Presbyterians for Earth Care: Let the Earth Breathe

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Let the Earth Breathe

Dear Friends,

I am very grateful for our creative Earth-caring partners. One of these friends is the Rev. Ellie Stock, who, with her family, has been an advocate for creation care and social justice for many years. She and her husband, Carleton (also clergy) have just retired, after 40+ years of co-pastoring together. They now are working with a congregation and several groups related to the ecology and sustainable community.

Ellie has written a song "Let the Earth Breathe", which is both a prayer and an affirmation of what is needed and what is possible for the Earth and all of God's creation not simply to survive, but to thrive with great vigor and continued creativity. Ellie has offered this song for us to enjoy and share. Their daughter, Chenoa and she made a "home-spun" recording of the song so people could get an idea of the melody. The music notation can be found here and the audio on Youtube is available here.

Ellie and Carleton are members of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy where, for the last twelve years they have worked with the presbytery's Joining Hands Peru Partnership, a program of the PC(USA) Hunger Program. Ellie has been coordinating efforts through the Friends of La Oroya to address the issues of lead and heavy metal contamination of the land, air, water, vegetation, animals and residents of the Andes Mountain community of La Oroya, Peru by a smelter owned by a U.S company (mentioned in our previous e-blast). The same company operates a smelter in Herculaneum, MO (within the boundary of Giddings-Lovejoy) where they have partnered concerned people from that community with La Oroya.

Chenoa is presently a PC(USA) Mission Co-Worker, serving in Bolivia as the Companion Facilitator for the Joining Hands Bolivia Partnership which focuses on water contamination and accessibility issues related to extractive industries.

Ellie states, "We invite you to enjoy and use the song with congregations and groups with which you work."

Thanks to Ellie, Carleton, Chenoa, and all who share in caring for this beautiful, breathing sphere.