Mennonite
Central
Committee

Tools to sustain and celebrate the earth

Marla Pierson Lester
April 19, 2006

On April 22, Earth Day marks the launch of a three-year campaign to focus on climate change — and the specter of global warming is hitting the headlines.

The cover of the April 3, 2006, issue of Time Magazine introduces a special report about global warming with the headline, "Be worried. Be very worried." One of Canada's foremost water experts warns of water shortages and drought in the Prairies — dry spells that could be worse than the 1930s, reports the Globe and Mail. A Wall Street Journal article chronicles how shorter freezes in northern Manitoba are hampering a 1,600-mile network of winter roads built over ice to link remote communities with the wider world.

While the issues may seem overwhelming, each one of us can take steps to better care for the world that God has made.

 

Explore ideas from "Earth Trek: Celebrating and Sustaining God's Creation," a book of meditations, discussion questions and suggestions for action developed from material on MCC's Web site and published by Herald Press.

It is still good: a meditation adapted from Genesis 1

Things you can do (below)

Purchase Earth Trek (below)

 

 

Things you can do

• Read Genesis 1; say a prayer of thanks to God.
• Decide what you want before opening the fridge or freezer.
• Keep a nature journal noting your observations of the natural world each day.
• Use manual instead of electric appliances as much as possible
• Look in your pockets, purse, or bag to find something that symbolizes or represents a personal action that you are taking toward the environment. Do this activity as a group.
• Run full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher
• Take a walk in the neighborhood around your home or church and note what is natural and what is man-made.
• Say a prayer of thanksgiving each day this week for aspects of nature that touch your life.
• Use both sides of every sheet of paper — if you don't already have one, set aside a box or file for paper used on one side to be reused in your computer printer or as scrap paper.
• Look at your favorite hymns, choruses or Bible verses. What do they say about creation? Do this activity as a group.

From "Earth Trek: Celebrating and Sustaining God's Creation," by Joanne Moyer, 2004, Herald Press.

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Earth Trek

Includes ideas for action, meditation, discussion and reflection, and is the third in the Trek series. Other titles include, "Basic Trek: Venturing into a World of Enough," and "Parent Trek: Nurturing creativity and care in our children."

 

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