St. Francis' Day and More
This Sunday, September 29th, we are observing the Feast Day of St. Francis, which we are transferring from his actual day, October 4th. This past week, I was surprised to meet someone who does not like that "The Blessing of the Animals" is often to focus of the feast day of this important saint - and rightly so - St. Francis, and our remembrance of him, provides an opportunity to consider more broadly, who we are as God's stewards of all creation. As I thought about my friend who said that he does not like to focus on animals on St. Francis' Day, I realized that I too see the day as about much more (but I still like to bless animals on this day!). In that context, I am delighted to share with you reflections by church members who attended a conference a week ago on Food Sustainability and related matters.
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The Challenge of food Sustainability: Preserving
Biodiversity, Forests, Cropland, Water:
2013 Interfaith
Conference, September 21, 2013, Charlottesville, VA
This conference had a wide variety of topics. All of which gave me new information such as
regarding the preservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; gave me
questions to think about like, “Is the production of GMOs a continuation of the
historical creation of plant hybrids?” (I think not) and reinforced to me that
there are many ways to care for the creation that we are part of.
The first speaker, Richard Cizik, was a man of energy and
conviction. His overall theme could be
summed up as a challenge to action on environmental issues and that taking
action can lead to personal cost. He
worked on the thought of “…what leads people to change…”. He shared a very personal story of his one
son suffering a severe asthma attack that left him nearly unable to
breath. Fortunately they got immediate
medical help for him and he now controls his ongoing asthma problem. This led Dr. Cizik to realize how poor air
quality, related to coal burning power plants, had impacted his son’s
condition. This personal event was
clearly a turning point for him that helped him change his perspective to
realize how important it is to fight for environmental issues.
Dr. Cizick listed a number of factors that lead people to
change. Three of the factors he listed
are: See that we need to be accountable for the actions we take; Abide by
universally held moral principals; Decide to choose one’s own destiny boldly.
In a later presentation by David Finnigan, the theme of what
leads people to change, in relationship to environmental issues, was picked up
again. Mr. Finnigan has created an
environmental empowering program that he takes to elementary schools. He developed the idea for this program from
his personal experience working as an anthropologist. While describing this he talked about realizing
that all people are at certain places in their lives that leave them either
more, or less, amenable to change. He
listed categories that people can be placed into according to their readiness
to accept change: Innovators; Early Adopters; Early Majority; Late Majority;
and Laggards. His program with
elementary school aged child (Early Adopters) teaches environmental concepts,
that they in turn, teach to their parents (Early Majority). He believes that reaching young children can
be one of the most effective ways to influence positive environmental change.
The presentation on new biology and GMOs left me, and I
believe most of the conference participants, with troubling questions. The domain of GMOs seems to be largely
controlled by scientists and corporations.
This leaves the general public in the position of grabbling with a new,
and rather cryptic, thing to evaluate.
The supporters of GMOs maintain that they can help reduce world hunger
by increasing crop yields. This does
pose a large question of whether GMOs could possibly leave us on the brink of
disastrous unintended consequences.
After this presentation there was spirited discussion among small groups
of participants regarding value, versus the dangers, of GMOs.
The people attending this conference came from a variety of
backgrounds. Along with the majority of
Episcopalians there were persons from Unitarian churches. This gave a chance to connect and converse
with others who are interested in creation care.
The closing meditation by Rev. Neal Halvorson-Taylor moved
our focus from our minds to our souls.
It was an appropriate way to end the conference by experiencing again
how taking care of the creation resonates so profoundly within the deepest
regions of our being.
“Lord we pray for bread for the
hungry and for those who have bread we pray for a hunger for food justice.” --closing prayer by the Reverend Neal
Halvorson-Taylor
Reflection by Richard Rose, member of Holy Comforter
Thus ended our interfaith conference today on “The
Challenge of Food Sustainability: Preserving Biodiversity, Forests, Cropland,
Water” at the Church of Our Saviour in Charlottesville.
What did we learn? First, to do justice to food and
to the Earth which sustains us. Richard Cizik, author of The
High Cost of Indifference reminded us of the cost of paying
attention to sustainability, since he lost his job by speaking out. His
definition of sustainability? “Not to make things go extinct.” We must, he
said, “exchange materialistic intemperance for moral temperance.” Sometimes we
have taken seriously the ancient idea that what we do to the material world
doesn’t matter because only the spiritual world is significant. Citing N.T. Wright, former Bishop of Durham,
he traced this kind of denial to an early neoplatonic dualism. For a people of
hope, however, such denial and the fatalism it implies interfere with our
mission to be good stewards of our habitat. A mission without action is like
the five virgins who didn’t go to the
trouble to fill their lamps. “A
vision without a strategy is a hallucination.”
And
giving justice to food means paying attention to the beauty of food, the work
done to grow it, and the care needed to protect and distribute it. John Seiler,
a forester from VPI, reminded us that the soil is the greatest carbon sink and
that human-induced soil loss through poor management practices and carelessness
threatens every strand of the many bioenergetic webs in which we participate.
In Virginia, the four to seven inches of topsoil lost is not easily regained or
artificially replicated. The living components of the soil matrix are
fundamental to water quality and availability, the nutrients in foods, the
control of natural disasters, and economic security.
Jim Baird of the American Farmland Trust
reminded us that local farms control floods, maintain nutrient uptake,
diversify food sources, provide ecosystem services, provide jobs, protect
wildlife habitat and preserve the knowledge base of how to farm in particular
places. To honor farming, we must consider the proper mix of commercial,
agricultural and residential lands; find ways to transfer farming operations to
future generations by conservation easements; provide governmental, financial
and private support to local farmers through, and develop “women landowner
learning circles” for the networking and training of the 30% of female farmers
who have received farms from deceased parents or spouses.
David Finnigan, the
anthropologist who designed “Climate Change is Elementary” presented his
powerful method for immediately involving families in doing what they can to
create a cleaner greener future without becoming distracted by arguments or
procrastination. It was a description of an act of repentance, that is: turn
around and don’t look back. Other discussions about genetic engineering, the
far reach of the Chesapeake Bay, the troubled lives of the Bay’s native oysters
and of Virginia’s legislators reminded us that the issue of food justice is one
of those “crosses you will trip over if you don’t pick
it up,” as Hilary has said. What kind of burden? Only this—to
do justice to food and its providers, to love mercy by giving food justice to
the hungry whether in Mzula or south side, and by walking humbly with your God
on the Earth which nourishes us.
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Kale Bean Soup, Chipmunks and Hemlocks
Reflection by Martha Burford, Director of Music, Holy Comforter
David, Richard, and Craig have written eloquent, wonderful,
thorough reflections on the 2013 Stewardship of Creation Conference. Rather
than further describing the day, I want to write a bit about my
mindset/heartset in the ensuing forty-eight hours.
Today, I made kale bean soup. Many of the ingredients came from
our yard, our neighbor’s yard, and a local CSA, Community Supported
Agriculture, to which my husband and I subscribe. Through the whole process of
making the soup, I felt alternating waves of gratitude and remorse. Gratitude
for the bounty, the smells, the beautiful food grown near here, the water. The
water-without which none of the food would exist. Then would come a wave of
sadness: who today is without beautiful soup? Who is without water? What waters
and food are compromised, polluted, withering? These waves turned into prayers.
As we prayed at the Conference, “give ALL today their/our daily bread.” So,
tonight, I pray for all. But, to take that even further, what are my trespasses
that affect who gets daily bread and who doesn’t? My mind scrambles between the
power of prayer and the urgency I feel that we all have to “do something.”
More prayers happen now, as I write this: I watch two chipmunks
pounding away at sunflower seeds on our deck. As I observe the chipmunks’
cheeks swell, birds swoop down from the hemlock and walnut in our yard.
Titmice, chickadees, cardinals, even a shy brown thrasher. Again, in
juxtapositions, my heart soars and aches as I watch the panorama outside our
living room windows. We have worked hard to plant and to sustain trees where we
live. We have planted and stewarded so that we actually live on what is now a
“Certified Wildlife Habitat” listed by the National Wildlife Federation. In
this small way, we work to live in hope and work to give back.
It’s not enough. The Conference offered so much in terms of
information: biological, geographical, evolutional, political, anthropological.
One minute I turn things over in my mind and feel overwhelmed, if not
despairing. Another minute joy and hope sail through me: gift of Ruach? Spirit?
So, how do I, how do we, navigate the polarities?
Spirit. One of my mentors shared with me something I “go to” when
I feel these paradoxes-these “opposites” in my spiritual life. He said, “Martha,
the outcome is not yours. That’s the Holy Spirit’s problem. YOUR deal is to be
faithful in the struggles and in the moments. And don’t stop asking.”
So, tonight, I will pray for our fragile island home. For
chipmunks and hemlocks. For all who wait for water--or worse, don’t get it. I
will take something to the food pantry this week in gratitude for the beautiful
soup. I will walk down our back hill and take note of new seedlings. I will
give thanks for all souls and hands working to steward Creation. And I will ask
the Holy Spirit never to leave me to despair or complacency. Holy Spirit-stir
my soul, this night and all.
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A Day Long Meditation
A Reflection by Craig Anderson, member of Holy Comforter
Saturday’s SOCC conference was delightfully meditative for
me. The day was overcast, with a
constant drizzle outside. It was one of
those days that felt very much like the start of fall, marking the change of
both weather and season in a way that makes one very conscious of mother earth.
Inside, the meeting hall was warm and intimate, with prayer flags surrounding
the perimeter of the hall. That felt
right. It also felt like a gathering of
the tribe ... a tribe comprised of both familiar and unfamiliar faces, yet all
with a common interest in the maters of the day. Without wading into the particulars of the
varied speakers, it felt to me as though the entire day was a sesshin … a day
long sit … a day long meditation and “gathering of the mind” with sustainability
and food as our focus. Although I
enjoyed all the speakers, the highlights were Richard Cizik’s presentation at
the start of the day and Neal Halvorson-Taylor’s mediation at the close of the
day. Both Cizik and Halvorson-Taylor are
gifted with wonderful gifts of intellect and spirituality. And both did a wonderful job of bringing the
themes of the day into a sharp, meaningful, thought provoking focus. They left me feeling elevated and inspired as
I replayed the day on my drive home in the rain. It was a good day, and a good day to meditate
on mother earth.
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