and regulatory agencies involved in mountaintop removal mining to halt this practice until scientific study of its long-term effect on human life and the natural environment has been accomplished.

From the Presbyterian Church (USA): It is resolved that the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, urges state and federal agencies that regulate mining practices, as well as coal companies themselves, to abandon the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and work to meet our nation’s energy needs in a manner that is just, sustainable and consistent with Christian values.

From the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Resolved, that the Division for Church in Society encourage regions, synods, congregations, and members to contact national and state legislators and prompt them to enact legislation that promotes deep mining rather than strip mining; develops alternative energy resources that do not require cheap coal; and requires land reclamation that renews the environment and restores ecological balance.

All of these communions, and others, realize a practice incompatible with the Christian values of sustainability when they see it. It is time to put an end to this destrucitve practice – not simply try to limit its impacts.  Tomorrow, the Senate Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife will hold a hearing on MTR for the first time in a generation, and there is legislation in both the House and the Senate that would put a halt to the practice.  Encourage your Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor the legislation, and move it through both houses. It is time for renewal of the lands of Appalachia, and to return the lands and communities to a sustainable way of living.

This week, Congress has the opportunity to enact climate change legislation by passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Scientists tell us that we must begin to address the root causes of climate change soon in order to protect God’s people and God’s Creation from the worst impacts of climate change.

This bill is a first step.  But it should be strengthened in order to fully protect those who are most vulnerable.  Specifically, the American Clean Energy and Security Act should provide more money for those living in poverty around the world who are already suffering from the impacts of climate change and more money for green and sustainable jobs in our communities. It should also support renewable energy and energy efficiency that will lower costs for consumers, reduce air pollution and provide jobs for struggling communities around the country.

Click here to encourage your congressional member to strengthen and support the American Clean Energy and Security Act as a first step toward addressing one of the most important moral issues of our time!

Hiking Thorough Scripture Part 3:

Connected to Creation – Symbiosis, Sabbath and sufficiency

This section of the Green Bible Trail guide show us passages in scripture that connect humanity to God and the entirety of Creation, showing us our part in the chorus of Creation that together sings praises to God.

Scripture passages for this journey are:

Genesis 2:4 -25
Exodus 23: 10-13
Leviticus 26:3-26
Revelation 11: 15-19
Psalm 65

The account of Creation found in Genesis 2: 4-25 connects humanity to creation not only in how we were created, “from the dust of the ground” (7), but by the purpose God intends humans to serve, “to till and keep” (15) God’s beautiful garden. In fact, this purpose is alluded to in verse 5 “when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up – for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no one to till the ground.” This account of creation shows that God’s Creation was intended to flourish together in a symbiotic relationship where the responsibility of humans was to see to it that Creation thrived, while the gifts of God’s Creation would allow humans to thrive. When our actions destroy God’s Creation, we jeopardize the balance of this symbiotic relationship harming not only God’s Creation, but our human brothers and sisters, and ultimately ourselves who depend on the gifts of Creation to survive. We are rejecting God’s calling and endangering what God loves. Perhaps this is why we are told in Revelation 11:18 that those who destroy the earth will be destroyed.

The passage in Exodus teaches us about the Sabbath. “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed” (Exodus 23:12). This verse makes clear not only our connection to the rest of God’s Creation but what our response to that connection should be; namely compassion and consideration. In this passage, we are told to rest not for ourselves, for our own relief and refreshment, but so that others (human and non-human) may have relief and refreshment. The commandment to honor the Sabbath applies to us today for the same reasons. Many of our activities are energy intensive and take a serious toll on all of God’s Creation. Imagine if every person of faith honored the Sabbath by intentionally trying to conserve energy just one day a week; turning off our televisions, computers and other electronic distractions, and focusing on God instead. We would go a long way in reducing our contribution to global warming pollution. In the same way, by refusing to shop till we drop on the Sabbath, we can allow many of our neighbors to experience the Sabbath more fully as well.

The passage in Exodus also teaches about the sabbatical year. “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat.” This commandment is a warning against overconsumption and a reminder that we are all connected. In a world of finite resources consuming more than our fair share means that our neighbors, human and nonhuman alike, will go without. Part of honoring the Sabbath is living the principle of sufficiency, allowing all forms of life a fair share in the gifts of God.

May God, teach us to recognize the symbiotic relationship we were designed to be a part of, teach us to honor the Sabbath and practice the value of sufficiency out of a deep love for God, our neighbor and the entire Creation, so that we may join the pastures, hills, meadows, and valleys as they shout and sing together for joy (psalm 65:12-13).

Click here to sign the faith principles on global warming: Justice, Stewardship, Sustainability and Sufficiency

Have you ever noticed how once a person has been a schoolteacher for a while, they never stop being a teacher? They lecture on whatever topic is at hand, using a sing-song or droning voice. They expect you to think that whatever they are talking about is fascinating because they are so used to having a captive audience that they have forgotten the skill and necessity of actually being fascinating if they want people to listen voluntarily to what they have to say. Well, luckily, I didn’t teach for long enough to have a truly terrible case of the Didacts, but I do have a mild tendency…

Today we are going to learn about three simple things that are good for everyone to know about. Even better, I am going to tell you about only one of them, and then the geeky kid from the A/V department is going to roll his squeaky cart in here, thread the old often-spliced film through the ratatatat projector, we are going to pull the blinds and turn the lights off, and you will have the opportunity to watch some movies. I might notice if you fall asleep, though, so don’t put your head on the desk…

Our first topic for the day is HWJD? We are going to skip the whole silly question of “What Would Jesus Drive?” because it is abundantly clear that any technology that kills 50,000 Americans a year, necessitates paving the planet, isolates you from the community, is only affordable to the rich (on a global scale of wealth), which kills millions of wildlife, is warming and destroying the Earth’s ecosystems, and which is a root cause of wars over diminishing resources is not a technology that Jesus would have anything to do with at all. He wouldn’t drive. No, not a scooter or a Prius. Lay not that unction to thy soul. WWJD? JWD an ass, a sailboat, skateboard, bicycle, kick scooter, roller skates, hang glider, skis, a kayak, or he might just levitate himself around. In all likelihood, though, I’d say, Jesus would drive some sandals. In a cooler climate, he might wear socks with his sandals. (Is Jesus a geek?)

So, HWJD? How would he drive? Suppose that a person less perfect than Jesus wanted to drive according to the spirit of Christ? Well, they’d carpool, and combine trips, I suppose. They’d drive a fuel efficient vehicle, follow all the traffic rules, and never get road rage. In particular, how would they drive around bicycles?

You may not know this, but except in a very few backward parts of the United States, bicycles are legally considered vehicles in their own right. They have a right to take the full use of the traffic lane, and they are obligated to follow all rules of the road, just like an automobile. It is illegal and very unsafe for bicycles to ride on sidewalks in most places. Cars do not have right of way over bicycles, though they may have “right of weight.”

Now, you may wonder why bicycles are so far out in the roadway that you can’t get around them. The answer is simpler than you may think. Where there are parked cars, there is a great risk to the cyclist that a car door will open without warning, and the cyclist will run into the door, sustaining serious injuries such as a broken collarbone, concussion, loss of an eye, severe damage to the groin area, loss of teeth, and even death. Therefore, savvy cyclists ride at least four feet away from parked cars. This may mean that they are using so much of the lane that it is awkward for you to drive around them. This is o.k. They have a right to be there, and you don’t have anywhere you need to get to that is more important than loving your bicycling neighbor by giving them some time and space.

I’m pretty sure that Jesus would never honk at a cyclist. It doesn’t help. Cyclists are giving you as much space and going as fast as they can. It is absolutely terrifying to have a car just behind you honk at you when you are riding. This explains the gestures that are usually elicited from cyclists by honking motorists.

Jesus would use his turn signals. He would realize that he might not see a cyclist, and that therefore his use of turn signals would at least give the unseen cyclist an opportunity to anticipate what he might be doing next so that they could take appropriate action, even if he never saw them. So, remember that cyclists are your neighbor, whom you are charged to love, and treat them accordingly. If you are in D.C., one of them is me.

Now for the movies:

The Story of Stuff:   Where does our stuff come from? Where does it go? Why is so much of it so toxic? What can we do about it? This is a fun, short animated/live action movie that you can watch at storyofstuff.com Kids love this movie.

The Disappearing Male: This is a fascinating film about endocrine disrupting chemicals. It features NCC Environmental Health Program champion Pete Myers. See it here. There is a note that says that the full-length feature is only available to folks in Canada, but it seems to be quite available in D.C…. Could be tricky for kids.

Crash Course: This film is about a great opportunity for Christians all over the world to come together to create a future that more fully manifests God’s love and the abundance of God’s Creation. It is fairlylong and  in depth, but you can watch it in segments. Just click on the “Crash Course” button at the upper left hand corner of this page: http://www.chrismartenson.com Nothing inappropriate for kids, but they are unlikely to stay the course, and if they do, may ask questions that you have no answers for whatsoever.

The protection of water for use by all humanity and the rest of Creation, especially future generations and those living in poverty, is the responsibility of all of God’s people. Water is essential to all life on Earth, and it links human life to the rest of God’s Creation. Creation begins with God calling life out of the water (Genesis 1:2), and it is through water that all of Creation is gifted with life. Life, in all its forms, is not possible without water.

On Thursday of this week, S. 787, the Clean Water Restoration Act, will be taken up by the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. This legislation would reaffirm the original intent of the 1972 Clean Water Act. S. 787 will ensure that all Americans have access to clean water and that “the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” are maintained. Click here to encourage your Senator to co-sponsor and support the Clean Water Restoration Act.

However, in recent years the health of our water sources has been jeopardized by court decisions and loopholes created by regulatory agencies that could leave hundreds of thousands of miles of streams and over 20 million acres of wetlands without federal safeguards against pollution.  You can help to ensure our nation’s continued supply of clean water by encouraging your Senator to co-sponsor and support passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act (S.787).

Click here to send a message to your Senator, and help protect America’s waters from pollution. Continue the tradition of good stewardship for future generations.

What do Wheelchairs, Bicycles, Motorcycles, Segways, Scooters, Cars, Buses, Boats, Trains, Planes have in common?   They are all things that give us mobility.  Things that cause us to get out of and away from our everyday routine. Things that allow us a sense of freedom.  Things that allow us to share in that community with others.  Things that allow us to witness the majesty of this land.

 What are Hedges, Gates, Borders, Fences, Walls?  And the answer is, things that close us in, that shut us down, that separate us, that keep us from another place. Things that impede our sense of freedom.  And just as mobility is most cherished, there are places and times where hedges, gates, and walls are also needed.  The more we progress, the more the need for greater mobility. There is a strange down to this progress.  You see, the more we progress, the more we regress, the more we open up to technology, the more we begin shutting ourselves off.  No, don’t get me wrong.  I am for technology, but I am also for that pause – to watch the clouds, to see the stars, to hear the birds, to wink at a baby, to smell a flower, to witness God’s wonders. To watch the flight of a butterfly – WRONG!  Where are the butterflies? Haven’t you missed them?  What have we done with them?  Where are they?  What else have you missed?  You don’t know?  Maybe you have been so plugged in that you are missing life itself.  In the immortal words of Marvin Gaye, “What’s going on?”

 We have become a society that reaches out to touch others through cell phones, through so many social networks, by many text messages, through the ever quick email. Holla! Yet, we have lost the personal touch, to speak to others that we see, to smile at those we pass on the street, to just have a conversation over a meal without texting.  I ride the METRO to work and while many read (as I do), so many have earplugs with something on.  I tried it, but didn’t feel it.  And since I could hear over my earphones, I just know that many were just trying to “look like.”  You know, look like they were so engrossed in what they were hearing that they don’t need to engage in even a simple smile.  But I digress. 

 There are others things that we may miss along this journey if we cannot connect as a community.  Things that impede.  Things that hold us bound. Things that trap us.  That could be so many things, even a bad relationship. Things that close us in, that shut us down, that separate us, that keep us from another place- the hedges, gates, borders, fences, walls.  Stay with me, I am going somewhere.  Walls. Let’s look at walls. You see, you missed the butterflies, don’t miss the wall. Don’t miss an opportunity to speak up, or have a meaningful dialogue about walls.

 As we wrestle with this whole idea of anything that separates people, destroys homes for humans and animals alike, and utterly devastates ecosystems, we are faced with quite a few walls that fall into this category: The Berlin Wall separated Communist East from the Democratic West and was destroyed in 1989.  While The Great Wall of China was built to protect the agricultural lands from invasion, the Palestinian Wall devastates agricultural resources for the Palestinians as well as loss of community and personal property. And for us in Western America- there is the Border Fence, which separates community in a country which presents itself as progressive and tolerant of different faiths, peoples, and beliefs. 

 In each case, whether it was the Great Wall of China, The Berlin Wall, the Palestinian Wall, or the Border Fence, there is indeed an answer. “Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed His last.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Matt. 27: 50,51 NRSV).   Because of the tearing of the temple veil all could come to Jesus with no boundaries, no one being left in outer courts.  All can live a positive life.  Not to stretch this theologically, but just take time to contemplate a life well lived, full and whole.  That is a life well lived for all of Creation, not just humans. All of Creation deserves to live as it was intended with everyone playing a role in the sustainability of Creation.  And our role -“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28 NRSV).  

 In his piece, “Why I am Green,” found in the forward of the Green Bible, Brian McLaren goes on to explain “creation’s downfall resulting from human sin has eclipsed its original glow as God’s handiwork, radiant with God’s glory” (McLaren, 2008, I-44).  The Green Bible was so helpful in information that I shall use it one more time.  In “Reading the Bible through a Green Lens,” Calvin Dewitt offers biblical principles for Creation Care summarized here (DeWitt 2008, I-28).

• The Earthkeeping Principle – As the Lord keeps and sustains us, so we must keep and sustain our Lord’s Creation. (cf. Gen 2:15; Num. 6:24) “As God keeps people, so God’s people should keep Creation.”
• The Fruitfulness Principle – We should enjoy but not destroy creation’s fruitfulness. (cf. Gen 1:20, 22, 24; Ps.104:10-13)
• The Sabbath Principle – We must provide for creation’s Sabbath rests. (cf. Ex.20, 23:10-11; Lev. 25:20-21, 26:3-4; Deu.5; Is. 58:13-14; Mark 2:27)
• The Discipleship Principle – We must be disciples of Jesus Christ- the Creator, Sustainer, and Reconciler of all things. (cf. John 1:3; Rom. 5:12-17, 8:19; 1 Cor. 15:22, 45; Col.1:16, 20; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 21:5)
• The Kingdom Priority Principle – We must seek first the kingdom of God. (cf. Matt. 6:33)
• The Contentment Principle – We must seek true contentment. (cf. Ps 119:36; I Tim. 6:6, 11; Heb. 13:5)
• The Praxis Principle – We must practice what we believe. (cf. Ez. 33:31-32; Luke 6:46; James 2:19)
• The Conservation Principle –We must return Creation’s service to us with service of our own. (cf. Gen. 21:15; Josh. 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:22,45)

Take time to allow the passages to wash over you and place that in perspective of the border fence and what it does to God’s Creation.  It behooves us all to come to the aid of Creation as it has cared for us with food and shelter.  The border fence disallows the very thing that nature needs to sustain itself- food, water, shelter.  If we can step outside of self to focus on the needs of others, we will be able to glimpse bits of our role in caring for all of Creation.

 Have you ever stared in wonder at the majesty of a mountain range?  And then take a plant from the park to plant in another area?   You know how we do, we are in awe on the one hand and disturb the peace on the other hand.  Have you ever removed a rock from its resting place and sent rolypoly bugs and/or earthworms scurrying?  Have you ever skipped rocks across the water and then wondered what happened when the rocks settled?  Have you watched the ripple effect of that rock in the water?  Do you think about the ripple effect your every move makes?  Are your ripples purposeful toward loving your community?  Each move gives you an opportunity to  better contemplate the wonders of Creation and your responsibility. 

The construction of the Border Fence through the western states has separated different species from their families, homes, food and the very ecosystems upon which they depend along the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. These fragile systems, when left to flourish, are sustainable, yet when disturbed, are destroyed. It doesn’t stop there.  Remember the ripple effect.  The disturbance causes ecosystems to become unbalanced.  Think about the animals that are placed in harm’s way.  Think about the water dwellers that will die when the creeks and rivers are dried up form the flowing of uprooted dirt into the water.  Think about the people that loose their water source. Animals and humans are left without water, food, and shelter, those things that we all need to live.  Why should it matter to faith communities?  If is done to one, it has been done to all. We all are community, whether we walk, ride, text, talk, laugh, cry.  We all have an important role to play in Creation care.  Today there is something that you can do individually and collectively about the border fence.  Let your representative know that you take issue with the disturbance of the ecosystems around the Border Fence.  Pray for a resolve in the political matter, a reconciliation of community around the Border Fence, and a restoration of the ecosystems as God has planned.  Oh yeah, and smile at me when you see me on the METRO. Pray for me and I pray for you. Type to you later.

House On Fire

There has been some controversy around my last blog post on “God’s Economy.” I must acknowledge that this controversy has not taken place in the Comments section below the blog, where it ideally would. Please do not be deterred by this. Stimulating dialogue is one of my favorite things. Bicycles, babies, bacon, brewing beer, bocce ball, birthdays, and boats are some of my other favorites. Feel free to use the Comments window! The focus of the controversy is around the question of incremental versus paradigm shifting change. It has been a useful meditation.

One issue is simply that big change requires a lot of energy and resources. It has a large impact, it scares people, and it has the potential to create massive opposition. For these reasons, it may be good to proceed incrementally. On the other hand, if the United States had waited for the South to paradigm shift itself gradually out of slavery…? Hard to say. I might be more open to a gradual approach to carbon reduction if we had started that gradual reduction under Carter and then ramped things up consistently since the 70’s. We’d probably be within a wind turbine’s span of the carbon reductions that the International Panel on Climate Change recommends. At this point, changes are going to have to be somewhat drastic.

Germaine to environmental health issues, the Senate passed legislation that would put the regulation of tobacco under the FDA’s jurisdiction yesterday. Now, admittedly, it is well beyond absurd to have any entity that is charged with protecting the public health to merely REGULATE a substance that will KILL fully a third of its users, but nonetheless, this represents progress. The Surgeon General first put a tiny warning label on cigarettes fifty years ago, and then the larger one we are used to seeing now. The FDA tried to regulate tobacco in the 90’s and was slapped down by the Supreme Court for overreaching its authority. Big Tobacco lied, bought politicians, denied that nicotine was addictive, marketed cigarettes to children, and generally behaved like criminals. Gradual steps like making it illegal to smoke in public places, running campaigns to educate kids about smoking, suing the tobacco industry for huge sums, and a gradual change in public attitude have led to the current legislation, which passed by a hefty majority.

Of course, the FDA will not be making tobacco illegal, despite the fact that if someone was just trying to bring tobacco to market now, it would clearly never be accepted. It is anticipated that cigarette companies will have to disclose which of 6,000 additives are in their products, be required to limit nicotine to non-addictive levels (which would be what?), and enlarge warning labels.

So, here’s gradual change working….sorta. We still have this deadly and addictive substance available in every corner store, devastating health, costing the economy in worker productivity, and really having no redeeming benefits at all (unlike bacon). Kissing a smoker, even one you otherwise really think is the bee’s knees, is like licking an ashtray. Anything that makes kissing not fun has to be bad.  We’ve known that tobacco was deadly for more than a century, and just now we are starting to get a little serious about regulation? Since prohibition doesn’t work—witness marijuana, booze under Prohibition, Bristol Palin’s baby—I’m not necessarily saying that we ought to ban it, but it is clear that in the contest between the public good and profits for big business, we are a little slow in this country to do the right thing. Supposedly, it’s about freedom—freedom of corporations to make obscene profits by killing people, and freedom of consumers to destroy their health. I’d sure deny those freedoms to my children if I could. I don’t think that it would impoverish their lives one little bit.

We do not have fifty years to put a larger warning label on carbon emissions. We actually did the warning label disclosure thing under the Clean Air Act, which required companies to disclose their emissions. This did cause some reductions, and it gave activists and litigators some data to work with. But the atmosphere, which had 270 parts per million of carbon in it before industrialization, and more like 370ppm now, continues to get worse. (The 350ppm estimate to stabilize climate will prove to have been a rose-tinted soft pitch by those who thought that a stronger ‘ask’ was not “politically feasible,” by the way.)

So, when your house is on fire, do you want a warning label that fires can be dangerous, followed by some regulations that say that your house can only be 85% burned, encouragement to take personal responsibility for fireproofing your house, and then a protracted discussion about whether or not fire crews should be called and if so, whether they should put out the fire completely or just slow it down a little? I’m ready to get as much water on that conflagration as possible.

As a person of faith, this is partly because I attempt with constant failure to adhere to values that do not include endangering, well, EVERYTHING ON EARTH to protect the right of class elites and corporations to amass more wealth. This is my conservative nature coming out—I think that the world has rules, and I am not a believer in the hippy-dippy “if it feels good, do it” approach of liberals. I’ll admit that I use “Right/Wrong” thinking! My favorite Right/Wrong is Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”  (A Sand County Almanac, 1949)

Yes, dualism is a sign of spiritual immaturity, but I find that there is still plenty of paradox and ambiguity in the world without my having to think that victimization of the powerless by the powerful is inevitable, human nature, or even to be tolerated. It’s part of the Cowboy Code. (http://www.elvaquero.com/The_Cowboy_Code.htm) Apparently money is mentioned in the scriptures more times than any other subject other than love, and not generally in the context of the principalities and powers having a right to exist regardless of the damage they do. That’s not mentioned. I feel bad for the workers at GM, but not for GM per se. They dismantled the public transportation systems that made American cities great (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy), necessitating the dominance of the automobile, and then they refused to make good cars, opting instead for planned obsolescence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence). The death of GM looks a lot like natural selection to me, or even just deserts.

What about those workers? Hey–those folks know how to make stuff, and we need a couple million wind turbines and solar panels right about now… How about if the Fed funded the startup of a massive worker’s cooperative like the Mondragon Group in Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondrag%C3%B3n_Cooperative_Corporation), where they made stuff America actually needs, and the highest paid person earned no more than 500% of what the lowest paid person made? Now THAT’s a paradigm shift… Wish we could have done that one last month!  I’ll bet they’d pay back the taxpayers a durn sight quicker than Fiat…

Just a few weeks ago, the National Council of Churches Governing Board met and affirmed their commitment to protecting the most vulnerable populations and God’s Creation from toxic chemical in everyday products through worship, education, and prophetic witness. They passed the new “Environmental Health Resolution.”

The resolution lays out the problem of toxic tresspass and the failure of current laws to protect us, explains why this is a Christian concern, and gives reccomendations on how the council of churches can act to ecourage sacred, non-toxic living. Read the statement here.

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers” (Ps. 24:1,2 NRSV). The Psalmist sings of the wholeness of everything on the earth as belonging to God. We marvel at the majesty of God’s work from the heavens to everything on land and in the seas. That ‘marvel’ is to wonder in astonishment! We are to be blown away at everything that God has created, including how it all works in perfect harmony, if we allow it to do so. We can get excited that in God’s plan there is sustainability. After all, look how long Creation has been here. We are the ones passing through. In our ‘passing through’, we too make a mark in this great plan. What does that mark look like? Is our marvel at Creation evidenced by our mark on Creation? How do we care for all God’s species? How do we wonder in awe at God’s work? If we indeed marvel at all that God has done, then we must consider our fair share in caring for the environment.

Tiring of the pity party thrown by Job’s friends, God speaks (Job 38-41) and addresses what we cannot fathom. Life takes on a different perspective. While none of us have experienced the devastating hurt as Job, we have all experienced hurt in some form. Our hurt, our pain is relative so we may not be able to imagine the hurt, the loss, the pain that Job felt. But we know hurt. In a similar way, we simply cannot know the depth of God’s love for all of Creation. Just like Job, we too have no answer for the complexity of Creation; yet we do have a responsibility to care for Creation. We must join the celebration of life by caring for an environment that cries out for help. All of Creation brings honor to God by celebrating what God has done. We too must get in on the celebration by supporting what God has done. Let us grow into caring about what God cares about. If God cares for all of Creation, then how can we pick and choose what to care for in Creation? If everything that God has created brings honor, then are we humans the ones out of order? How many chances have we missed to celebrate the glory of God’s majesty? Can we celebrate while others suffer? Our strategy should be to love and care for communities that suffer health, social, economic, and ecological pain.

Our commission is to proclaim the good news to all Creation (Mark 16:15). The translated Greek does not say to ‘all people’ but to ‘all Creation’. We proclaim the good news not only by word but through deeds of loving one another as Jesus has commanded. The good news of the gospel is still good, yet our proclamation of that good news is not being heard far and wide enough. In the African spirit of Mbutu, “I am because we are,” we suffer because there are still those suffering. We can celebrate with Creation when it celebrates. Today, take a chance, find a new way, turn a new page, speak a new word, think a new thought – celebrate Creation! Discover ways to help species that are endangered, talk it up with others. Find your voice in helping the disenfranchised, be they human or animal. Care for something or someone outside your normal scope. Love all that God has created, and let that love permeate the air. Life itself will be blessed by your effort and you will be blessed in turn.