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Reflections:
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Environmental Events:
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If you find the information in this reflection to be of interest or concern, please contact MEESC Members. Members of MEESC reside around the Diocese of Minnesota and are available to assist you and your congregation in their environmental stewardship walk. Please contact us at any time with your questions. |
Creation Season 2008 (Year A)
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Welcome! We're glad you're planning on observing a liturgical season of creation. We have prepared some materials for you to use in worship, teaching, and personal reflection. The Reflections and Notes on the readings for this Sunday are available for you to use. You may
RCL Readings for this Sunday:
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| "the poorest countries would be hardest hit, with
reductions in crop yields in most tropical and sub-tropical
regions due to decreased water availability, and new or
changed insect pest incidence. In Africa and Latin America
many rainfed crops are near their maximum temperature tolerance,
so that yields are likely to fall sharply for even small
climate changes; falls in agricultural productivity of up
to 30% over the 21st century are projected. Marine life
and the fishing industry will also be severely affected
in some places." "Climate change induced by increasing greenhouse gases is likely to affect crops differently from region to region. For example, average crop yield is expected to drop down to 50% in Pakistan according to the UKMO scenario whereas corn production in Europe is expected to grow up to 25% in optimum hydrologic conditions." |
Inequalities of wealth lead to inequality of everything else, including food
For example wealthier people can afford to feed grain to cattle for meat, while many of the world's poorest people cannot afford even enough grain to feed themselves.
| "About 70 percent
of the grain produced in the United States is fed to animals
destined for slaughter. Worldwide, the figure is over 33
percent. Two-thirds of U. S. grain exports end up being
fed to animals. It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to raise
one pound of edible beef in a feedlot. To make matters even
worse, the U. S. is a major importer of beef, much of it
raised for the fast-food hamburger markets on land that
was formerly tropical forests, in countries where there
is widespread hunger." http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/jvpeace.html |
Wealthy nations
can even afford to use grain to produce fuel.
Food
shortages often lead to political instability or even war.
| "Last year saw mass protests in Mexico over the skyrocketing prices of tortillas, rice riots in Senegal, and street demonstrations in Italy over higher prices for pasta. Many governments have slapped price controls on food or imposed limits on exports of grain (such temporary measures, done for political purposes, usually backfire later in the economy). So far this year, higher wheat prices in Pakistan have led to smuggling and a need for troops to guard grain reserves. In Indonesia this week, 10,000 sellers of soybean products stormed the government palace to protest high prices." (Christian Science Monitor, January 18, 2008) |
People have fought over productive land throughout history.
| "Talmudic sages saw significance in the following; The Hebrew word for war, milchama, is directly derived from the word locham, which means both "to feed" as well as "to wage war." The Hebrew word for bread, lechem , comes from the same root. This led the sages to suggest that lack of bread and the search for sufficient food tempt people to make war. The seeds of war are often found in the inability of a nation to provide adequate food and other resources for its people. Hence, feeding tremendous amounts of grains to animals destined for slaughter, instead of feeding starving people, could be a prime cause for war." http://jewishveg.com/schwartz/jvpeace.html |
Why is this issue of concern for Christians?
If you live in a developing country, and most Christians do, it may be a matter of personal and family survival. Even those of us in wealthier nations need to be concerned if we are to follow the teaching of Christ and our tradition.
In both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures God shows
great concern for the plight of the poor.
In addition to
the above mentioned identification of Jesus as the bread of life,
illustrated by a quite concrete feeding of 5000 plus people, we
find that early Christian communities were known for their care
of widows and orphans.
God's promise to Israel was a land flowing with milk and honey.
And God sought to ensure that all the people enjoyed it's benefits.
Farmers were instructed not to till the corners of their fields,
but to leave some grain there to be harvested by the poor. Lest
ownership of land become concentrated in too few hands, the law
calls for a Jubilee year every 50 years, in which all lands would
be returned to their original owners. The Prophets railed against
those who grew fat at the expense of others.
Finally Christians are called to concern by Jesus' saying, "In
as much as you have done it unto the least of these, you have
done it unto me."
What shall we do, in our concern?
First we must take
every action we can to limit climate change by limiting the emission
of greenhouse gasses. The three most effective steps for American
consumers are to use less fuel, use less electricity, and eat
less meat, especially red meat.
But that won't be enough without government and industry action.
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"Making sure that the next generation has enough food is no longer merely an agricultural matter. Historically, food security was the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. Food scarcity could be alleviated simply by fine-tuning farm policies and investing more in agriculture. Now, however, achieving an acceptable balance between food and people depends as much on family planners as on farmers. Decisions made in the ministries of energy that will affect future climate stability may have as much effect on the food security of the next generation as those made in agricultural ministries. Securing future food supplies depends on stabilizing climate, stabilizing population, raising the efficiency of water use, protecting cropland from conversion to nonfarm uses, reducing air pollution, stabilizing aquifers, stabilizing soils, and protecting the earth's biological diversity. These are also the steps needed to put the world on an economic and demographic path that is environmentally sustainable. Although this listing of needed steps is a short one, the scale of the total effort needed is unprecedented. Stabilizing population means revolutionizing human reproductive behavior. Stabilizing climate means restructuring the global energy economy. Historically, the only effort that approaches the scale and urgency of the one outlined here is the mobilization during World War II." (Rising Grain Prices May Disrupt Global Economic Progress by Worldwatch Institute on August 16, 1997.) |
PDF Version of these notes: click here
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To other Materials for Sundays
in this series
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Proper 24
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October 5
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October 12
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October 19
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October 26
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This Page
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Note: The Reflections and Notes for this Sunday were prepared by the Rev Tom Harries.
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The Rev Tom Harries was Priest-in-Charge, Church of the Holy Communion, St. Peter, MN, and Total Ministry Mentor in Central Minnesota when he originally prepared these materials. Tom and we welcome your comments. Please address your comments or additional reflections to Tom Harries or any MEESC member, or mail them to:
The MEESC assumes that all correspondence received is for publication on this web site. If your comments are not for publication, please so note on your correspondence. The MEESC reserves the right to decide which items are included on the website. |
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This page last updated 2008-08-18. |
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