30 June 2012
So How Is The Weather?
There are record highs being set, and meanwhile some of my family is at a wedding in Virginia which was one of the areas hit by a weather incident I've never heard of before (derecho?). On the other side of the country, fires are burning everything.
Ultimately, I believe many of the weather anomalies of the past decade or so have had something to do with climate change. I will admit that for me this is a faith position, and I don't have the knowledge/training to prove things one way or another. The thing is, I suspect no one can actually prove climate change is happening or not. What bothers me is that until perhaps very recently it was seemingly categorically dismissed by many faith communities (and for some it still is). I suspect this has more to do with an inherent suspicion/animosity toward science than much else. What's further puzzling is that some of these communities have posited that people's behavior regarding other aspects of their lives have brought on natural disasters. So a link is drawn between human behavior and calamitous weather - but only in terms of God punishing certain behaviors with disasters.
The Bible is a diverse enough collection to maintain several different positions on why bad things happen (to good or all people). But the prevailing opinion - especially in the "Old Testament" is that we reap what we sow. It seems by the thermometer that we're sowing hell.
26 May 2012
Chew Your Food
What strikes me as I read through this book a second time is the spiritual connection with food that I often ignore. My attitude toward food is often that it is fuel. I must eat in order to live, and so I choose to eat as quickly and often cheaply as possible. Quite frequently, I have eaten alone.
I think some if not many of my attitudes toward food are cultural (meaning for me a North American white guy), and as the story of my faith comes from another culture, it's fascinating for me to notice Biblical accounts of eating that are so different from my normal routine. What and how one eats in the Bible are often matters of holiness.
Recently, I have attempted to eat in a more holy fashion, and I understand this to mean more than simply "saying grace" before a meal. I seek to eat with others and to enjoy that time of fellowship. I also try to eat more slowly and enjoy what I'm eating as I am thankful to be eating at all.
Perhaps if we simply chew our food and savor this most basic of behaviors, we will reconnect with other basic elements of creation and thus be more inclined to live in a way that expresses thanks to the Creator.
13 April 2012
Screening Nature?
I love nature documentaries, and the mother of them all lately has been the Planet Earth series done by the BBC. I saw yesterday that over Earth Day weekend BBC America will be showing the series uncut. I rejoiced as I’ve been too frugal (cheap) to buy the set yet, and now I can record it.
At the same time, I am aware of the ironies or outright problems involved in connecting with nature by watching it on a screen. It’s breathtaking to watch, and yet by watching I’m choosing to be inside rather than out in the midst of the nature around me. I’m also using energy, and the production of this energy continues to be one of the top threats to the beauty of nature.
I think a “both/and” rather than an “either/or” approach to enjoying such programming would be helpful. Viewing the Planet Earth series and other programming about the beauty all around us should inspire us to spend all the more time sharing in the actual beauty while minimizing our time in front of the television. And yet, if we are going to watch something anyway (and most of us do at least some), what better programming to watch than that which inspires us to make true connections with creation and seek its care?!