Lenten Wilderness: The Uninhabitable Earth

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming, published two weeks ago, will help to shape my Lenten experience this year. In turn, I suspect my observance of Lent will color my reading of David Wallace-Wells’s blunt and lucid account of the present reality of climate change. My intention during Lent is to figure out every day what to give up or let go of to ensure time for a close reading of a chunk of this book along with a close reading of the Daily Office readings for that day and plenty of time for prayer. 

“It is worse, much worse, than you think,” reads the first sentence of The Uninhabitable Earth. 

“We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives.” We pray this confession in our Litany of Penitence as one of many particular faults. All of the sins we confess on Ash Wednesday have some bearing on the particular sin that most directly speaks to the subject of The Uninhabitable Earth: 

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,Accept our repentance, Lord. 

Yesterday’s familiar Daily Office reading from John’s Gospel (John 1:1-18) reminded us of the reality of the Incarnation, the Word that came to live among us in our world of earth, air, fire, and water. While some forms of piety emphasize a heaven / earth dualism during Lent, the reality of our faith and of our lives is that we are part of the world God created and pronounced good, the same world so deeply loved by God that Jesus, God Incarnate, came to dwell here with us. Whether we can understand it, and even if we deny it, the laws of chemistry and physics and our past and present actions are resulting in big changes that have forever changed life on our planet. And whether we can understand it, and even if we deny it, God’s love for us and for all of creation, the love that we know through Jesus’s love, is with us as we respond to the huge challenges we face. 

I’ve chosen to read The Uninhabitable Earth not despite the psychological and spiritual challenge of looking squarely at our present situation on this planet, but because of the enormity of that challenge. The temptation to look away is a true temptation, a temptation to sin. Our failure to acknowledge climate change as the central issue of our time — our practice of willful ignorance, of ignoring the very warm elephant in the room as we allow ourselves to be distracted by all sorts of craziness along with all sorts of other serious concerns that will only worsen as Earth’s temperatures soar — is more than an oversight. Our willful ignorance that results in human suffering and species extinction is a sin, and the only way to repent of willful ignorance is to seek knowledge. 

I have no idea what I’ll encounter in the practice of reflecting on this latest summary of our perilous condition alongside our daily lectionary readings and Lenten prayers, but when any of us chooses a serious Lenten discipline, we have no idea what we will encounter in our chosen wilderness. By definition, the wilderness has no set paths to follow, no guarantees of what we will find. 

In this age of global warming, we are all in the wilderness, all lost whether or not we realize it.  Choosing a forty day interior wilderness journey that acknowledges our material situation seems appropriate to me this year. I’ll post some reports along the way if I find something worth sharing.

Lent in God's Holy Creation

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

(Ash Wednesday Litany of Penitence, The Book of Common Prayer)

     As Lent begins, people who follow the news about climate change are waiting for the release later this month of the next part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5^th assessment report, this one about the impacts of climate change. A leak of the draft document suggests that the news will not be encouraging. Back in November, the New York Times published this article anticipating discussion of expected food shortages as the world warms.

    Meanwhile, a state of emergency exists in the Marshall Islands as increasingly frequent and intense king tides have caused widespread flooding that has displaced over a thousand people.

    Food shortages, floods, disappearing islands, and other effects of climate change are expected to have a huge negative impact on those who come after us. Our litany of penitence helps us name the sin of our waste and pollution and recognize the contributing factors of our inattention to the environment and our willful ignorance about the causes and effects of climate change.

   

     We begin Lent by confessing our sins. Lent, however, is about both penitence and repentance. Once we have recognized and confessed our sins, the work of Lent is the work of turning ourselves around. The absolution following the Litany of Penitence uses the language of repentance: “that they may turn from their wickedness and live”.

     Our Lenten disciplines, no matter how profound or perfunctory, are grounded in the idea of letting go of old, harmful ways and taking on something new that restores us to new life. Sometimes we give something up, sometimes we take on a particular new habit or activity that promises to deepen our spirituality or help us better serve in Christ’s name, and sometimes we simply follow a prescribed discipline or study that might help us better our understanding and find new ways to serve.

     People who prefer the latter sort of discipline might consider following one of the calendars of activities that help us look at various aspects of environmental stewardship. There are several of these offered each year; one that is widely used is the Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast offered by the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ. This may be of special interests to families with school-aged children as a way to learn about how our actions affect the environment that sustains our lives. These calendars are also good tools for people who like a highly structured Lenten discipline with some daily variety.

     Given the date of Ash Wednesday this year, though, I would propose a less structured discipline that is more doable in the lengthening days of early spring than in our usual more wintry start to Lent: going outside and looking around. Stroll or sit on a porch or putter in the garden. Take time to look and listen and enjoy. Watch the birds gathering nesting materials, see the cloud formations or the clearness of the sky, notice the spring flowers emerging from the ground and then blooming, look at the buds swelling on the trees.

     To do this, we need to give up whatever else would usually fill that time. We also need to give up the idea that we need to do something – mow a lawn, play golf, raise our heart rate – in order to justify spending time outdoors. Whatever we give up, we will be taking on something new that can restore our own lives and the life of the living things around us.

     Many of us have lost our connection to the outdoors, to our own habitats. Restoring that connection feeds our souls and deepens our connection to God the Creator. The simple act of going outside and looking around can deepen our spirituality in surprising ways, reawakening parts of our souls that are sometimes neglected.

     The same practice forms us to be better able to serve in Christ’s name. Our world is hurting from our poor stewardship of the earth. The poorest people on earth are hurt first and worst by drought, floods, the spread of tropical diseases, and the effects of extreme weather events. Spending time outdoors reacquainting ourselves with the wonder all around us may cause us to remember the joy and love that runs through all of creation; we may find ourselves falling in love with the natural world all over again, or maybe even for the first time. Our compassion for the earth, for ourselves and other people, and for all living things grows stronger.

     We care for what we love. If we love the part of God’s creation in which we live, we will be better stewards of the earth. And as our love and compassion break out of the confines of family and tribe, our compassion for those who suffer from pollution and global warming might also grow.

     Going outside and looking around can help us to turn away from the wickedness of our lack of awareness and from the soulless activities with which we often fill our time. It can help restore us to a more abundant life and equip us to serve. And springtime in Nebraska offers a great opportunity to connect with God by connecting with God’s creation.

**

This is adapted from an article I wrote for the Lent edition of The Nebraska Episcopalian.

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)

Ash Wednesday

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

Recently a relatively new acquaintance in the diocese told me that when he first met me and heard me talk about my ministry, he didn’t understand why anyone would do environmental ministry; for him it didn’t seem to fit the model of other ministries of the church. But he then said that after hearing me talk about creation care, he had begun to notice how often we pray for the earth and its resources, for God’s creation, and realized that concern for creation is found throughout our liturgy. I thought about this conversation after our midday Ash Wednesday service because repentance for our poor stewardship of the environment and for our lack of concern about that poor stewardship is spelled out clearly in these lines from the Litany of Penitence.

In fact, many of the sins we confess in the Litany of Penitence are directly related to issues of environmental stewardship: self-indulgence, exploitation of other people, an intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our blindness to human needs and suffering (including the suffering of people whose health is affected by air and water pollution or climate change). As we pray this litany on Ash Wednesday, it’s easy to read the words and move on to the next part of the litany without connecting what we are saying to any particular actions or situations; it’s easy to be sincere about our penitence on an abstract level without connecting that penitence to areas where we could and should make changes in our own lives. It might be good to find some quiet time early on during Lent to pray through the Litany of Penitence (pp. 267-269 in the Book of Common Prayer) slowly, taking the time to think more specifically about where we have fallen short so that we can truly repent and turn toward better ways of living our lives.

Today’s lectionary text from Isaiah (Isaiah 58:1-12) says that a true fast, a day truly acceptable to the Lord, consists of acts of mercy and justice. When we do these things, says Isaiah, we will find ourselves strengthened and guided by God. The passage ends with the statement that those who meet the needs of others and relieve suffering will “be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in”. Pollution and climate change are leaving many places where people live in need of restoration. God has work for us to do when we get up off our knees.

Litany of Penitence

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 Ash Wednesday Litany of Penitence, The Book of Common Prayer, p. 268)

Episcopalians began Lent yesterday with our liturgy for Ash Wednesday. This liturgy calls us to a holy Lent; we begin that holy Lent by receiving ashes that remind us that God created us out of the dust of the Earth, that we are mortals, and that it is through Christ that we have the gift of everlasting life. The reminder that we are of the Earth -- that we are human, created from humus – brings us to humility, opening our hearts for the Litany of Penitence, an extended form of confession that names particular areas of our lives in which we have sinned by what we have done and by what we have left undone.

This group confession, acknowledging our sins personally and corporately, is very moving. As we prayed through this liturgy at St. Stephen’s yesterday evening, I was especially struck by our acknowledgment of our waste and pollution of creation. This part of the litany includes an acknowledgement of our lack of concern for future generations; we often say we care about those who will come after us, but if we do little to care for our planet, our words are hollow and meaningless.

Besides this section of the litany itself, though, I was also struck by the interconnection among all of the sections of the litany. Jesus taught that all the commandments can be summarized by the commandments to love God and love our neighbors, and all of the particular parts of the litany of penitence are connected to our confession of our failure to love God with our whole heart, and mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves.

Our disregard for creation is a disregard for God’s work, God’s holy creation, and a disregard for other people. It’s directly connected to other sins that we confess in the litany: our “self-indulgent appetites and ways” and the accompanying “exploitation of other people”; our “intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts”, our “blindness to human need and suffering”.

In preparation for the Sustainable Faith forum  planned for February 27 at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, I’ve been thinking about “greening” congregations. This is a catchall phrase for any sort of efforts at being better stewards of the environment. It can range through several levels of commitment. A downward nudge of the thermostat or a decision to get the mugs out of the kitchen cupboard and quit using Styrofoam cups at coffee hour is a beginning. There are several levels of commitment to looking at and addressing energy usage, paper usage, cleaning supplies, lawn care and water usage, and all the other things we are learning to consider in our homes, schools, and businesses in an effort to take better care of the Earth. At the deepest level, we realize that being truly “green”, being deeply committed to caring for creation, is connected to all the other areas of our lives that are addressed in the litany of penitence.

What will be the fruits of our penitent and renewed spirits at the end of this Lenten season? The depth of our intention to be more constant in our love of God and of our neighbors will be reflected by the depth of our commitment to care for God’s creation, and by our efforts to leave a sustainable environment for those who come after us.