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!