On the feast of John Muir

Cross posted at 50 Days of Fabulous 


Read
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” — John Muir

Reflect
John Muir’s home in Martinez, a National Historic Site, is 15 miles away from where I now live. I’ve never visited. Even though it’s free and open to the public. Even though it’s open 7 days a week. Even though it’s dog-friendly. Even though I’m writing a friggin’ reflection on John Muir.

“Oh, I’ll get to it,” I say. “But first there are so many important busy things I have to do. I have plenty of time to do fun stuff later.”

And strangely, the important busy things keep knocking on my door saying, “I’m important and busy. Do you know how important and busy I am? Meet my needs!” while the John Muir house sits 15 miles away inviting me to stop by, walk around the orchard with a dog or two, enjoy the scenery.

Important and Busy say, “Don’t stop now! Don’t ever stop! Keep your head down! Focus!”

The John Muir house says, stop for a moment, look around and something new, be refreshed, be replenished.

Is it the John Muir house that’s calling me? Or is it something else? Something more fundamental.

We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, Jesus tells us. And weren’t the first words that came from the mouth of God the words of creation?

I promise to visit the John Muir house. Not because I ought to. Because I want to. Because I’ve been invited. Because Important and Busy can only give me bread. And because God created all of us for more than bread alone.

Respond
Schedule the time to do something you’ve been wanting to do to feed your spirit that you’ve been putting off. Then do it!

Extra personal response:
I went by the John Muir House on Saturday with every intention of poking around, albeit briefly. As it happens, they were having an Earth Day Celebration, which would have required parking the car a long way off since the regular parking lot was full/reserved for mobility impaired, and taking a shuttle, which with three dogs was not going to happen. So we just took the photo you see up there. I'll have to go back another time. I did, however, go for a great hike on the Franklin Ridge Trail in the Carquinez Regional Shoreline Park. It was wonderful.

Various & Sundry: Good Friday/Earth Day edition

And what do you need to mark both Good Friday and Earth Day? Clearly, it's environmentally-friendly cardboard coffins! I personally think this one is most appropriate for our Lord and Savior, don't you?

I liked this obituary for Jess Jackson, founder of Kendall-Jackson wineries, who I'm sure would be buried in a coffin decorated with grapes. Interesting to compare the Wine Spectator obit with the NY Times, which emphasized his horse racing efforts.

I thought this essay by a Lutheran minister on the sexual ethics of Dan Savage was very interesting. It was brought to my notice by blogger Conor Friedersdorf who notes "that the prohibition on pre-marital sex cannot survive a society where people get married in their late twenties or early thirties; that pre-marital sexual relationships are fraught with ethical questions apart from whether they should exist at all; that the teachings of Jesus Christ might easily be applied to a lot of those questions; but that the folks who normally provide guidance in how to follow Jesus eschew that role." It makes me wonder if the sturm und drang over homosexuality over here is to distract from the fact that we're not looking at anything regarding how people by and large are living out their sexual lives over there.

Finally, in celebration of Earth Day, heed the helpful advice of this oh-so-paper-saving bulletin board.

World in Prayer: Earth Day edition

This was my week to write the prayers for World in Prayer. As you'll see, my mind was full of earthly things.

Here they are:

This Earth Day weekend, let us offer our prayers to the Lord for the earth and all that is in it, the world and all that dwells therein.

For the waters: seas and oceans, rivers and lakes. For all creatures who live in them. For those who travel upon them. For those who study and care for them.

Let us pray to the Lord,
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the lands: its valleys and mountains, deserts and fields. For all animals who live upon the earth. For plants and growing things. For cities, towns and all human habitations.

Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the air: for clouds and wind and weather. For birds and all winged creatures. For all who travel through the skies.

Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For those whose livelihoods were lost due to volcanic activity on the other side of the earth. For those whose lives have turned upside down due to earthquake, hurricane or flood.

Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For forgiveness for our carelessness with the Lord’s creation. For those living things hurt by pollution, defoliation or waste.

Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For wisdom in policy and foresight in planning. For eyes to see with compassion the world the Lord has made.

Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.

For you, O Lord, are the God of all creation. You saw everything you made and called it good. May we be faithful stewards of your creation, rejoicing in its bounty and caring for it with love, this day and always.

Amen.

Happy Earth Day!

Among the many people proposed for commemoration last summer at General Convention were John Muir and the very interesting Hudson Stuck. And what do you know: here they are on Earth Day!

Here's a short quote pulled from a longer quote that I used a year ago, but I like it enough to want to use it again. If I had the time, I'd spend the day reading John Muir; he's terrific.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. One fancies a heart like our own must be beating in every crystal and cell, and we feel like stopping to speak to the plants and animals as friendly fellow-mountaineers.

From My First Summer in the Sierra.

Happy Earth Day! Stay linked.

Book review: Second Nature

I wish I had found Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan before Earth Day. One of the thing that bothers me about Earth Day is the underlying feeling of "Nature, good; people, bad," and this book does an excellent job both of unearthing that philosophy (so to speak) and countering it.

I appreciate his trying to come to terms with woodchucks, weeds, and the morality of compost. I was intrigued by his explanation and exploration of the place of lawn in American democracy. Sometimes he gets carried away, and eventually I did feel, "I get the point," but the point is well made, well told, and worth hearing.

Happy 75 birthday, East Bay Regional Parks!

No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. Acts 4:32

I am mighty grateful for the farsighted folks who came up with the idea of a Regional Park District back in the 1930's. Keeper is even more grateful, what with all the off-leash trails. And cow pies.

I'm particularly mindful of this as Earth Day approaches next Wednesday. The thing I was thinking about Earth Day is that we tend to get all woo-woo about the beauties of the earth as if that was separate from the way that we use, manage, and take care of it. Yes, the earth is beautiful on its own. Yes, nature is powerful and dynamic.

But it's also clear to me that we need to think about taking care of the earth for the long haul, not just about what's pretty and useful today. And not just for us. Which is one reason why I think this 75th anniversary is so wonderful, is to see how the foresight of these folks during the depression have enriched my life so much. (And Keeper's life, he wishes me to add.)

Check out their schedule of activities here.