Following in the World Newsletter Vol 7 July 20, 2022
Following in the World
We are in the midst of a heat wave in Ottawa this week; currently it is 30 degrees celsius, with a humidex in the mid-30s. All things considered, that isn't too bad, especially for those of us who are fortunate or privileged enough to be able to escape the heat into air conditioned spaces, to avoid having to work outside, or aren't struggling with health conditions or social factors such as poverty that make the heat harder on some people.
Heat waves, however, are coming to take on new meanings of foreboding and danger. The heat wave in Europe right now is of a new magnitude, especially for that region. The heat wave in India and Pakistan in the spring, where temperatures rose above 40 degrees and reached nearly 50 degrees Celsius in some places, was of a new magnitude. The frequency and intensity of heat waves like these are increasing around the world; as I saw on social media this week, there will come a time when we will wish that it was "only" 40 degrees outside.
How devastating. And how completely, totally avoidable. One thing that the summer heat I'm enjoying right now does is make me sit with the reality of climate change that is before us. Here. Now. What is it going to take for the world to step up? For businesses and governments to step up? And what is the role of people of faith in the collective movement that is needed to demand that fossil fuels emissions be halved now, so that these heat waves, that are already deadly, don't become worse? For me personally, what is God calling me to do in this time of climate crisis?
As you'll see below, there will be a climate strike in Ottawa in September, organized by Fridays for Future Ottawa. If you live in Ottawa, please come out. If you don't, please find a way to get involved where you live. And please, continue to pray and discern what you are called to in this critical time.
Announcements
Ottawa Climate Strike – Friday, September 23, 2022
Rising up to fight the Climate Crisis.
12:00-1:30 @ Confederation Park
1:30-2:00 March from Confederation Park to Parliament Hill
2:00-3:00 Rally @ Parliament Hill
Organized by Fridays for Future Ottawa: https://www.fridaysforfutureottawa.org/. Please come out on behalf of the climate and all of the Earth Community.
BLOG POST: "Responding Faithfully in Climate Crisis: A Sermon"
Find it here: https://jessicahetherington.ca/blog/
Prayer for Reflection
This week I was doing some research for the book I am writing. In the early pages of Radical Discipleship: A Liturgical Politics of the Gospel by Jennifer M. McBride, she presents an adapted version of the Lord’s Prayer that is prayed in the Open Door Community, an intentional worshipping community in Atlanta, Georgia. It goes like this:
Our Beloved Friend, outside the domination system,
May your Holy Name be honored by the way we live our lives.
Your Beloved Community come. Guide us to:
walk your walk, talk your talk, sit your silence
inside the court room, on the streets, and in the jail houses,
as they are on the margins of resistance.
Give us this day everything we need.
Forgive us our wrongs, as we forgive those who have wronged us.
Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.
For Thine is the Beloved Community,
the power and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.[1]
I am struck by this powerful rendering of the Lord’s Prayer, that comes out of a deep commitment to living out faith within this world; its needs and cries, its sorrows and joys. The Open Door Community is intentionally carrying on the work and ideas of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr. “Beloved Community” in the prayer is taken from King’s work.
This is a powerful prayer to pray; I invite you to do so. It is a prayer that takes away any temptation to keep our faith at an individual level, and insists that it move out into the communal sphere. Our discipleship is not discipleship if it isn’t lived out in community with and for others.
After praying it as is, I invite you to reflect upon it, and perhaps write your own adaptation, specifically in light of the ecological crisis. How might the Lord’s prayer be shaped within Earth community? In a world that is burning up from the climate crisis? How might this, then, shape you, and help form your discipleship?
[1] From the Open Door Community (https://opendoorcommunity.org/), and quoted in Jennifer M. McBride, Radical Discipleship: A Liturgical Politics of the Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017), p.9. Since publication, the Open Door Community has moved to Baltimore, MD.
Reading for Transformation
There is so much out there to read and learn! Here I suggest two books: one that was useful to me in writing my PhD dissertation, and a more recent volume that I have come across.
Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World, by David. W. Orr (New York: SUNY Press, 1992).
In my dissertation, I suggest that becoming ecologically literate can help to engender the discipleship that we are called to in light of the ecological crisis. Ecological literacy is a form of environmental education that recognizes that it isn’t enough to simply learn about the natural environment; that our learning must change us, make us fall in love with the world and so affect our actions toward the world. Environmental educator David Orr coined the term ‘ecological literacy,’ and has written several books about the topic. This one is a must read.
Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology: Foundations in Scripture, Theology, History, and Praxis by Daniel L. Brunner, Jennifer L. Butler, and A. J. Swoboda (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014).
I purchased this book a couple of weeks ago, and have yet to delve into it. As an ecotheologian, my academic training is primarily Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant in origin. My faith roots are Roman Catholic, and I am currently a practicing United Church of Canada minister. I have had very little exposure to evangelical theology as a whole. This is an important lacuna in my research for me to correct, especially with respect to ecology and theology. I look forward to coming to understand the roots and contributions that evangelical ecotheologians bring to the conversation.
Have you read either of these books? If you have, let me know your thoughts!
Discipleship in Action
The news about the ecological crisis, especially the climate crisis, can be overwhelming and discouraging; it is easy to feel that there is little we can do. This isn’t true! There is so much that we can do, concrete actions that we can take now, in response to God’s call upon us as people of faith. Here is one idea.
Take Time to Lament
Photo by Engin Akyurt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dried-soil-surface-in-a-field-11707603/
My heart is so heavy over the heat wave in Europe, as it was over the spring heat wave in India and Pakistan. I feel powerless and overwhelmed. Maybe you feel similarly. To avoid sliding into denial or complacency, it is vital that we take our grief and anger to God, to sit before God in lament for the climate, for the Earth community, and for the role of humanity in getting us to this crisis state. Lament is, indeed, a part of discipleship. If we do not lament, we are unable to repent, and we are unable to see and listen through our tears to what God is calling us to. Lament is discipleship in action. Take some time to lament this week, individually and/or in your faith community. Know that lament allows us to make room for joy.
Earth Community in Pictures
I would love to share pictures of the Earth community in your part of th world! Feel free to send me pictures of where you live and visit, so that I can share them here. Email them to me at: jessica@jessicahetherington.ca or find me on social media.
My spouse and I got away to Brockville, Ontario for a few days last week. We hiked in the Mac Johnson Conservation Area. We were accompanied by red wing blackbirds, grey jays, chicory, and chokecherries!
Chicory in the meadow
I was thrilled to find a chokecherry bush! My mother used to make chokecherry jam. The berries tasted as tart as I remembered.
Coming Events
Learning Event in the Fall:
Please join me in Ingersoll, Ontario (or ONLINE) from Sept 30-Oct 2 for a weekend of learning, exploration, and worship on “Discipleship for Earth Healing.” Hosted by Oxford United Ministries and free of charge thanks to generous funding, this will be an important weekend to explore who we are in Earth community, the need for lament, and the important of discipleship and commitment toward Earth healing. To register or learn more go to: jessicahetherington.ca/events.
Contact
Any questions or comments? Things you'd like to see in this newsletter? I'd love to hear from you. Please go to jessicahetherington.ca, or email me at: jessica@jessicahetherington.ca.