In Margaret Swedish ‘s amazing and disturbing and yet, hopeful book, this quote is but one of the instances where she expresses the feeling about the responsibility of the theological communities to awaken their people from “slumber” and out of the practical denial that keeps us procrastinating the measures we need to be instigating in response to the Climate Crisis. Continue Reading
I just finished the book (Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love by Elizabeth A. Johnson) this morning, and I’ve been wandering ( and wondering) about for a couple of hours since. I’ve spent a part of that time diving back into Margaret Swedish’s “Living Beyond the End of the World: A Spirituality of Hope”. These two books Continue Reading
I posted this comment to UMNS Facebook post on UMComm (United Methodist Communicaitons) ‘s 75th anniversary observance: UMComm has certainly been out there, utilizing media, telling the story, and telling lots of stories which have highlighted the church’s presence across a wide range of issues. This is something to be proud of. What I am wondering TODAY, however, is where Continue Reading
One of those “all things” passages, in Colossians, 1, it is said of “The Son” that he is the “firstborn over all creation”; “He is before all things and in him all things hold together”; God was pleased to have all fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things”. I cannot avoid the thought that Continue Reading
So, I scan the timeline*, and at no time has the issue of the Climate Crisis been considered worthy of a serious communication effort, even as this has become glaringly obvious as a reality of IMMENSE social , political, and economic upheaval. When will this cross the threshold from “an issue” among others, to a Crisis worthy of SERIOUS ethical, Continue Reading
Saw this article on the UMC.org website this week, and , as I am apparently programmed to do, reflected upon it in the context of “A Church in a time of Climate Crisis”, or “A Planet in Peril” (as I once heard Phillip Clayton say). There was no place for me to make comments below this article which was published Continue Reading
I tweeted these three tweets out to my 3 Twitter accounts yesterday, and again just a few minutes ago. Our churches should be generating ministries of “Eco-Mission” Let us not allow this to become a point of great O-mission Rather, it should be considered an integral part of “The Great Commission” as we seek to be a church in the Continue Reading
A Twitter acquaintance (Ryan; met him via some post comments on UMC.org), asked me via Twitter yesterday: “Can you give me a list of top 10 things to do to live as an ecological steward?” . I responded with a followup , clarifying question: “as individuals, collectives, or all of the above?”. And also : “regardless of your reply, Continue Reading
Video from PandoPopulus, ( Click here to begin at 24:50 is when Wes Jackson begins speaking)
Yes! Pope Francis devotes an entire chapter of the encyclical to the need for an “ecological conversion†among Christians, “whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or Continue Reading
“By asserting that nature has a value in and of itself, Francis is overturning centuries of theological interpretation that regarded the natural world with outright hostility—as a misery to be transcended and an ‘allurement’ to be resisted.” – Naomi Klein in “A Radical Vatican?” via The New Yorker Yes, Naomi, it is a STEEP theological legacy that must be reformed. But Continue Reading
another choice quote from the above article by Naomi Klein: We’re here because many powerful Church insiders simply cannot be counted upon to champion Francis’s transformative climate message—and some would clearly be happy to see it buried alongside the many other secrets entombed in this walled enclave. – Naomi Klein in “A Radical Vatican?”, New Yorker Magazine I get this same sense Continue Reading
Building on my last post here, I saw an article on UMNS , here, entitled “United Methodists achieve milestones despite differences” , and began the article with this: Different viewpoints over societal changes have led some to speculate whether the unity of The United Methodist Church will hold when its top legislative body meets in May 2016. (the linked article Continue Reading
As I have been posting this morning about the “acceptance of Climate Change” at a level required for us to “get it” regarding the urgency of the crisis it represents, I am once agin reminded and brought back to something Tim DeChristopher said in these reflections he offered when I asked him to say a few words about why he Continue Reading
But don’t worry, “the pope is not an economist.” @EndPovertyUSA @americamag — Nathan Schneider (@nathanairplane) July 2, 2015 (And yeah, I RT’d it and trying to embed it on Facebook. May just have to copy the text. )