Caring for Creation: Part One of Three
*Part of Our May Creation Justice Focus
I'm sure most of you by now have seen the videos of fish swimming in Venice or goats wandering streets in Wales. The internet abounds with videos of wildlife in the past two months already returning to spaces over which humans previously had held dominion. What surprised me was how effected I felt by these images, the joy and fuel I got out of seeing them, out of knowing that--given space, life was finding a way. The wound that I carry, that many of us carry together, of grief/anger/fear/bewilderment around climate change, was taking in medicine from seeing these animals go about the business of their lives. And with the fog of the pandemic around us it was a little pocket of hope that new good things are also possible right now.
Climate change, being the labyrinthine interconnected issue that it is, is literally hard for the mind to comprehend, let alone break down into pieces you can work with. The thought that arose for me was "It's simple. All we need to do is hold still." Obviously this is not true. Holding still is not simple, and holding still is not all that is needed to combat climate change. Still, when we must hold still, we are creating space, in the physical world and within ourselves. And in that space life can fill in, habits can be shifted.
Would we have believed that the vast majority of Americans would have followed social distancing at this speed, prior to this pandemic? That this many people in the US would be wearing masks and changing their hygiene, shopping, cooking, and travel habits? Humans can change if they feel personally connected to something, able to feel it as immediately relevant, and personally able to effect change.
If we can learn to think and talk about climate change in these terms we can better engage as Christians with our sacred task of caring for this planet. It can be easy to think that we have little to no influence over what is happening around us with the pandemic and climate change----that talking about climate change is a tone deaf topic in the midst of quarantine. I would argue the exact opposite. If we are being forced into stillness, into changing habits, let's lean in and follow the spirit into the healing changes that we already knew were needed for all of us.
-Felix
Get Centered: Advocating for creation and changing habits can be life giving when we celebrate our personal connections to this planet. So please consider this invitation.
-Think about a time or a place in your life where you have felt connected to the outside world around you, perhaps on a camping trip, at a favorite swimming hole, or a park or garden you know well.
-Be specific: Who were you with? What did you see there? What did you do? How did your body feel? Would you describe this as a moment you felt connected to God?
-Go outside: Observe the world around you through each of your senses. If you want to do this in a structured way, watch this video on shinrin-yoku aka "nature bathing."
Act: In connection to Pastor Lindy's challenge on healthy planet habits we can build, the youth group has come up with a menu of concrete actions Pilgrims can take. The full list is here but each week we will target a few specific ones to offer up to Pilgrims and the wider community.
Here are the ones for this week:
Speak up: Register to vote and make sure you are able to vote by mail. Reach out to 1 friend who you think may need help figuring out mail in voting.
Greener Inside: Reduce water waste in your home. Be efficient in your use of water devices, reuse water when possible, and maintain and update devices. Choose 1 water saving action that you don't already do to build into your routine this week, like swapping out a nut milk for cow's milk.
Greener Outside: Start a garden in pots or in your yard, or improve the one you have. If you need inspiration a pollinator garden can be a low maintenance garden that will help out bees.
Greener Lifestyle: Build up your food waste warrior mindset. Choose 1 action you don't already do to reduce food waste this week, like cutting off the soft spots in your veggies and using the good parts in a soup, rather than tossing them.