Earth Day, April 22, 2020: 50th Anniversary
A question begs to be asked - have we humans worked to restore the Earth so it is better today than 50 years ago? Have we slowed the size of the ozone hole which is forming over Antarctica? You know of course that ozone shields us from the sun’s sterilizing heat? Can people on the western coast of Chili now go outside in the afternoon?
Fr. Michael caught my ear and heart the first Sunday I attended church after his arrival. From the front of the church he dismissed us with’ “Be careful as you go into God’s creation because it does not belong to you....”
Those words have been ones that I’ve reflected upon since my Missouri Synod Lutheran confirmation class. Our instructor was most adamant and included negative stories, about “evolution”. In fact, I got the first question when our class was tested before the congregation to see if we were prepared to be MSL members. It was “WHO CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH?” Then some 30 years later I was quietly asked to leave MSL because “evolution” was a concept in the AP Biology class that I taught. I concur with Fr Michael, we should be cognizant as we leave the church building and walk out onto our amazing planet, it is not mine nor yours, although we were made caretakers....the soil, rocks, water, air, plants, animals, us. We are so interconnected that when one part or many parts are out of balance, so are we all. Today we are more aware of that than any former time in our lives.
I have been a bird watcher most of my life. As a teenager I felt safe walking up the railroad track along the Mississippi River and looking for, watching and listening to birds. Last year when Mary and I walked in the Robinson’s Preserves she became interested in the water birds. There were several different kinds of herons, egrets, pelicans and other large water fowl sitting, floating, flying about. We’d stop to watch and marvel at their beauty. This year when we returned, she became a fanatic. So to encourage this interest, I began researching where to go and what should we expect to see. So naturally I went to the Audubon Society for information. For years as the RV rolled down the highways I’ve lamented that I don’t see the rows of blackbirds on the telephone wires or the meadowlark on the fence post. But my eyes and mind were shocked when the computer screen opened to “A Storm Gathers for North American Birds” and in bill board size print it flashed, “They aren’t THERE because maybe they aren’t HERE anymore”. I read the “heart wenching reality check article”. In it, I was reminded that birds have always been a sign post of habitat health. Each species occupies a unique habitat and when that habitat is unhealthy to the point that it no longer supports that species, that species becomes extinct. And habitats are changing due to a variety of reasons: urbanization, deforestation, rising temperatures, higher seas, heavy rains, industrial pollution, plastics debris. When you look out at your feeder (do you have one?) know that the birds you see may be on the list of extinction. If you care about the birds (and our health) you will probably want to go to the internet and check out what is known about their future and what you can do to help.
Originally, I had planned to spend the Adult Education hour talking and encouraging you to become involved in the plastics crisis. Why? Because their story is contrary to everything else on this planet.
Plastics do not break down (by weathering or microbial action) and return to basic building blocks so they can be reused in or by another living thing. So they accumulate year after year. They have formed an island floating in the ocean. They entangle countless species. They pollute our beaches, streams, streets and even our bodies when we drink their microscopic bits in our water! Plastics are something we can help reduce through non-purchase or use. But this pandemic has changed my grocery shopping. The grocery “shoppers” select the items on my list and put them into the plastic bags that I had been studiously avoiding! So the choice...be exposed by doing my own shopping and bagging into my cloth bags or stay safer and accept the plastic bags! So how could I make a case to you for cloth shopping bags?
And so we find ourselves in a pandemic which began in an unhealthy (maybe illegal) animal shop in China. Our God given gift has been so taken for granted and abused by God’s caretakers that we’ve been forced to isolate to survive. There are pros to this. Time to interact daily with family members, shared dinners with conversation, discoveries of other’s likes and dislikes, time to reflect. There is also time to explore what is my personal role in Earth’s health. The internet is full of Earth’s health information and there are countless online activities for Earth Day - Audubon, NASA, International Earth Day, Columbus Earth Day. It is a good day to take that spiritual walk and see what is speaking to you What is your “Earth Day” passion? Don’t have one, perhaps it is time that each of us gets one!
“Be careful as you go into God’s creation because it does not belong to you.”
Happy Earth Day!
Jimi James
Health & Wellness Ministry