Month's End: Pentecost and Praying the News

The last Sunday in May was Pentecost this year. Pentecost is a fitting time not only to look back at the gift of the Holy Spirit at the Pentecost described in Acts 2:1-21, but also to consider how the Spirit calls and empowers the church today to share the Gospel.

Our Psalm on Pentecost Sunday (Psalm 104:25-35, 37b) praises God for the earth and for the great variety of creatures  – “O Lord, how manifold are your works” – and for God’s provision for creation. It’s a picture of the abundance and biodiversity we would expect to find in the unspoiled creation of a gracious and loving God.

The Epistle lesson from Romans 8:22-27 describes human beings and all of creation waiting together for redemption. Paul talks about hoping for things we cannot yet see, because “hope that is seen is not hope”.

Surely the Spirit calls us in the church to be part of God’s redeeming work for the earth as well as humankind. The world described in Psalm 104 is a picture of the Reign of God, where even the Leviathan, the serpent of the sea, is something good and playful. One way to tell whether a push or pull toward action is of the Spirit is to look at whether it works for or against the restoration of God’s creation. Even when hope seems slim, we are called to trust in God’s power and do the redemptive work of the Gospel.

Some of the news stories from this past month were so devastating that we might very well find it difficult to pray in response to them. Where do we begin? Our spoken prayers can seem inadequate. St. Paul says (Romans 8:26): “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” I ask your prayers for some of the situations that leave us at the point of placing much hope in the deep prayer of the Spirit

Acceptance our repentance, Lord for the wrongs we have done: for our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, Accept our repentance, Lord.

From the Litany of Penitence (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 268)

Please pray for:

The future of life on the earth as greenhouse gas levels rise.  Many scientists consider 350 ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to be the upper limit of safe levels of the gas for life as we know it. Today there were reports  that monitoring stations this spring across the Arctic are measuring more than 400 ppm. Worldwide, levels average around 397ppm. May also brought a report from the International Energy Agency(IEA) that CO2 emissions reached a record high of 31.6 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2011. This is a 1.0 Gt increase over 2010 levels.

Wisdom to find just and compassionate ways to address the economic consequences of climate change. We are beginning to understand more about the way climate change will affect us economically. Some are beginning to talk about what scientist and climate writer Joe Romm calls “Dust-Bowlification”, the expectation that the sort of aridity associated with Dust Bowl may spread from Kansas to California by mid-century, endangering agriculture and food security. CBS News ran a piece on assessing the risk of climate change that explored some of the economic effects we have already seen.

People exposed to toxic chemicals. Discussion of the proposed Safe Chemicals Act  has brought our attention to our exposure to toxic chemicals. For example, an article today reports  that chemicals like fire retardants are being detected in common foods. Young children are especially vulnerable to the effects of these chemicals.

Grateful hearts.  Along with some record-breaking heat and severe weather, May has also brought some beautiful days to be outdoors in Nebraska. May we continue to find joy and meaning in God’s creation and give God thanks for the goodness of God’s creation.

We might also pray for our own hearts to be open so we can see the needs in the world around us and gladly respond to those needs:

O heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty; Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for Joy in God’s Creation (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 814)

All Things Wise and Wonderful

The last two Green Sprouts posts looked at some of the species that are in danger of extinction from the impact of the way we human beings are living on our shared planet. These endangered species are some of those bright and beautiful things, those “creatures great and small”, that we sing about in Hymn 405, “All things bright and beautiful.” Cecil Frances Alexander, the writer of the hymn, reminds us that “the Lord God made them all”.

The creation stories in Genesis tell us not only that God created the world and all the living things on the Earth, but that God gave humankind a special role in caring for our planet and the other creatures with whom we share “this fragile earth, our island home”. We know now not only that careful human stewardship can enhance the possibility of survival for other species, but also that the simple presence of a diversity of other living things optimizes conditions for human survival. Biodiversity is not an aesthetic luxury that we can sacrifice for economic gain or even short-term survival without grave consequences; biodiversity is essential for the health of human beings.

While many scientists predict an increase in the rate of species extinction as global warming increases, and while it’s a very serious situation, it isn’t without hope. For example, a recent study had both bad news – that many species of saltwater fish continue to be threatened by overfishing – and good news – that careful management of certain regions of the ocean had been able to turn things around. In other words, intentional stewardship allows us to live in harmony with other living things!

Another piece of this story is that the research was done jointly by marine ecologists and fisheries management scientists, two communities whose interests are often at variance with each other. By learning to look at this problem cooperatively rather than in a polarized way, these researchers were able to see a bigger picture than either community could see alone. In other words, when we love our enemies, when we humans learn to live together and work together well, all of creation can benefit.

In a very general yet very profound way, the most important thing that we human beings might do to maintain biodiversity and care for our fellow creatures is to live more fully into our humanity: to live peacefully with one another, to love and respect one another, and to be intentional about stewardship. When we are wise and wonderful human beings, it’s good both for us and for God’s other creatures.

We already know a lot of the specific actions that can help prevent species extinction. As I’ve learned more about species extinction in recent weeks, it seems to me that some of the biggest threats, which are interrelated, are global warming, overuse of living things (such as overfishing, or overcutting of forests), destruction of habitat, and pollution. Any actions we take to stop and then reverse these things are actions that help prevent multiple species extinctions.

Reducing our carbon footprint as individuals and as a society and a species is the key to reducing global warming. We can be good stewards by reducing our energy consumption and by doing what we can to encourage a decreased dependence on fossil fuels and the development of cleaner energy sources.

One of the most useful tools for people in landlocked Nebraska who want to do something about the depletion and extinction of creatures in the ocean is the seafood guide from Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. There is a detailed guide to seafood recommendations on their website, and also a pocket-sized Seafood Watch guide that can be downloaded and printed to take along to the supermarket or restaurants to help select seafood that is caught in ecologically responsible ways. There is a pocket guide specifically for the Central U.S.!

There are local efforts we can make to address habitat destruction. When we landscape the yards of our homes or churches, we can keep other creatures in mind. A monocrop of bluegrass is not a good environment for animals and birds. Reducing the area in bluegrass and devoting some parts of the yard to native plants helps wildlife to thrive. When we do this, we are often rewarded by seeing visiting butterflies, birds, and small mammals enjoying these less “manicured” areas.

Plastic bags are a form of pollution that continues to be a hazard to all sorts of creatures. Take your own reusable shopping bags with you whenever possible. If plastic bags are the only option from time to time, we can recycle them or at least ensure that when they are thrown “away” they cannot be blown up into a tree or off into a waterway to eventually empty into the sea. Air and water pollution of any sort are not good for living things!

The daily decisions we make as consumers add up. We can be careful about the products we buy and use, finding out what we can about the raw materials used in their production or manufacture, the ways they are shipped, and how big an impact their use will have on the environment. Similarly, we can think about our transportation options and practice good stewardship in this area. We can consider our landscaping and its effects on our fellow creatures. We can be wise and wonderful human beings, good stewards of God’s creation.