Stillness in the Bleak Midwinter

During Advent, our pastor adds a little tweak to the order of worship. At the end of the service, we are asked to sit back in our pews and just be still, while music is played on the piano. So, during that time of the postlude when we typically gather coats, pocketbooks, and bulletins to throw away, we put off our list of things to accomplish, probably less than one or two minutes for silence and contemplation (at least, that's the idea). I don't know how the rest of the congregation feels about this practice, but it could be my favorite part of church over the course of the entire year. It draws me right into thinking about Advent, Christ, and this season.

In a time in the year where the daylight and climate make it easier for us to be still and contemplate our faith, we have managed to come up with lists of things we "have" to do during this time of year. It stresses us all out, people complain about it regularly, and yet we are still chained to it. I'm not saying that the Christmas season is just all-out misery, but it has been drawn out and stretched into a big set of obligations that I don't think the Christians who introduced the idea intended.

In fact, the timing of Christmas isn't so tied into the actual historical date of Christ's birth, anyway. It's timed with the winter solstice. Winter Solstice has been celebrated by all types of cultures for a long, long time, but we Christians saw a great deal of symbolism that could be had from this time of year. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, daylight-wise. This time of year seems to be dimly lit, because it's dark outside an hour before you get off work. So, the day after the Winter Solstice is a great moral victory for us, because it's the day that the light begins to return. You see where early Christians saw a metaphor there?

You're probably thinking by now, "why is Troy giving us a Christmas history lesson? Isn't this supposed to be a Creation Care blog? When are we going to get the guilt trip about using less wrapping paper or taking an energy efficient vehicle to visit Grandma?" Well, my creation care angle in this post is one about being better connected to the Earth. During the Christmas season, so many of us are just connected to the inside of buildings and cars. This Christmas we will be inside decorated rooms at parties, stores trying desperately to sell us stuff, watching hear-warming television specials, and crammed inside our cars driving hours to get to Christmas celebrations. The idea of light in our lives, in a literal sense, will be lost, because most of our will be coming from bulbs.

It's hard to stop, this time of year. We have a checklist of things that we must do, so that no one gets left out or offended. We want to take part in those traditions we have cherished since our childhood--and, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. But, for at least a moment or two each day, sit down, go outside even. Look at how the world is changing. Feel it in the air. See the lights at the end of a cold, winter day. Imagine that first Christmas, and how it must have felt to bring Christ into the world in a stable with animals and straw as your company. Hear the sacred songs of the season in your mind. And know, just as the earliest Christians realized through this brilliant metaphor for the season, that light will soon return. Light enough to light up this entire world where there was darkness. And, if you can manage to be still long enough, out in this world, the world that God made, I bet you will feel even more.

December Tips

We all think of "green" for the holidays. We want to hang the greens, but we also worry about spending so much "green." Unfortunately, so much about the holidays involves waste - so we challenge you to be as green as possible in all your celebrations. Here are some specific tips on limited waste from www.blessedearth.org

• Skip paper cards. If everyone sent just one less card per year, we could save 50,000 cubic yards of paper.

• Reduce the trimmings. If every family reused just 2 feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet!

• Wrap in reusable material such as cloth bags or reusable gift bags. If every household in America wrapped just 3 presents in reused materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

• If you must use wrapping paper - buy the kind made from recycled paper and make sure you recycle it when finished. So often we rip it off and throw it away and it takes up room in a landfill.

• Switch to LED holiday lights. They cost about $8 more per strand than standard bulbs, but use up to 100 times less energy and will last about ten years when used indoors.
  

August: Reusable Tips

Reusing as much as possible is crucial to eliminating waste. Here are some tips to help you live a reusable life.

~ Get a good reusable water bottle to take with you as much as possible. Avoid plastic water bottles at all costs - even if they get recycled, they require energy for manufacturing and disposal.

~ Reuse any water that you don't drink to water plants. Don't dump it down the drain.

~ Reuse paper that is only printed on one side. Print on the other side or use it as scrap paper to make notes or grocery lists. Then, when you have used it fully, recycle it.

~ Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible. Ask in your community about battery recycling programs.

~ When you eat, use washable dishes, utensils, cups, and napkins. They eliminate waste and make for a nicer dining experience.

Creature Care Practices

This month our focus is on caring for something living be it a plant, pet, or person - as we are all creatures together. And in caring for one creature, we care for many creatures as God made us all a part of creation. Here are five simple practices to connect with creation as we care for fellow creatures.

~ Put out a bird feeder, birdbath, or birdhouse.

~ Plant something in your yard or get a houseplant.

~ If you are considering a pet, adopt one from a shelter or rescue agency. If you don't need a pet currently, volunteer to help at a local shelter.

~ Take a dish made of fresh fruits or vegetables to a friend or neighbor. Encourage them to do the same if possible and share a gift of healthy food.

~ Once a week for the next month, walk or bike somewhere instead of driving. If you must drive or ride in a car, share the trip with someone else.

Water Practice 3: Connect water with your senses

Take time to connect to water with your senses.

We all know how much a part of our life and faith water is if we really take time to think about it. The trouble is that we rarely spend time thinking about it. Most of us take water for granted more in a day than we really appreciate water in a year.

During a time in your day when you are using water—bathing, washing hands, washing dishes, washing your face, when you’re out in the rain—pay attention to the feel of water on your body. As you do that, consider a verse from scripture that refers to water, for instance:

- In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

-As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, my God. (Psalm 42)

-The woman said to Jesus, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." (John 4:15)

-For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. (Mark 9:41)

Water Practice 2: Use only what you need

It is so easy to leave a faucet running. When we are rinsing dishes or getting ready for a shower, we let it go and lose track of time. It is time consuming to keep turning the faucet on and off, and there is plenty of water, so why does it matter?

I refer back to times when I have had a finite amount of water, and I had to really take seriously how much I used. I realized I didn’t need as much water for cleaning as I thought. I thought of all the times I left a faucet running, while I did other things, and it seemed so wasteful and arrogant to let it go that way just because I could.

I think of the people all over the world who must walk miles to get all the water they will use in a given day and carry it back on their heads. I think of how they would look at me running my water for no good reason.

Then, if we feel this way, how must God look at us wasting these gifts? Is water any less important to me than it is to the one who must walk miles to get it? Not really. If this were true to me every day, how would I act about that? Would I let it run down the drain while I walked off to get more plates, or would I ration out only what I needed like I did when I was in the woods with limited water?

What actions would best tell God, “I am so thankful for this life-giving water. I realize how important this blessing you give me is.” This is a way of giving thanks—to treat these gifts with the importance they deserve.

Water Practice 1: Collect Water for Use

We let so much water that could be used around the house wash away.

Take some time to consider all the water that is lost down the drain or into the ground in your house. For instance, water runs down the drain when you are waiting for the hot water heater to kick in. You could let that water run into a bowl, pitcher, or watering can to use later. This can be used to water plants or rinse dishes waiting to be washed. You can also set up a rain barrel or bucket to catch some of the water that falls from the sky. You, of course, would not drink this water, but you can use it to flush your toilets. This cuts down on the amount pumped from your well or city water. This could save you money, but that’s not all.

I’ve found that these practices slow me down and focus me on these simple tasks. When I do that, it clears my mind and helps me appreciate simple things. This calls me to prayer. These acts certainly take more time, but I feel a closeness to God while I do them, and I am more thankful for this basic necessity of life.

So, collect some of this water, and when you do that extra work it will inevitably create, make it into a prayer of thanks.

Water

We get references throughout the Bible to water. It makes sense for the biblical writers to compare things to water—everyone on earth knows it and uses it just about every day. Water is a huge part of every human’s life, whether you realize it or not. Sadly, for many of us, we don’t respect water as one of the most important elements to life.

Think about how many parts of your daily life depend on water: quenching thirst, bathing yourself, using the bathroom, brushing your teeth, washing your hands, cleaning your dishes, and washing your clothes—just think of what it would be like to do without all of that for even a day, when you really need it.

In this part of the world, though, water is plentiful, and we rarely get close to running out. When you have so much, it’s easy to overuse something. So, we leave our sinks on, we take hour long showers, and we pay no attention to our leaky faucets.

I was backpacking with a group of youth, miles into the woods of Nathan Bedford Forest State Park. The shelter where we were sleeping was nowhere near a water source, so a group of us had to hike several miles to a creek to filter water. We were all out of water from drinking, cooking, and cleaning over the past day. As we walked farther and farther, we grew more and more tired. I was so worn out and just wanted a large gulp of water. We were next to Kentucky Lake for part of our walk, and I even considered drinking some of that filthy river water. It was such a relief finally getting to our water source, filtering that water, and getting to wet our throats.

I remember one of the youth on the trip saying, "I never realized how important water is and how much I waste it. When we get back, I’m not going to waste so much water."

When you are out on the trail and only have so much water with you, you have to treat it with great importance. When you are back in the world of running water, piped into your home, it’s harder to see it with so much reverence. But, water deserves our reverence still, doesn’t it? Isn’t it still one of the most important elements in our life?

If we find more time in our daily routine to pay respect to water, even if it is just finding ways to use less of it, it can really make us more thankful people. If we thank God for these gifts more regularly, we are in closer communion with the one who made us.

Learning from Job

The Book of Job has fascinated people for centuries. I think it appeals to so many people because it treats one of the ultimate life questions: "Why do the innocent suffer?" This question can be spun many ways and made the foundational point for "The Problem of Evil" or "Theodicy" - which fundamentally asks, "Is God good/just?"

From my perspective, a reading of Job doesn't fully satisfy these issues, but some good points are made. Usually the section that gets the most attention is that of God's response to Job in the last few chapters of the book. God answers Job by asking Job, "Where were you when..." and lists several chapters worth of details about creation. Often this is understood as God "smacking Job around" or simply telling Job to shut up and realize that God is God and Job is not. That might be part of what's happening, but I don't believe it's the whole.

More than anything, I read this section as God laying out for Job the intricate connections of creation. It is clear that God has gone to painstaking ends to make things "just so." If any of the variables were off, it could all go awry as so many parts depend on one another. Ultimately, God is communicating with Job that God has the utmost care for EVERYTHING in creation - including Job and humans, but not just Job and humans. Everything in creation matters to God.

I invite you to read those few final chapter for yourself or with a group. Discuss the connections, and feel free to share your thoughts on this reflection.

February Focus: Creation is Connected

Recently our material has centered more on specific practices. This month we want to focus a bit more on the spiritual side of creation care. Of course, we want the spiritual to impact the practical and the way you look at things to shape your behavior, as the two are deeply connected.

This month is all about connection. We are focusing on how creation is connected and our connection with it. In a post last year which featured an Earth Day letter to a local newspaper I wrote: "'The environment' is not something separate from us. We are all part of the environment - intricately woven into it and inseparable from it." When human beings forget that we are part of creation and treat "the environment" as something separate, something we can decide to care for or not, we can do untold harm.

This month we will highlight this connection through scripture and other sources, and we hope you will feel more connected with creation through these readings and thoughts.

Electricity: Practice 5

Knowing where electricity comes from

Take some time this week and find out where your energy comes from. Call your local power company or go online and see if you can find it. It may be difficult.

Try to get a sense of what is truly happening every time you hit a light switch or plug something in. It may make you look at it differently.

Set goals for next month about being a better steward regarding power usage. Look at the actual kilowatt hour usage on your bill and commit to decreasing daily usage. You might even set an extreme goal and be surprised that it isn't as tough as you thought.

Electricity: Practice 4

Turning things off

There are so many items in a house that often get left on when they are not being used. Televisions, fans, chargers, radios, cable/satellite boxes are just a few.

Sometime this week, take time when you leave a room or your house to make sure you have turned everything off that is not essential. As you make your rounds, notice how many things you have that use electricity, and think of how much power it takes to run your house in any given day.

Be humbled by how much money and resources this takes. Be proud that you are being a good steward with these resources, but at the same time don’t forget to realize so much more than just your money makes this possible.

Electricity: Practice 3

Refrigerator

This one appliance is uses a pretty hefty percentage of your normal energy bill. It makes sense—you can’t really turn it off each day.

Here is one practice that will keep it from working as hard, and help you use your resources more wisely: Sometime this week, stock your refrigerator and freezer as full as you can. If you have an empty fridge (like my college apartment fridge), it will be cold just like a stocked one. The difference is that one has cold things, while the other has cold air.

When you open the door of an empty fridge, cold air goes out to your kitchen, and the fridge has to go to work to replace it. In a stocked fridge, the cold stuff stays there and stays cold. End result: a stocked fridge doesn’t have to work as hard. If you are not the type who always has a fridge full of food, it doesn’t mean you need to buy a lot of food you can’t possibly eat or leave that mayonnaise jar in there when you know it’s expired. Just take some empty containers like milk jugs, fill them with water, and put them in those empty spots. You save resources and money, just by leaving them there.

Electricity: Practice 2

Heat/Air

This, I think, is one of the most difficult issues involving electricity to make some kind of change with.

We are so used to a consistent temperature that it is hard to imagine anything other than a room somewhere between 68 and 72 degrees. It has become so that in many buildings I find myself the hottest in the winter and the coldest in the summer. We have this amazing gift of never having to worry if we will freeze or be exhausted by heat. But, many of us get too comfortable, using this gift when we aren’t around or stretching it during the most extreme times of the year.

This week, if you do not already, be mindful of your thermostat when you leave your house. Give your heater a break while you are gone. It will save you money. If you already adjust your thermostat when you go, try adjusting the temperatures when you are there. Make common sense adjustments like dressing with warm house slippers (your feet inform the rest of your body on how to feel). Use blankets on your couch. Dress warmer. This will save you money, which is big to some. But even if you think it is well worth your money to keep the thermostat where you like it, this is a way to be in better touch with the gifts God gives you, saving coal reserves. It also keeps you in tune with the seasons, as God created us to be.

Electricity: Practice 1

Lights

Get creative with lighting your house: So many of us have windows in our house that are always covered by blinds of curtains. Yet, during any given day, there is enough sunlight to light many houses without needing light bulbs.

Sometime this week, if you are at home or in your office, try going without turning on the light switches. Open the blinds or the curtains and let the sun light your room. This, of course, may not be feasible if you don’t have enough windows, if it’s cloudy, or if it’s just too cold. But, if it’s possible, try it—see how your perspective changes with the different kind of light. Also, take a few moments to look out your window and be more connected with the world around you. You will notice nature, people, buildings. In these brief moments, pray. Your world is much bigger than the room you are in.

Try candles at night: Up until about 100 years ago the only light in homes at night came from some sort of candle. Take a night this week to reconnect with your roots. Have a dinner by candlelight. I bet it will make it more difficult to be distracted with just the candles lighting the house. You will save money and resources, and depending on what you do that night, it could be a very novel way to spend the evening as a family.

I remember many nights when the power went out, how I was surprisingly excited to get to use the candles and oil lamps at my parents’ house. Candles are still used to invoke something spiritual in our churches. If you are doing a devotion or Bible Study, try beginning by lighting your candles and ending by extinguishing them without using electrical lights. The fire has a different affect on us.

January Focus: Electricity

The idea of electricity is so abstract for many of us that it is hard to look at it the way we might look at food or water. It is kind of like money. If you have enough of it, why is it a big deal to use it? What could possibly be spiritual about our use or our conservation of electricity?

I think the first part is understanding where our electricity comes from. For us in the Tennessee River Valley, we get a lot of it from hydroelectric power. We also get it from burning coal too, though. Then there is a minimal amount from wind and solar. When you start to think about what happens outside of your house when you flip on that light switch, you are a little more connected to those things that make this possible. Secondly, just finding alternatives to electricity can take you out of your daily routine enough that it can be a spiritual experience.