Morning Prayer 11-29-10

Of all the readings for this morning, the one from Isaiah fits so well with an environmental theme that it almost seems written with that intent. In it, God rails against the hypocricy of acting out religious observances when one lives out treachery. It might lead us to question why people Isaiah was addressing persisted in their religious practices when they were insincere. Was it ignorance? Were the people merely following rituals because they were customary? Had they simply not listened to the teachings about what God expected of them? Or was it cynicism? Could they have been participating in rituals they didn't believe in in order to maintain social status/power?


Regardless of the reason, God viewed their participation in sacrifices and solemn assemblies duplicitous. Isaiah states that their hands are "full of blood." Of just what does he accuse them? We can tell by how he urges them to act instead: "seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." In other words, look out for the powerless, and struggle for justice against that which oppresses them.

As a consequence of the way they live, their prayers are empty. And God warns of the consequences of their continuation: disruption of their fruitful relationship with the land, and war.

Can this passage be read through an environmental lens? Ccan we identify acts of policies that are environmentally unjust? Whom do they oppress? Most of us are aware of at least the most egregious environmental exploitive practices, and we know that they are practiced most by the richest countries. We also know that as other nations imitate us, they also follow a similar path. In addition, we know that the people most affected by environmental sin are the poor--both in our country and worldwide.


Why do we persist in such practices? For the most part, our environmental sin is systemic; it is part of how our cutlure and economy functions. We feel helpless; for this reason we might wish to close our eyes to the consequences of our actions. Nevertheless, we also know that we do have choices. Even if we are not activists, we have a degree of control over the details of how we live. And we could exercise it, if we thought it really mattered.


Interestingly, the consequences of hypocricy in the time of Isaiah seem parallel to the dangers we are being warned of right now: the destruction of our fruitful relationship with the land, and resource wars. It has been said that resource depletion may represent the highest risk security for nations worldwide.

Reading for Morning Prayer 11-27-10

Today's gospel reading is about the wise and the foolish bridesmaids.

Doesn’t it seem odd that Jesus does not imply that the wise bridesmaids should have compassion on the foolish ones and share their oil so that everyone can meet the bridegroom? Elsewhere he urges us to forgive 70 times 7 times. He tells us to turn the other cheek, to give our shirt as well as our cloak. And we are to make these concessions to people who have (or may) directly hurt us.

Surely, you will say that this parable it is not about showing compassion on others, but on where we stand at the end times, about our worthiness before God, something only we ourselves are answerable for. Perhaps this is a warning that if we don’t get right with God, we won’t get through the narrow door. If we believe in a God like that, a God who shuts the door on mercy, that interpretation might work. Or perhaps it’s about some other way in which we must take responsibility for ourselves, something which cannot be effected for us, a sort of warning about the nature of a reality larger and deeper than our everyday experience.

Regardless, I’m interested here in whether this parable can be read with an environmental lens. While this story would not have been intended to point us to environmental stewardship, the message applies uncannily well. If we really look at the range and complexity of dangers associated with climate change—many of which we are already beginning to experience—we can see that the integrity of natural systems that can provide sufficient resources for everyone is endangered by the foolish. It is as though the foolish bridesmaids had woken in the middle of the night, stolen the oil of the wise bridesmaids (who were sleeping), and used it all up partying, so that when groom was announced, there was too little oil remaining for any of them.

Morning Prayer Reflections, 11-26-10

In yesterday’s reading from Ephesians, we saw that God had chosen us for himself from “before the foundation of the world.” The fulfillment of humankind in Christ is not represented in this text as separate from the fate of the rest of creation, but is spoken of in the context of the consummation of “all things.”

In the gospel reading for today, Christ rides a young donkey into the city, hailed as King by the multitudes. The Pharisees rebuke Jesus for allowing their acclamations. Clearly, they do not see what the disciples see, or know what the disciples know. Yet humans are fickle. We know that later in the week, Jesus will be derided and abandoned. And doubtless, many in the crowd may simply have been carried along by the mass feeling.

But while human opinion, human recognition of truth and falsehood is demonstrably feeble and fickle, nature itself is not. The nonhuman world, in this gospel account, the nonsentient world itself recognizes the presence of God: “If these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

What is Jesus saying? It is surely a figure of speech (or has become one). But might it point to even more than that? Is the mineral world somehow wedded to our own?

We live as though we are the only beings whose inner life is significant. Thus, we discount or ignore the inconvenient needs or feelings of other animals. We almost unanimously disregard the survival rights of the plant world—except (and usually under duress) insofar as they affect the survival or well being of certain animate creatures—and we are discovering that that list of creatures becomes longer and longer. Even today, many people are not yet convinced that we disregard the mutual wellbeing of plant and animal life to own peril. What role does the mineral world play in the web of life? Does it have a significance of its own?

Interested in an Environmental Ministry?

As a member of the newly reconstituted Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, I am interested in connecting with other Episcopalians, both within this diocese and beyond, who are engaged in environmental ministry.

With this blog, I intend to pull together a variety of resources--links to books, programs, other diocesan ministries--to assist Fort Worth Episcopalians in theological and practical engagement with the environment, both locally and worldwide.

I look forward to meeting others who share my concerns.