Yesterday’s article by Bill McKibben, the environmentalist who has been warning us about global warning for decades, didn’t exactly bring joy into many of our hearts. Reading about the heatwaves, tornadoes, hurricanes, violent storms, and the melting permafrost even in Siberia, not to mention the wildfires we had across the West, should make us more determined to save this earth for our children.
He points out the culprits, politicians like Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia who cares more about his fossil fuel funders than about his own constituents, and our driving consumerism that knows no bounds.
Advent is about finding what is most important in our lives: the promise of a new world where redemption and reconciliation are the rule, where true joy is in showing our love for others by caring for the earth, and where children can grow up without fear.
Prayer for the Day
O God, who calls us to be instruments of your peace,
We acknowledge that we look to rules instead of love;
Open us to your spirit of reconciling love,
And wash away from us anger, envy, and jealousy.
So we are healed by your grace in our lives
And knit together in community.
In the name of him who taught us to live with grace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thoughts for the Day
Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.
- Oren Arnold, American editor and free-lance writer (1900-1980)
If this world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people whose love for life is even greater than their fear.
- Joanna Macy, environmental activist, scholar
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
For I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches;
For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert,
To give drink to my hosen people the people whom I formed for myself
That they might declare my praise
Isaiah 43: 18-21