Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas Eve and Christmas Reflections

Going Deeper

Advent offers a counterbalance to our frantic lives.  It invites us to a darkening, quiet, reflective time.  It asks us to ponder with Mary the order of a disordered world.  With her we wonder why God picked that time and place to reach down and give birth to a new way of being?  Can we birth that hope again, this season, in a world gone mad with consumption?  Can we take one step away from the glitzy enticements of the season?  If you are reading this, it is a certainty that you have already taken many steps away from the things of this world.  Can we all go just a little deeper, no matter where we are in our advocacy?  Can we?  Somewhere deep inside us there is a voice that says “please”,  please put aside the frenzy.  Listen to the urging of that voice! Name one thing that will take you deeper into the season, and then go there.

We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince of Peace wants each of us to have in honor of his coming. Six times you will be blessed with an advent reflection that we hope will take you deeper.  Let us journey together to Bethlehem.


CHRISTMAS EVE - Life-Bearing Darkness

Tonight, in many of our congregations, we will hear this well-known refrain from Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined” (Isa. 9:2). Here, at the end of advent, on the cusp of the emergence of divine life into the world, we turn to the image of divine light as a symbol of the mystery of incarnation. In the gospel of John, we read, “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (Jn. 1:9).

But what about the darkness? Divine life inhabits not just the light, but also the dark. In becoming so enamored of the light, we might very well miss the God who comes in the still of the night. In a season dripping with candles, stars, tree lights, and flashing neon sale signs, how can we find our way to that dark and quiet stable?

One of the many gifts of the nativity story is its insistence upon the dark as the site for incarnation. It was under the canopy of stars that Mary birthed the child, and that the shepherds and (eventually) the magi, too, found their way to the presence of God in the infant. It is upon a blanket of deep, rich, dark soil that this story unfolds. As Barbara Brown Taylor puts it, “Even in the dark, the seed sprouts and grows—we know not how—while God goes on giving birth to the truly human in Christ and in us.”

And so, to go deeper on this night demands an embrace of the dark, even in a culture that so conditions us to illumine every dark room, corner, plot of earth, and roadway. Going into that deep darkness is the only way we’ll ever see that star. We might associate darkness with melancholy, with grief, or with fear. And all of those things are surely present. But in ecological context, we also know the beauty of darkness: It represents the health of the soil, the generation of nutrients, and a posture of restraint and rest. To thrive, living things need darkness as much as they need light. The mystery of creation, whether a seedling or a human being, begins in deep darkness. A darkness that demands our attention, our gratitude, and our tending.

When I was around six or seven years old, I learned to fall in love with the dark quiet that enveloped our family as we made our way back home from the Christmas Eve worship service at the First Presbyterian Church of Asheboro, NC. The very same darkness that blanketed us when we took family camping trips subtly beckoned to us as we left worship on that night. Having lifted high our candles in the dim sanctuary during the third verse of “Silent Night,” we each blew out our candles, extinguishing the flame just before emerging into the crisp darkness of that sacred eve. Although the extinguishing of the flames is a rather practical matter, it might serve as an invitation to meet God in the darkness, if we are bold enough to accept it.

Like the shepherds, tonight we keep watch, wait, and finally make our way into the darkness, embracing it for the mysterious gifts it bears.

The Uses of Sorrow 
by Mary Oliver

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.

Jennifer Ayres is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Religious Education at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Her book, Good Food: Grounded Practical Theology, was published by Baylor University Press in October 2013. Jennifer lives and gardens in Decatur, Georgia.



CHRISTMAS DAY - Let Heaven and Nature Sing!
Mary Treasured these Words and Pondered Them in her Heart (Luke 2:19)

As I moved my boat out of the brackish swamp into a freshwater stream to collect drinking water, a baby moose lay on the riverbank. It was perfectly framed in a bed of spring grass, its tiny body and disproportionately large eyes identifying it as a newborn. In that moment I was filled with wonder; I wanted to stop my little boat and just be with this marvel!

Every birth is a marvel. Yet on this Christmas Day we remember that the birth of Jesus was especially marvelous. Exalted angels combined with lowly shepherds to impart amazing news that is for everyone: the Savior was born! If Mary pondered these things in her heart, we should, too.

In its praise of God Psalm 139:13,15 shows that each of us is born from two mothers:

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb...
My frame was not hidden from you,
When I was being made in secret,
Intricately woven together in the depths of the earth.

In the birth of Jesus we humans see God’s communion with us, as Jesus was mysteriously “knit together in (Mary’s) womb.” And in the birth of Jesus we see God’s communion with all creation, as Jesus was mystically “made in secret, intricately woven together in the depths of the earth.” It is a marvel indeed!

Looking at that baby moose, I realized our relatedness—we were both creatures of God, intricately woven together in the depths of the earth. I also realized our common need for salvation—me from my sin, and this world from human-caused environmental collapse.

In Alaska, my home, ice is vanishing in astonishing fashion—vanishing from the polar seas, from the glaciers and from the permafrost of the ground. Animals that depend on ice are suffering, plants that depend on permafrost are suffering and people who, depend on the frozenness of the ground for food, home and livelihood, are losing it all.

Yet it is to us, a broken world and a broken people, that good tidings comes. In Jesus’ birth God proclaimed God’s relatedness to all creation, including humanity. In Jesus God took action to save us from the sin, which alienates us from God and from our fellow creatures. Because of God’s communion with us all, there is a living hope in Jesus Christ.

Indeed, in due time Mary’s baby will grow up. And Jesus will tell us that we really have a third mother: we will discover ourselves to be born yet again, born of the Spirit this time, called and empowered to live into a new way of being human for the good of this whole earth.

“Let heaven and nature sing!”

Oh God, you have birthed a world that produced the blue of the ice, the fire of the aurora, and the thriving, music-like rhythm that is life. Today, in Jesus you are born to us. Touch us, we pray, with your salvation and your vision for abundant life.

Rev. Curt Karns is a life-long Alaskan, who currently serves as executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Yukon. Rev. Karns and his wife, Cindee live in an experimental, eco-friendly bioshelter, and operate the Alaskan Permaculture Learning Center. In September of 2014 the Yukon Presbyterians for Earthcare are hosting an Eco-Tour For Presbyterians to see the four signs of global warming readily visible in Alaska: vanishing glaciers, vanishing sea ice, permafrost melt, and affects on flora and fauna (including people).

Friday, December 20, 2013

Fourth Week of Advent: Holy Spirit and Fire

Going Deeper

Advent offers a counterbalance to our frantic lives.  It invites us to a darkening, quiet, reflective time.  It asks us to ponder with Mary the order of a disordered world.  With her we wonder why God picked that time and place to reach down and give birth to a new way of being?  Can we birth that hope again, this season, in a world gone mad with consumption?  Can we take one step away from the glitzy enticements of the season?  If you are reading this, it is a certainty that you have already taken many steps away from the things of this world.  Can we all go just a little deeper, no matter where we are in our advocacy?  Can we?  Somewhere deep inside us there is a voice that says “please”,  please put aside the frenzy.  Listen to the urging of that voice! Name one thing that will take you deeper into the season, and then go there.

We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince of Peace wants each of us to have in honor of his coming. Six times you will be blessed with an advent reflection that we hope will take you deeper.  Let us journey together to Bethlehem.

Scripture:
Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 11:2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"


Reflection:
Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire?  I imagine that most of you who are reading this have been baptized with water, but have you been baptized "with the Holy Spirit and fire?"  John the Baptist announces the coming of a powerful one who will baptize "with the Holy Spirit and fire."  And this one – proclaims John – will burn up that which is "chaff" with "unquenchable fire."

Matthew of course tells us that the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire is Jesus.   John it seems is not so sure.  John, who has been imprisoned by King Herod, hears about the strange ways of Jesus.  Jesus has been opening the eyes of the blind, healing the sick, and raising the dead.  And Jesus has been teaching things like this, "Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth," and this, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  John hears about these strange doings and teachings, and sends a disciple to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"   In other words – Jesus, are you the Messiah or not?   In other words, John doesn't think that rescuing the wounded and teaching love of enemy are Messiah-worthy doings and teachings.  You can understand why John might not be interested in "loving his enemies," enemies like King Herod, and why John might be more interested in seeing King Herod become some of that burning chaff.


Jesus it appears is heading in a different direction than John had anticipated.  Jesus, who has himself been baptized with water, fire, and the Holy Spirit, is being propelled by those baptisms into a God worshiping, people and earth rescuing, life.  Those baptisms and that life will lead Jesus inevitably, inexorably to the cross.  It appears that God's judgment (surely God's judgment is what John envisions in the baptism with fire) it appears that God's judgment may not look so much like a man of violence burned up as chaff, but maybe God's judgment looks more a man of peace hanging on a cross.  Jesus chose to live a life of self-giving love in confrontation with those who practiced self-serving violence and greed.  It was a life that took him to a judgment on a cross.  And was it not a life and death with which God was well pleased and honored with resurrection?
I don't know about you, but I have to confess – My natural inclination is to go with John the Baptist.  Burning the chaff sounds like a good idea to me.

And as a candidate for chaff – How about the fossil fuel industry and their efforts to keep us on a path that may well lead to catastrophic consequences for the earth and its people?  Although once that fire got going where would it stop?  What would the industry be without customers?  I'm beginning to feel a little warm.  Maybe the way of Jesus has some merit – seeking to convert rather than destroy.   Divestment might be a strategy Jesus would use. For one who has definitely been baptized with water, and so possibly also with the Holy Spirit and fire, maybe this Advent season would be a good time to begin working to put that fossil fuel divestment overture before my Presbytery.

Prayer:
Jesus you have baptized us with water, the Holy Spirit, and fire so that we can walk in the way of the cross confronting violence and greed with the power of self-giving love.  Help me so to walk as I serve God by caring for the earth and its people. Amen.

This week's reflection was written by Dana Eglinton, the pastor of Jacksonville Presbyterian Church, in Springfield, New Jersey, who serves on the PEC steering committee as the Northeast Regional Representative.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Your PEC Winter Update is Here!


Moderator's Message from the Winter Update:

Winter greetings to the PEC and larger Earthcare community,

It is a gift to be in true community, whether the community be close or distant physically. It is good to be together as companions concerned about Creation…about environmental, economic, and social justice.

Being together as a body at the “Ethical Earth Care: Keeping Creation Sacred” conference was mu-tually enhancing in our passion for ministry individually and collectively. I am so grateful for or-ganizers, leaders, participants…all who were a part of this experience. Larry Rasmussen’s message in person and through his printed works, including Earth Honoring Faith, embraces the mystical, the sacred/sacramental, the prophetic and that which is wisdom-seeking in working toward a flourishing social order and Earth community.

In and through all this work (called the Great Work, according to Thomas Berry), the individual and community work in partnership…with the living elements of creation. We are whole, together.

Both Larry and I are fans of (the late) Thomas Berry, PhD, a member of the Passionist Order. From the book, The Forsaken Garden by Nancy Ryley, Berry states, “We have to learn to live in the universe on its terms, instead of ours. But we have a long way to go before we learn how to restructure every human task and every human institution until they function in a harmonious relationship with the requirements of the planet…A return to the mystique of the Earth, to the dynamism and wisdom of the natural world, is a primary necessity if we are ever to establish a mutually enhancing human presence on the planet…Only in [the experience of sensing the world as sacred] will we obtain the insight and the energy we need to alter our commitment to ab-solute devastation of the Earth in search of economic gain.”

Strength and wisdom to all as we work toward justice and equity individually and collectively,

Diane Waddell
Moderator
Presbyterians for Earth Care

READ THE ENTIRE UPDATE HERE!

Prayer for All of Creation:

Heaven and earth are full of your glory, O God!
How can we not stop and praise you for the wonders you bestow?
You give us community through our passion to care for your earth.
You give us minds to explore the intricacies of nature,
and hearts to marvel at how all things intertwine to form the whole.
You bless us with the joy of laughter shared,
the willingness to reveal our weaknesses,
the strength to overcome seemingly formidable odds.
How can we not embrace the gift of your image dwelling within to form our souls?
How can we not dedicate our strivings toward the line you set for us?
And so Creator God, we seek to reflect the love of your Son in a world gone mad,
to witness that handing over our lives is the key to true life;
through the vision you grant in the night sky we see what can be.
May our efforts never be in vain, gracious God, for we take our bearings from you;
shepherd us for the journey ahead and we will not wander with you behind us.
Great is our God,
compassion and restoration,
forgiveness and reconciliation leading the way,
until that time when heaven and earth shall be one
and all creation shall be full of peace, and your glory revealed.
Amen.

Contributed by Paul Henschen, PEC Representative for the Midwest Region

A special thanks to Abby Mohaupt, our Editor for compiling and producing our Winter Update!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Third Week of Advent: A Time for Preparation

Going Deeper

Advent offers a counterbalance to our frantic lives.  It invites us to a darkening, quiet, reflective time.  It asks us to ponder with Mary the order of a disordered world.  With her we wonder why God picked that time and place to reach down and give birth to a new way of being?  Can we birth that hope again, this season, in a world gone mad with consumption?  Can we take one step away from the glitzy enticements of the season?  If you are reading this, it is a certainty that you have already taken many steps away from the things of this world.  Can we all go just a little deeper, no matter where we are in our advocacy?  Can we?  Somewhere deep inside us there is a voice that says “please”,  please put aside the frenzy.  Listen to the urging of that voice! Name one thing that will take you deeper into the season, and then go there.

We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince of Peace wants each of us to have in honor of his coming. Six times you will be blessed with an advent reflection that we hope will take you deeper.  Let us journey together to Bethlehem.



Scripture:
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him. (Luke 1:17)

Reflection:
Advent: A Time for Preparation
Our pastor recently suggested “Joyous Advent” as a post-Thanksgiving greeting.  Coupled with his suggestion was a reminder that our preparation and celebration leading up to Christmas day is equally important as our celebration of the day itself.

Ironically, the frenzy of the preparation often overshadows the event for which we prepare and causes us to lose sight of what it is all about.  Sadly, this is often the case during what should be a joyous celebration of the Savior’s birth. Many of the activities of preparation on which we choose to spend our time and resources– though not necessarily bad in and of themselves– are also the things that not only drain our joy, energy and wallets but also place a greater strain on Creation:  Think of the tons of wrapping paper produced for a single use most of which will likely end up in a landfill and the obligatory gifts – many of which will likely go unused if not returned.  Or the annual harvesting of evergreen trees that have taken years to reach maturity only to be enjoyed for a few short weeks before being discarded.  Then there’s the exhaust-emitting traffic and crowded malls that inspire moods that are anything but joyous.

I must admit that the pressure that our culture – and even our own families – put on us to engage in the frenzy is often difficult to resist.  I love to lavish family and friends with special – and sometimes impractical - gifts but often have to be reminded that it really is “the thought that counts” not the amount of money spend or the miles driven (or the carbon emitted).

Though not a faith-based organization, The Center for the New American Dream has published a guide called “Simplify the Holidays” that provides many meaningful ways to have more fun with less stuff during this season (www.newdream.org).  Those of us who revere this holy time of year as more than a secularized observation of consumerism have all the more reason to refocus our time and energy in ways that keep “Christ in Christmas.”

This year our family’s Advent preparation has paralleled our preparation for our move to Uganda next summer where we have been called to serve in ministry.  Our impending move has helped clarify and inform how we spend our time and resources before we leave and especially our decisions regarding what we buy for Christmas.  The adage “you can’t take it with you” takes on a different meaning when considering what presents we exchange this month are practical to ship to Africa next year.  It is also a good concept to keep in mind on a regular basis when making choices about how to spend our time, energy and money.

I believe we honor the Creator and the spirit of the season more deeply by focusing less on the superficial and temporal trappings and instead lavishing those we love with the intangible fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (and yes) self control”(Gal. 5:22) when tempted to engage in the frenzy of the season.

Prayer:
Lord God, Help us to keep the season holy by avoiding the cultural excesses that can so easily consume us by focusing our minds and hearts on the gift of Jesus, in whose name we pray.
Amen

This week's reflection was written by Paul Homeyer, PEC SW Region Steering Committee Member Representative.  Paul is an Elder at First Presbyterian Church of Houston.  Professionally, he is an architect specializing in Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse and Sustainable Design.

Friday, December 6, 2013

'We Three Trees of NYC Are' - Advent Week 2

Going Deeper

Advent offers a counterbalance to our frantic lives.  It invites us to a darkening, quiet, reflective time.  It asks us to ponder with Mary the order of a disordered world.  With her we wonder why God picked that time and place to reach down and give birth to a new way of being?  Can we birth that hope again, this season, in a world gone mad with consumption?  Can we take one step away from the glitzy enticements of the season?  If you are reading this, it is a certainty that you have already taken many steps away from the things of this world.  Can we all go just a little deeper, no matter where we are in our advocacy?  Can we?  Somewhere deep inside us there is a voice that says “please”,  please put aside the frenzy.  Listen to the urging of that voice! Name one thing that will take you deeper into the season, and then go there.

We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince of Peace wants each of us to have in honor of his coming. Six times you will be blessed with an advent reflection that we hope will take you deeper.  Let us journey together to Bethlehem.



Scripture: 
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15

Reflection: 
One of the most famous trees (though it is a different one each year) in the country, is the one that is displayed each year in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan throughout the Christmas season. This year a roughly 75 year old, 76-foot-tall Norway Spruce has the “honor.” It is 46 feet in diameter, and weighs 12 tons!  No doubt it was a thing of beauty to behold in its natural setting. And hopefully at least some who see it will still be inspired with visions of eternal life that have historically been the reason we turn to evergreens for this purpose.

But its natural beauty is to be shrouded with approximately 45,000 multi-colored twinkling LED lights, and topped with a “breathtaking” Swarovski crystal star that is 9.5 feet in diameter, and weighs in at 550 pounds!  Talk about “guilding the lily!”  One wonders whether this once beautiful symbol of eternal life has now become instead a symbol of commodification of nature for profit.
A second, and more recently famous tree is actually immortalized in a bronze sculpture of the roots of a Sycamore tree that once stood in the historic cemetery of St. Paul’s Chapel. The tree had been knocked over by debris from the Twin Towers on 9-11but missed all the gravestones and chapel. Called “Trinity Root” by its creator, Steve Tobin, it is installed on the grounds of Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church.
In the description which accompanies the sculpture, the artist speaks of how the connected tendrils of the tree’s roots are akin to the network of human interconnections which helped the city to survive the terrible events of 9-11. It is this kind of Human interconnection that will become the basis for the hoped for Peaceable Kingdom toward which all creation groans in travail.

The third tree is a Callery Pear tree found on the site of the Ground Zero memorial. Known as the Survivor Tree, it has a truly dramatic story of survival. Planted at the eastern edge of the original World Trade Center plaza in the 1970s, workers found it damaged and “reduced to an eight-foot-tall stump” in the wreckage at Ground Zero. It was moved to a New York City park and nurtured back to health – that’s 32 feet tall! But then it was blown over in a 2010 wind storm and yet, once more survived to be brought back and restored to the memorial site in time to survive Hurricane Irene’s 40 mph gusts.

The message of these three trees seems to be this:  that the same human beings who are capable of cutting down one tree in the name of honoring beauty and faith for the purpose of profit,  we can also join together to help another  one survive.  As we yearn through the season of Advent for the coming “not yet” peaceable kingdom, we have the “always already” presence of the resurrected Christ among us to show us the way to being the stewards we were created to be.

In Mary Oliver’s poem titled “When I Am Among the Trees” her last verse seems to capture the essence of our takeaway as the trees call out to her: “It’s simple … and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.”

Prayer:
O Lord of trees -- from the smallest shrub to the giant sequoia; from the garden of Eden at the beginning of our story to the Celestial City of Revelation at the end -- help us to make a straight path in the wilderness of our world by learning to weave among and care for the trees of our earth. Amen


This week's entry was written by Fred Milligan, a PC(USA) pastor who serves on the PEC steering committee. A former Associate for Stewardship Education with the GAMC, Fred currently provides stewardship consulting services through The Generous Steward Consulting as well as serving as an Interim Pastor at the Newtown Presbyterian Church, in Newtown, Pa.

Monday, December 2, 2013

First Week of Advent

Advent Blessings
 
So soon?  Wasn’t advent just last … 
 
But, no.  Here we are again, caught up in the imperatives of our living and yet looking at the craziness of cramming shopping, parties and family visits into a life that is too full.  Birthday!  There is no time for that this month.  Oh, that’s right.  The season is about a day of birth.
 
We invite you to take a breath and feel the peace that the Prince of Peace wants each of us to have in honor of his coming. Six times you will be blessed with an advent reflection that we hope you can enter into.  Let us journey together to Bethlehem.

Peace

 
Sunday, December 1, 2013, the First Sunday of Advent (Year A)
 
Scripture: Psalm 122:1­9
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
    “Let’s go to the LORD’s house!”
Now our feet are standing
    in your gates, Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built like a city
    joined together in unity.
That is where the tribes go up—
    the LORD’s tribes!
It is the law for Israel
    to give thanks there to the LORD’s name,
    because the thrones of justice are there—
    the thrones of the house of David!
Pray that Jerusalem has peace:
    “Let those who love you have rest.
    Let there be peace on your walls;
    let there be rest on your fortifications.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
    I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”
For the sake of the LORD our God’s house
    I will pray for your good.


Reflection:
Now our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem!
 
There is something about place—particular places, really—that bring us closer to God. I love that this passage reminds us about the holiness of the City of God—a place of justice and love and peace and rest. As we enter into this season of Advent, we so often get caught up in the bustle of things and we get pulled away from the places where we feel God.

We so often find ourselves surrounded by stores and more things to buy—pulled away from the beauty of creation in this season of hope. And there IS hope in this season as we wait for the Christ who came once long ago and who will come again, bringing the good news that God loves us and all creation. I want to spend this time of hope in places that make me feel that God is near. So, I’m avoiding places that distract from looking for justice and love and peace and rest this year. I’m hiking around the foothills of Northern California to look down onto the city where I feel God and praying.

Peace be with you, Jerusalem.


Prayer:
God of hope and light and life… help us find peace in this bustling season. Help us find places of rest and help us love each other as we wait for the Promised One. Thank you for the places to which you’ve called us and help us find you there. In the name of the One for whom we wait, Amen.


 This week is presented by Rev. Abby Mohaupt.  She is the Pastoral Resident at First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto in Northern California. She loves running and spending time with her partner, Nathan, and their three cats.