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Environmental
Stewardship Commission
(MEESC) |
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Episcopal Diocese of
Minnesota
Lectionary Reflection
Year A, Easter 7, Sermon
Readings for this Sunday:
(from the Lectionary
Page)
Reflection on Mothers' Day and today's
readings:
by the Rev Dcn Helen Hanten
One morning this week I opened our blinds in the bedroom to see
what kind of day we had, and saw two herring gulls walking down the
edge of Brainerd Avenue. in front of our house. We live on the
hilltop about half way between the land fill where many gulls go for
the winter, and the harbor where they are present in big numbers all
summer. I have seen flocks moving in the spring, but these two
were walking, one behind the other, going the right direction.
Cool! This week we set up our bird bath in the back yard and
filled it with water, and while I haven’t seen any birds bathing, the
crows come to sit on the edge and drink water. I’m glad somebody is
using the facility. In the last several years we have had many
deer in the yard and in the patch of woods behind our house, but this
year we often see up to four at a time. One that has caught my
attention appears about to give birth. She grazes slowly and
rests often, lying pretty much concealed by shrubs, with a small deer,
probably last year’s fawn, at her side. I keep a camera ready,
and wonder if there is anything I can do to make it better for her, or
if the best I can do is let nature happen, without interfering.
And I did get good pictures of the boreal owl that sat on the bird
feeder in our back yard for hours at a time during the winter.
This is Mothers’ Day, and we think about our mothers, honoring
them, perhaps with a card or letter, or a meal out somewhere, or we
remember mothers who are no longer with us. Some of us may reflect on
our own experiences as mothers. In nature, it is the time of year
when in most species, some will be giving birth. We will soon be
seeing fawns, and birds building nests. I have been thinking this
week about human mothers, and also other mothers. And about the
earth as Mother.
Most (so-called) primitive religions as well as early Christian Church
incorporated rituals of celebration for the natural order. The Celtic
Christians in the earliest introduction of Christianity to the northern
British Isles included observance of the daily cycles, the monthly moon
phases and the yearly solstice and equinox events. Much of this
influence was lost in about the 7th century when those practices of
Christianity were blended with those introduced from Rome through
Canterbury in southern England. Scripture has many
examples, both New and Old Testaments and particularly in Psalms of
writers seeing God’s activity in creation. Through the years some
writers, continued to speak and write about this. Hildegaard of Bingen
was one – St. Francis was another, known for his reverence for all
life, not just human life. But for most of its life the early
Church focused on the relationship between human life and
God. The incarnation had occurred years before. God had
been present in Jesus of Nazareth. In the life of Jesus, God had
been present on earth!
Beginning about 60 years ago In our society there began to be a
serious concern for people in need. One president described his
vision for the Great Society. People joined the efforts to house
the homeless, feed the hungry, provide medical care for those who
couldn’t afford it, and treat those with addictions. The 1964
Civil Rights Act provided for non-discrimination based on race,
religion or national origin in schools and public
accommodations.
So the Church began to teach and preach what has been called a Social
Gospel – to follow Christ by doing what Jesus himself did on earth
–. We have been called to be peace makers, and peace
keepers. To end racism. To fight the causes of
poverty. The historic diaconate as an order of ministry in the
Church was restored, with the particular focus of the deacons’
ministry to be concerns for all people, particularly those who are
powerless and marginalized. Our Christian understanding of
ministry became walking with others in both their physical and
spiritual journeys.
I remember receiving a letter from a woman parishioner at Church who
thought the Church should stay out of such controversial issues and go
back to just worshiping God in God’s House. It was not the
business of the church to be political.
For the first time many of us heard of an indwelling Christ.
Jesus had told the disciples, “whatsoever you do to the least of my
brothers, or my sisters, that you do onto me”. Our baptismal
covenant as it appeared in the 1979 BCP asks us to seek and serve
Christ in all persons. God incarnate, not just back in Jesus
life, but here and now in each of us. The same covenant asks us
to respect the dignity of every human being.
In 1962, a book called Silent Spring
by Rachel Carson, took many by surprise. Silent spring was the
theoretical time when no birds would return due to the increasing use
of insecticides which poisoned their food. Her book was well
documented with case studies. I think she was a prophet in our
time, and following the appearance of her work and that of others, the
environmental movement took off. We developed a concern for
future human needs – our children and grandchildren, onto the 7th
generation as taught by the Native American Indians. Society’s
reason for environmentalism was and is to conserve the earth resources
for future human life.
Those who thought politics and the social gospel should not be the
churches’ business, now said environmentalism should definitely not be
the churches’ business. The Bible doesn’t say a thing about ozone
layer, global warming, or fish advisories due to mercury in the
waters. Of course it doesn’t. None of those was an issue at
that time. But there is a line from Luke’s Gospel , Luke 12:56 , in
which Jesus says: “How is it you do not know how to interpret the signs
of the times?”
The reading from the Gospel according to John we just heard is a part
of a long prayer by Jesus to Creator God, on the night before Jesus
died. This part of his prayer is specifically for the small group
of men who had been his followers. He prayed that they would stay
united and that God would protect and keep them strong. The
message of Jesus life and work would only be carried forth after his
death if this group remembered what he had been telling them, and went
on to teach others. They hadn’t appeared to understand much along
the way. Some had strived for position in the group. One
defected and betrayed him. There was no other apparent plan for
keeping the faith alive. On Thursday past we observed Ascension
Day, the last time there were resurrection appearances where Jesus
seemed to still be with them, and when he disappeared this time, they
are described as standing looking up into the sky. I can imagine
them saying, “Now what are we supposed to do?” Feeling abandoned,
I would guess. Like the baby birds pushed out of the nest, or the
year old deer whose mother no longer provides its food. And
before Jesus left he told them they would receive power by the coming
of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost – that will be the next season we
celebrate. What a small group it was, to start! But
Christianity did spread, and has survived. None of those original
apostles was well educated. They weren’t writers, philosophers,
theologians, business men, and they didn’t have a source of funding for
their program. We don’t even know what they had for their
livelihood. But after they recovered from Jesus’ death and
received the gift of the Holy Spirit they were energized.
Inspired. Think of that word: stimulation of
the mind or emotion to a high level of feeling or activity.
We all know examples of people who have been inspired to a high level
of activity. Those who climb Mt. Everest, cross the Arctic ocean,
run marathons. The kind of thing where you have to want to.
You can’t not do it. I think we can describe people from this
congregation as inspired in starting out to build a Habitat
house. Lots of meetings, fund raisers, hands on work, donations
and sweat equity. I heard a hockey coach who is very good as an
inspirational speaker , tell about the process of building the team to
trust each other, trust the coach, work to be the best they can be, and
to believe they are winners, even before the game.
I know I am rather easily inspired. I avoid going to some
organizational events because I almost certainly will sign up for a
task force that will become a committee that will, at some point, elect
me chair. I hesitate to open and read mail asking for support for
causes. If I choose to read the letter, I will probably support
their cause. And for the church’s present day concern about the
earth itself, I feel great concern, and really inspired to make this
a focus of activity.
While the Church has done well in its prayers, teachings and good
works, in the areas of human-to-divine and human-to-human relationship
it has not always done well to remember the relationship of human life
with the created order as a spiritual and theological
issue. Not just teaching concern for the environment as good
sense and the need to conserve what is here for future generations, but
the compelling reason to love – to care about and care for what God has
made. We are part of it, not above it. We are creatures,
not the creator. We have a place in the ecosystem of all life on
our planet, and we could not exist without all else that came before,
and all that continues to sustain human life. There were people
who were surprised to see an Episcopal Church display at the Living
Green conference in March at Peace Church in Duluth, and again at the
earth day celebration two weeks ago at the Farmers Market.
For me as an Christian environmental steward (steward is one who is
charged with the care of something that belongs to someone else) the
overriding issue is sustainability. Part of what is needed is
learning what sustainability requires. Among the species alive on
the earth there is a web of interdependence. It was created that
way. God’s gift came packaged that way. In terms a
biologist uses, a community
is formed of all the populations of species,
both animals and plants, present in a place. Together with the
factors of landscape and climate, this is called an ecosystem. An
ecologist studies ecosystems. The ecosystem can be large, as the
whole Boreal forest, or more specific as the Pine forest at the end of
park Point, or small as a drop of pond water – whatever is under
consideration as a system. And when an ecosystem forms, it
eventually arrives at a balance so that everything present, plant
or animal, has what it needs in habitat, food, and regulation of its
population size. Predictions can be made, usually quite
accurately, as to what will happen if a new species is introduced, one
is eliminated, two are too closely related and competitive, or if
factors such as climate are changed, or there are disturbances such as
prairie land brought under cultivation or wildfires taking out old
growth of forests.
What is happening around us now? “How is it you do not know how
to interpret the signs of the times?” Have you heard of
habitat destruction, the disappearance of wetlands, what happens to
dunes along a coastline when beach grass is destroyed? Do you
know about the imbalance in ecosystems when natural limitations for
species aren’t present? Have you figured why we have too many
crows, so many herring gulls, and deer in our backyards? Bunnies on
Park Point? Bunnies as a threat to the pine forest at the end of
the point? Boreal owls out of their range, hunting in broad
daylight. Are there invasive species of animals as well as
plants? From natures point of view, is human life an invasive
species?
Humans lived in tune with the land at first. For probably about 2
million years. Using their wisdom, they learned to save food,
save water, build shelters, and bury the dead. Foot trails gave
way to paths for carts, then roads for automobiles, and then highways
for trucks and motor homes so people, goods and food could be
transported to wherever wanted. Medical advances have changed
human lives by technology, by medicines from herbal remedies to new
chemical formulations, and by changing the environment by draining
swamps, spraying insects, treating drinking water. We all know
that communication, transportation, and food production have all
changed drastically in our own lifetime. So where will it
end? Where is the limit where the planet as an ecosystem no
longer supports the populations. Species have already become
extinct. Evolution of species in itself results in some
extinctions, but the rate and number in recent years is known to be
many times what would occur naturally. And do we only care about
the possibility of such a limited time for human life? Our codes
of ethics for treatment of people is expressed by Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts in their promises, by the promises we make at a baptism, and by
the ways we expect humans will be treated as prisoners and
captives. We speak of human rights. Human rights are dealt
with by organizations and by commissions, at various levels of
government. Duluth was a long time in getting a human rights’
commission, and still doesn’t fund the work it does. We probably
all believe in human rights. But this is not a concept naturally
arrived at. There is nothing in nature that says humans can or
should make rules for how they want to be treated and make those rules
apply to all humans ,and fight wars about it, while other things alive
don’t have any rights. It is the way we tend to see the
creation. Human life matters. All else is the scenery for
the human drama to unfold. What would Jesus do? What does
God want? We call ourselves a people on the way to knowing,
loving and serving God. What are sources for wisdom in thinking
about God? I think of four.
1. In Scripture, as a written record of the experience of people
alive long ago.
2. Through the writings of people who lived since then,
including those alive now.
3. Through the Church as it attempts to live out what Jesus
taught and modeled.
4. Evidence as seen in the creation, of God’s goodness and
presence in all living things. God incarnate, not just in human life,
but in all that is.
Sallie McFague is a writer and theologian who wrote The Body of God several years ago
in which she talks about the mind and Word of God as God’s intent, and
creation itself as the body of God. In a later book, Super Natural Christians, she talks
of our tendencies to objectify other things, including living things,
as though they are all here for our use. Cindy wrote about this
in the recent newsletter. A friend of mine named Mary Jo told of
a time her husband was at home, shortly before he died, and enjoyed
sitting out on a deck or balcony of their apartment. She told me
a bird often came to sit there on the railing, and she mentioned to him
that God had sent a bird for him to enjoy. He responded that he
and the bird were there sharing the outdoors together. Subtle,
but different.
In the Genesis story of the creation, humans are created last.
Those writers did well, I think in sequencing the events and
recognizing that on the earth there were land and water, and light and
dark, and then came plants, and then animals and then human life.
Humans came late. All else was in a balance that could have been
sustained for a long time. Humans were not needed to work out the
plan, like some industrial design plan. The plan was in operation
when we showed up. The earth was, indeed our
mother. The same atoms of carbon and
nitrogen that are part of our tissues have been cycled through
countless numbers of living things before us, and were part of the
rocks and waters before life on earth. The egg or whole wheat toast, or
orange juice you had for breakfast were very recently a part of
something else alive on earth.
It is indeed the business of the church to teach and practice Christian
stewardship of the environment. Some of us are inspired to work
on this, to make a commitment to keep at it with the energy and
resources we have. It sometimes seems to be just a handful of
people, but look at what the apostles did! There were only
11 of them to start, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit, they
succeeded In their own lifetimes, they were persecuted, some
killed with torture and gruesome deaths. But others like Luke and
Mark and Paul had joined them, and within about 60 years , the Gospels
had been written, Luke had written the book of Acts which
describes the continuing work of the apostles. Paul had founded
churches in other countries, letters called epistles had been written
to those churches and were later adopted in the canon of
Scripture. Those original 11 men did OK.
Now, the need for sustainable living is a message that concerned
Christians need to hear. Jesus prayed, before entrusting the
message of his life work to the hands of those eleven men. He prayed
they would stay united and that God would strengthen them. My
prayer now is that God, Creator, will help those who respond to the
messages of environmental concern, to keep them united, and keep their
commitment strong. Amen
To Reflections on other Readings for
this Sunday:
The Rev Dcn
Helen
Hanten is deacon emeritus at and an
active member of St. Andrew's by-the-Lake
Episcopal Church, Duluth, MN. She originally wrote this reflection in
1998.
Helen and we welcome your comments. Please address your comments or
additional
reflections to the Rev Dcn
Helen
Hanten
or any MEESC
member, or mail them to:
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