Monday Music Appreciation #29: A song for Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! (Even though every day needs to be Earth Day...)

We're having a lot of dry and very windy days here, with no rain forecasted. I'll admit to feeling anxious, especially since there's already an evacuation going on in Northern Alberta due to a wildfire. Everything is dry, dry, dry. 

In honour of our beautiful Mother Earth who sustains us all, and as a prayer for her and for rain, too, I offer this lovely piece by Coco Love Alcorn, a Canadian artist who composes a lot of earth-friendly music, and who is incredibly talented. See for yourself!

Blessing Earth on Earth Day

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day this year?

Aware, as we are, of the places on the planet that are suffering and struggling because of war and climate change, it seems like nothing we can do is enough to make a difference. 

But in reading Robin Wall Kimmerer's beautiful book, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed Editions 2013, ISBN978-1-57131-356-0), I was struck by her teaching that the Earth loves us by giving us everything we need for life -- not just the food we grow, but the air, water, soil and other beings with whom we share her abundance. 

So on Earth Day, though I can't personally do very much to slow the course of climate change or stop the war in Ukraine and other places, blessing the little patch of earth where I live -- in whatever ways I can -- makes sense to me.

Since it's a calm and somewhat sunny morning here, I carried out my annual ritual of scattering blessings around my garden. Using left over palms and dried cedar branches from Palm Sunday last year, some sage and tobacco, I made a little fire and sang El Senyor, a Taize song of thanksgiving, as it burned. This afternoon, I'll spread the ashes around the yard, using words like these:

Creator of all that is,

thank you for your abundant blessings

that come to us through Earth,

our Mother.

Thank you for all those who have lived here

over many centuries,

especially Indigenous Peoples

who lived in harmony

with all their relations,

and who have much to teach us.

Thank you for this soil,

which you have freely given

through the natural processes

of erosion and decomposition,

and for the seeds that only you can make to grow.

Bless this year's garden and help it to flourish:
bless the tomatoes and the berries,
the corn, beans, and squash,
and all other plant relations,
along with the birds, butterflies,
bees, spiders,
and others who visit
or live here.

Give us all enough warmth and sun, 
but not too much,
and rain when we need it.

Please protect this garden,
and all our gardens,
from drought or hail or damaging pests.

(And if you could keep the mosquito population to a dull roar,
I'd really appreciate it!)

Protect our trees from blight and strong winds,
and keep in your care the birds
who come to splash in the birdbath
or nibble the snow peas.

And if we should have one of THOSE storms,
may I be as gracious as Job and say,
"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away;
blessed be the name of the Lord."

Bless and help farmers with good weather conditions;
their gardens are so much bigger than mine!

I ask your special blessings on those who have had to flee

places where fertile earth is being pillaged by the ravages of war.

Please bring to us to a peace-filled harvest,
and help us to share our abundance with others who need it.

Break the hearts of the wealthy

so that they may do their part to share in the work

of adapting our world to climate change

and caring for those communities

and creatures that struggle most

because of it.

Thank you for all the life
that lives on this sacred planet.

Bless it,
and bless us,
and help us to remember
that your whole world
and all beings within it
form your beautiful and blessed garden
that deserves our love and care.

+Amen.

And then I'll give Mother Earth some sweet pea seeds so we can both delight in some fragrant summer flowers...

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day this year?

Simple Suggestion #281... Make every day Earth Day

Yesterday was a strange Earth Day, to be sure. I wonder what might have happened if there was no corona virus keeping us all apart. Marches and rallies? Earth Day parties and concerts? Pollution as per usual?

In an effort to mark it in some way, two days before the event, I went out and decorated our front sidewalk with chalk, reminding people about Earth Day, and inviting them to give her a some love by joining in my little Resurrection Project (click here to read that moodling) and cleaning her up.

In many ways, our covid confinement is cleaning her up. Because we are staying home, there are less fossil fuel emissions, some waterways are cleaner in usually crowded tourist places, our songbirds are heartened by a reduction in noise pollution and are singing more, and other species are enjoying some places from which they've been displaced by humans. Scientists are noticing these things... are we?

I can't help but hope that we will learn something from all of this, though I worry that once covid restrictions are lifted, humans will return to our old ways with a vengeance, as if to make up for all the "deprivations" of being stuck at home.

While we have a chance to notice the good things this enforced simpler living is doing, I'd like to appeal to our higher natures to consider carrying many of the good habits we are developing now into our covid-free future. Things like one grocery trip a week, and saving our elderly neighbours trips to the store. Going for long walks. Spending love miles instead of air miles. You can probably name a dozen other things you might be doing differently that are having a small but positive impact on our planet's health.

It's been a long while since I've posted a Simple Suggestion, mainly because, after 280 of them, it seems I've covered a lot of the possibilities... But every day can be an Earth Day, and global climate change won't stop just because we're all stuck at home for a few months. We really need to live Laudato Si... and do more to protect and care for our common home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=KIVuISZGdug

Let's let this covid crisis and our 50th Earth Week be a dress rehearsal for how we're going to save our planet from further disaster.

If you're looking for more Simple Suggestions, click here.

Every Sunday should be Earth Sunday

Some Christian churches have designated the Sunday nearest to Earth Day as Earth Sunday -- and I'm wishing my church was one of them. I know it's the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday too, but I feel like our sister, Mother Earth, needs a lot more attention. Pope Francis tried to wake us up with Laudato Si almost two years ago, but it's almost like his own church didn't even hear him. His encyclical letter to the world about the plight of our planet has hardly made it into our pews yet, and I'm still waiting to hear a homily about it (though I've given a few of my own...)

I know that some churches offer a stewardship prayer, but to me it feels like they're praying more for full collection plates than for us to wake up and act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with the creation God has given us. Couldn't we incorporate the prayer from Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home into tomorrow's liturgy? And every liturgy?  Just to get us thinking a little more about how we are treating creation, the poor, the abandoned and the forgotten of our world? It would be a good start... especially if we make the prayer into our action, don't you think?

Happy Earth Day!

We need to care about our wonderful planet, and do everything in our power to protect it from destruction of all kinds. No act of conservation is too small.

This video reminds us of the beauty and diversity of the only home we have. I know I've shared it before, but I think of all the videos out there, it covers creation the best, including gorgeous scenery, pretty music, and plenty of God's creatures. Enjoy.

Simple Suggestion #231... Develop an "outdoors habit"

The David Suzuki Foundation sends me spam emails that I actually don't mind receiving. And for Earth Day, today, they've sent a good one -- a reminder to join their 30x30 Nature Challenge. Basically, it encourages its participants to get outdoors 30 minutes a day for the month of May.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYA3GPVcHYE

It's a good idea -- we all need more nature in our lives. The first half of the video above is a lifestyle devoid of fresh air and green space, something that improves human well-being more than any sitcom or computer game ever could. Within two minutes of encountering nature, muscle tension, and heart rate slow. An hour in nature improves memory performance and attention span by 20%. Just think what a whole weekend in nature does for our health!

As a kid whose parents worked most Saturdays, I remember how my sisters and I would often spend much of the day watching Saturday cartoons and kids programming. And how awful I felt after 8 hours in front of the TV. And how I swore I would never do it again, but somehow, often did. Not that I'm the most active person, but over the years I've come to appreciate how important it is to get outside daily, to take a little walk or wander around the yard or neighbourhood to see what's new. It costs nothing, and requires no special equipment. Since I've developed an "outdoors addiction" it blows my mind to think that many people spend 6-10 hours a day in passive, screen-based activities, barely coming out of the gloom.

Of course, it's not essential to sign up for the 30x30 Nature Challenge, though some people appreciate programs that hold them accountable to do what they say they will do. If you're one of those, you can access the Suzuki Foundation's Challenge website by clicking here.

Otherwise, just get outside. For 30 minutes, or more, or maybe a little less, each day. Your body will thank you.

And -- have a Happy Earth Day! I think I'll go spend 30 minutes turning over my compost pile.

P.S. For more Simple Suggestions, click here.

Some scripture for Earth Sunday

A few years ago, I visited my girlfriend's United Church on the Sunday nearest to Earth Day, and the service made me cry... in joy that her community would center their liturgy on the needs of the beautiful earth God has given us, and in sorrow for the way we have taken creation for granted, using its resources thoughtlessly and causing pollution and disaster. The prayers prayed didn't let us off the hook for humanity's inhumanity to the earth, but it was still a beautiful and hopeful service that touched me deeply.

In looking at my missalette, which contains the liturgy for this Sunday, I can't find an extra single word of prayer or concern for our planet other than the lukewarm stuff that is usually there. It's Good Shepherd Sunday, so you'd think it wouldn't be that hard to connect Christ's care for his sheep with our own care for God's creation. I guess pastors that are aware will do so, but I'm disappointed that our Canadian liturgical resource ignores Earth Day altogether. I know, it's a secular occasion -- but the earth is a sacred trust that believers of all stripes could celebrate together in our worship, and my church is missing an important opportunity. Even in Monday's liturgy, on Earth Day proper (April 22), there is no special mention of or prayer for creation. St. Francis would not be amused.

For my readers, I offer a little bit of scripture to pray with this Earth Day, taken from chapters 42 and 43 of the book of Sirach. Have a Happy Earth Day, and don't forget to do good things for our little blue planet every day!

I will now call to mind the works of the Holy One,
    and will declare what I have seen.
By the word of God, creation was made;
    and all God’s creatures do God’s will.

How desirable are all God’s works,
    and how incredible they are to see!
 All these things live and remain forever;
    each creature is preserved to meet a particular need.
All things come in pairs, one opposite the other,
    and God has made nothing incomplete.
Each supplements the virtues of the other.
    Who could ever tire of seeing God’s glory?

The pride of the higher realms is the clear vault of the sky,
    as glorious to behold as the sight of the heavens.
The sun, when it appears, proclaims as it rises
    what a marvelous instrument it is, the work of the Most High.
At noon it parches the land,
    and who can withstand its burning heat?
One who tends a furnace works in burning heat,
    but three times as hot is the sun scorching the mountains;
it breathes out fiery vapors,
    and its bright rays blind the eyes.
Great is God who made it;
    at his orders it hurries on its course.

It is the moon that marks the changing seasons,
    governing the times, their everlasting sign.
From the moon comes the sign for festal days,
    a light that wanes when it completes its course.
The new moon, as its name suggests, renews itself;
    how marvelous it is in this change,
a beacon to the hosts on high,
    shining in the vault of the heavens!

 The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven,
    a glittering array in the heights of God.
On the orders of the Holy One they stand in their appointed places;
    they never relax in their watches.
Look at the rainbow, and praise God who made it;
    it is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.
It encircles the sky with its glorious arc;
    the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.

Thank you, God, for our beautiful earth, which you have made. Help us to respect and love it as we should.
+AMEN.