"Creation flavored" thoughts on the lectionary texts
Date: Nov 27, 2011
(note corresponding EarthWords from 3 years ago archived on the website)
Text: Psalm 80.1-7,17-19
Thoughts
"like a flock" - how are we like a flock? How does one go about leading a flock?
"shine, might, face, save" - God's "might" is often seen as destructive - "acts of God". This passage suggests
that the warm sunshine is also an "act of God", an act of salvation. I guess today we would say "within limits"!
Earth is energized by sunlight, but as the balance of energy in and energy out is disrupted by excess greenhouse gases, the
(sun) "shine" becomes destructive, at least to life as we have gotten used to.
Restore - as in "reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim, restore"!
"How long" - the changes we are causing will last for centuries, if not longer, if not actually being permanent.
The idea that we could stop doing what we are doing (ha!) and things would "return to normal" in our lifespan or our
children's lifespan or our grandchildren's lifespan is foolish.
"Bread of tears" - some people think those days are coming. Where does your bread come from? How does it
get to you? How secure is that arrangement? What happens if it breaks down? I don't think our area is particularly
well suited for growing wheat!
"Our neighbors, our enemies" - what makes a neighbor? People who live near you? People who share your beliefs
(about climate change, peak oil, financial collapse) and preparations? How do we respond to those who deny, disbelieve,
fail to prepare? Does that make them "enemies"?
Text: Isaiah 64.1-9
Thoughts
"things which we looked not for" - like soil erosion, like invasive species damage, like positive feedback loops out
of our control (melting permafrost releasing methane and speeding up the global warming), like male fish in the Potomac
River developing eggs as a result of endocrine disruptors in the environment, like....
"We fade like a leaf" - our leaves are just about all down now. Even the tamarack has turned golden and dropped
many of its needles as it does each year. But also the white fir which all of a sudden dropped all of its needles in
a 3-4 week span as it has never done before. Is it sad because we cut down a couple of it's friends? Did it dry
out because we had a long dry summer? We're waiting for next spring to see if it comes back!
"Thou hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities" - our actions have set changes in motion and now we will have
to adapt to them as best we can, as will our children, grandchildren, and so on...
"We are all your people" - who else is saying that with us? Birds flying south? Frogs and turtles settling
into the mud for the long dark? Squirrels hiding nuts and seeds all over the yard? Fish dealing with changing water
chemistry? Who else are "your people" along with us, God?
Text: Mark 13.24-37
Thoughts
The tribulation - that was the subject of vs1-23, and of eaarth by Bill Mckibben?, and of The Long Emergency
by James Howard Kunstler?, and of The Bridge at the Edge of the World by Gus Speth?, and many other books and articles?
"The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light" - well, no sunlight no moon light, that makes sense.
It also means no power from the solar panels. And no passive solar heat from the southfacing windows. Also no
fruits and veggies from the garden. We just cut down the trees this year to let the sunlight in! We hope the darkness
holds off for a few more years!
"From the fig tree" - and we just planted some apple, nectarine, pear, plum, and cherry trees. Right now they look
pretty much like sticks someone stuck in the ground. We'll be watching eagerly for leaves come spring!
"This generation will not pass away before..." We have become that generation. Sounds a little like Theoden
in Lord of the Rings - "Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like
rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it
come to this?" We have become the generation that global warming and climate change has begun to happen to. How did
it come to this?
