A reflection from John Cobb, PCU co-founder and theologian
We owe to Al Gore, along with some authoritative scientific reports, a new burst of energy to save the planet. We must hope that this energy can be channeled in genuinely fruitful directions. At present it is directed toward band aids to stem the external bleeding of a world that is suffering from profound internal injuries.
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CUT CARBON EMISSIONS 80% BY 2050!
That’s the demand we’ll be making with thousands of other people nationwide - over 1300 actions in 50 states! On April 14, we’ll all come together in unique actions - small and large - around the country, and take a photograph to show how many of us really believe that we can, and must, do something about global warming.
The Eighth Day Project and the Sierra Club are sponsoring our own special action - The Greening Branch — a hands-on opportunity to care for the earth, a hike in our beautiful San Gabriel Mountains, and of course, a special moment to take a picture with our banner calling for a real response to climate change!
WHAT:
As part of our work to protect the planet, we’ll water and care for newly planted trees which are suffering from the drought near the Mill Creek Ranger Station. We will meet at the La Canada Rideshare Point at 8:15 AM to carpool up; we’ll take care of the trees for a couple of hours and then do an easy 1-mile hike in the mountains to a beautiful scenic point where we’ll pray, eat our lunch, and write letters to our legislators. We’ll aim to be back at the Rideshare by 2:30 PM.
Bring old milk jugs and other old containers for watering the trees — put that plastic to good use before recycling it!
You’ll also want to bring a hat and sunblock, sturdy shoes, and food and water for your lunch. (We’ll be above the smog…sunny, clear, and quiet!)
WHERE:
Meet at La Canada Rideshare Point to carpool into the mountains! The La Canada Rideshare Point is just north of the intersection of the 210 and the 2, near Glendale. Take the 210 to the Angeles Crest Highway exit; take the 2 North and pull over just past the bridge (less than a mile). You’ll see us there with our banner!
WHEN:
Saturday April 14, 8:15 AM; back to Rideshare Point by 2:30 PM
CONTACT: or
RSVP online (so we can tell our representatives how many people REALLY care about climate change!) at http://events.stepitup2007.org/events/show/791
There are lots of other rallies if you can’t make this one — visit www.stepitup2007.org to find out more! For those of you in Orange County, be sure to check out the event sponsored by OC Interfaith Council on the Environment.
Bill McKibben did something remarkable at the launch event for PCU’s new Eighth Day project: he brilliantly interwove dimensions of living we ordinarily think of as unrelated, and he set the whole eco-justice challenge in a spiritual context. In McKibben’s take, it’s all about hunger. It’s about our unfulfilled hunger for community in a hyperindividualized culture, and it’s about our literal hunger for the food we need to sustain ourselves. Read the rest of this entry »
From remarks by Rev. John C. Forney, March 25 Peace Rally, Rancho Cucamonga
For Christians the Lenten season is a time of reflection. The lectionary turns us back to the story of Christ’s temptations in the wilderness. Wilderness becomes our context as well.
Today our nation finds itself in a vast wilderness of human malfeasance and failure: a wilderness of lies and deceit, a wilderness of utter incompetence, a wilderness of fear mongering.
And as Jesus found, so we too find that there are many temptations in this wilderness: the temptation to think we can go it alone with utter disregard for the opinions of the rest of the world, the temptation to think that salvation can be found in the power of empire and oil, the temptation to cover up our self-inflicted disasters with bread and circuses, to declare “mission accomplished” in a flyboy suit.
Lent is a time to discern – to discern what it is that truly gives life, what it is that will truly restore equity and justice in the land, what it is that will truly restore sense of national purpose, what it is that will truly restore our commitment to one another. Read the rest of this entry »