Peace Out! Week Sixty-seven

Blessed Creator of the earth and all that inhabits it: We thank you for your prophets John Muir and Hudson Stuck, who rejoiced in your beauty made known in the natural world; and we pray that, inspired by their love of your creation, we may be wise and faithful stewards of the world you have created, that generations to come may also lie down to rest among the pines and rise refreshed for their work; in the Name of the one through whom you make all things new, Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Washington National Cathedral has a lovely interdenominational Earth Day service that you can access via their website. Prayers from the service include these, which invite us to gratitude for the earth, our island home; lament for our destruction of her and her creatures; and commitment to her healing:

All humankind is one vast family,
This world, our home.
We sleep beneath one roof, the starry sky.
We warm ourselves before one hearth, the blazing sun.
Upon one soil we stand, and breathe one air, and drink one water, and walk the night beneath one luminescent moon.
The children of the Universe are we, family of one blood,
Members in one worldwide family, this Earth, our home.

All humankind is one vast family,
This world, our home.
We acknowledge the damage to our roof, the starry sky.
We recognize the rising heat which harms our seas, our plains, our forests, and the life therein. We lament the painful consequences of our choices on the sacred soil, and air, and water.
The children of the Universe are we, family of one blood,
Who bear responsibility for the hurt we cause each other and this Earth, our home.

All humankind is one vast family,
This world, our home.
We pledge our care to all the life beneath one roof, the starry sky.
We honor all who seek the warmth of blazing sun.
We will remember that upon one soil we stand, and breathe one air, and drink one water, and walk the night beneath one luminescent moon.
All children of the Universe are we — creatures of the land, and sea, and air,
All life that lives upon, within, this Earth, our home.

The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. The enormous challenge — but also the vast opportunities — of action on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary. (www.earthday.org)

The Green Faith working group has put together a list of climate change video resources to explore in honor of Earth Day. Feel free to share any others you find with your community!

NASA's Research on Climate Change | Above and Beyond- January 2020 – 6.03 minutes - Shows dramatic change in the world using data from NASA satellites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rvl6z80baI

Causes and Effects of Climate Change | National Geographic - Aug 2017 – 3.05 minutes - Good description of cause and effect of global warming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4H1N_yXBiA

Global warming -- fact or fiction? | David Bromwich | TEDxColumbus - Oct 2013 – 16.07 minutes - More in depth description of global warming and its impact on the earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zXz4UJb5WM

The American Denial of Global Warming - Perspectives on Ocean Science - Dec 2007 – 58.36 minutes - In depth discussion of global warming starting with the first recognition of global warming in 1930.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4UF_Rmlio

The Coronavirus Pandemic's Impact On Pollution And Climate Change | NBC News – March 2020 – 4.49 minutes - Shows change in warming as a result of less use of green house gases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PKoF4GqFBA

The River and The Wall – 2019 – On Amazon.com – 1 hr, 46min - Five people travel 1200 miles along the Rio Grande River to learn about the impact of a wall on immigration and on the environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lp9SA2tnjU

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away tonight.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.

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Hindu prayer for peace

Our upcoming schedule:

We are physical distancing in Sisters, Oregon with friends and EPF supporters Rev. Jack and Rev. Christy Erskine for a little while longer due to COVID-19. Eventually, we will be rescheduling our pilgrimage to the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest when the coast is clear. Meanwhile, I'm doing some administrative chores, trying to keep in touch with EPF supporters, reading and praying and taking action for those for whom EPF advocates -- the people living in Palestine/Israel affected by the violence there, those affected by gun violence, those affected by war, the people being held in unconscionable circumstances in our unjust and racist criminal justice system, those being treated inhumanely as they try to find safe harbor in our country of abundance, those being trafficked and abused, our beautiful planet which often feels like she is in her own death throes, and all those who feel disconnected from the rest of humanity. With God's help. . .

Until next time,

power to the peaceful!

Melanie