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EarthWords - connecting Scripture
and Creation
"Creation flavored" thoughts on the lectionary texts
Date: November 13, 2011
(note corresponding EarthWords from 3 years ago archived on the website)
Text: Psalm 123
Thoughts
As we've been lifting up our eyes lately, we've seen glorious autumn colors - orange, red, brown, yellow all against
a clear blue sky. Or a huge moon against a dark sky! Today we are seeing more bare branches, grey clouds, rain,
and perhaps snow! (We planted 5 dwarf fruit trees yesterday - almost in the dark - and just about have the "going to
be garden next year" space put to bed. Just in time.)
"We have had more than enough of the contempt" - of climate deniers who block important decisions, of corporations that
continue to pollute with impunity, of politicians who put their own (financial) well-being ahead of the well-being of Creation.
(An interesting newspaper article has been kicking around on my desk about how state Attorneys General are asking the federal
courts to delay EPA regulations that would require power plants [and we have one that would be affected in our community]
to cut back on mercury emissions "to save jobs and reduce electricity rates". However the Great Lakes Commission reports
that 6 of the 15 most commonly eaten fish [including lake trout - rats, I like lake trout!] have higher levels of mercury
than is recommended for human consumption. So what do you do - hang onto jobs and cheap electricity even though it may
be damaging your children and grandchildren? If that's the choice we make we may well have reason to say "Have mercy
upon us, O Lord"!)
Or check the "Meritocracy vs. Plutocracy" piece on Barry Ritholz's The Big Picture http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/. In the degree of inequality of the distribution of family income, the US ranks 39th (1 is worst, 136 is best.
Germany is 126th. Norway, Hungary, and Sweden are 134, 135, and 136!) “Too often, executive compensation
in the U.S. is ridiculously out of line with performance. Getting fired can produce a particularly bountiful payday for a
CEO. Indeed, he can “earn” more in that single day, while cleaning out his desk, than an American worker earns
in a lifetime of cleaning toilets. Forget the old maxim about nothing succeeding like success: Today, in the executive suite,
the all-too-prevalent rule is that nothing succeeds like failure.” -W Buffett. In 2010, large company CEOs received
$11.4 million, or 343 times worker pay, according to calculations by the AFL-CIO’s Executive Paywatch website.
Text: Judges 4.1-7
Thoughts
So I am in a bit of a spot here - Judges 4 has always seemed pretty lame compared to Judges 5, but they both glorify
war in a way I'm not really comfortable with. I used to enjoy reciting Judges 5 ("she stretched out her hand to the
tent peg..."), but in later years I got kind of uncomfortable with the whole thing. Anyway -
"Deborah was judging Israel" - who do you look back on as providing wise (environmental) judgment, vision, direction
for you, for your country/congregation, for Creation. Rachel Carson, Thomas Berry, Wendell Berry, Bill McKibben certainly
come to mind on a national or global scale. What about in your personal life and experience?
"She used to sit under the palm" - where would you sit? Under a white pine could be pretty majestic. By a
rippling stream could be peaceful. What kind of surroundings would help you make good decisions? Would it make
a difference if our courts met outdoors?
"And I will give him into your hand." As we have often said - problematic if not downright troublesome. Who/what
(people, trees, fossil fuels, other critters) have we (our country) treated as if "God had given them into our hand"?
Text: 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11
Thoughts
What do we know about the times and seasons? I've found it really important to have some things written
to me about them. Eaarth, World Made By Hand, The Long Emergency, and so on.
"Destruction will come like a thief in the night" - in the form of financial collapse? In the form
of climate change storms, fires, droughts, sea level rise? In the (relatively) sudden collapse of demand for oil leading
to shortages? What kind of a thief do you fear most?
"You are not in darkness for that day to surprise you" - echoes of last week: decide, choose, prepare!
Night gets kind of a bad rap - the writer must not have seen the moon these last few days/nights!
Text: Matthew 25.14-30
Thoughts
"You should have invested it or given it to the bankers" - interesting suggestion on a day when the Dow (as I "keyboard"
this) is down 270 points and one think-tank suggests there is a 65% chance of bank crisis in November http://www.cnbc.com/id/45218531. (Wait a minute - this is November!)
Prayer
God of day and night,
of changing times and seasons,
of all Creation in all its splendor -
in these "last minute days" before the season completely changes,
help us get done those things that will prepare us well for winter (or summer, depending).
As we look forward to the "thief in the night future" of storms and droughts and changes,
help us mitigate what we can and adapt to what we must.
Thank you for the voices who have spoken to us through the years;
help us heed their wisdom.
One Thing to Do This Week
Think about where your "security" (food, shelter, social) really lies. Is that something you should change or tweak?
EarthWords is produced by Charlie West
Ink
permission given to copy, share, use, delete, forward, distribute, disagree
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