Environment

Mother Earth & Our Diseases
From
The Essene Jesus’ Teachings

Excerpts Quoted:

“Then many sick and maimed came to Jesus, asking him: ‘If you know all things, tell us, why do we suffer with these grievous plagues?’….

And Jesus answered: ‘Happy are you, that you hunger for the truth, for I will satisfy you with the bread of wisdom…. [Mother Earth] is in you, and you in her. She bore you; she gives you life. It was she who gave to you your body, and to her shall you one day give it back again. Happy are you when you come to know her and her kingdom; if you receive your Mother’s angels and if you do her laws, I tell you truly, he who does these things shall never see disease. For the power of our Mother is above all.

Stories about division and conflict among religious groups are hardly news because they are all too common. So examples of diverse religious groups joining efforts are all the more important because of their rarity. The call to reduce greenhouse gas production 80% by 2050 should be old news by now, but the current support for that effort from religious groups in Massachusetts is noteworthy because of the remarkable diversity of the groups involved. From Unitarian Universalists to Quakers, from mainline Protestants to the Armenian church and beyond Christianity to Jews and Muslims, religious organizations within the state have found common ground and formed the Massachusetts Interfaith Climate Action Network, calling upon believers to take up the cause of caring for the planet with a religious zeal.

Last year The IPC Board issued a press release commending the National Evangelical Association for taking a courageous stand on global change. We defended the Rev. Richard Cizik, who lead the effort, from the attacks of religious ultra-conservatives like the Rev's Falwell, Dobson and Robertson who called upon the NAE to fire the Rev. Cizik, claiming that global climate change was not a moral issue.

I note in recent articles that both the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the Roman Catholic Church under leaderhip of Pope Benedict and the Vatican's second highest ranking official now publically state their support for global climate change initiatives.

A NY Times article of March 10th, notes that the SBC under the leadership of 25 year old Jonathan Merritt, (son of past SBC President Rev. James Merritt) the spokesman for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative, and a seminarian at the S.B. Theological Seminary "said the declaration was a call to all Christians to return to a biblical mandate to guard the world God created". The Southern Baptists have apparently joined the rising tide of evangelicals who are calling for action to save our environment. The article also "noted the initiative marked the growing influence of younger leaders on discussions in the (SBC)".

A Prophetic Voice in Jewish, Multireligious, and American Life

I can't resist the Hebrew prophets. So here's another in this series of riffs on the assigned readings for Sunday services at my church. Here's my take on the one I'll be reading on the Second Sunday in Advent -- December 2, this year: Isaiah 11: 1-10. And I'm afraid it's turned into something of a sermon. But even a lector can indulge in a bit of exegesis.

This is a famous passage -- about lions and livestock lying down together, and a little child shall lead them. It's a vision of a highly stylized utopia, a "version of pastoral", built on very different principles from the normal, natural world.

At one level, it harkens back to the ideal of the Garden of Eden -- carnivores no longer eat meat: "the lion shall eat straw like the ox". The former predators and the former prey shall lie down together and all are tame enough to be led by a child.

President Bush isn't just blocking progress on climate change here at home—he's making a full-court press to pull back the rest of the world as well. But if we join with progressives beyond our borders, we can stop him.

Within the next 24 hours the U.S.
Senate will decide whether or not to increase fuel economy standards in cars for
the first time in 30 years. This would be an important first step to lowering
our greenhouse gas emissions. We need you to voice your support TODAY to protect
God's creation. 

Interfaith Power and Light has a clergy/religious leader-only letter asking Toyota Motor North America to withdraw its lawsuit opposing AB 1493, California's landmark law to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. The full letter is attached.

They need 22 more signatures in the next two days. You don't have to be from California since what happens here will affect other states. By getting Toyota to live up to its Prius-values and peel them off from the other motor companies, this lawsuit can be defeated.

Just send the following info to signonletter@interfaithpower.org

I've been wrestling with Jesus for almost 50 years.

I mean, the guy has this way of getting all over you, under your skin, moving inside your head and never letting go!

The longer I have studied, listened to and observed him in the biblical record, in terms of his historical impact and in regard to the effect he has had on my own life and world, the more convinced I am that most people don't really understand him, what he said or who he was.