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Creation Care

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Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine Plastic Jesus

Everywhere we look in our culture you will find plastic. One place where you will not find plastic, however, is in the Bible.

Plastics, first created in 1907, began global production in the 1950s. Over the next 70 years, annual production increased nearly 230-fold to 460 million tons in 2019. This growth spurt birthed single-use plastics, now one of the most urgent environmental threats. These plastics, too often buried in landfills or dumped untreated in our water sources, have become emblematic of our culture's convenience obsession.

Connected

The hill, once covered densely with trees, is now covered with loose dirt and a few struggling shrubs. A little down the hill is a village of around 40 houses. Each one, 7 to 10 feet off the ground, was built on top of wooden stilts. The part above the ground, on stilts, is a one roomed bedroom. The family sleeps there and most of their worldly possessions are on that level. The space on the ground is used as the kitchen area- where the family cooks and eats together. The area around the house is swept bare, no garbage and not much greenery around the house.

Justice Prayers - January 31, 2024

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. John 17: 15-18, NIV

Black and White Binary

We have seen the harm that is brought about by extreme polarity or unwavering binary belief (also described as dualism). And still we can find ourselves gravitating in that direction; is it human nature, or just the easiest way to order our worlds and soften the struggle? Sociologists have studied its negative effects on societies and people pushed to the margins within those binary cultures for many different reasons. I have also seen evidence of this in the natural world where signs of disaster or unhealthy ecosystems get reduced to binary qualities or even worse, monoculture.

Old-Growth Christmas Tree

This December, on the West Lawn of the Capitol Grounds in Washington DC will stand the 2023 Capitol Christmas Tree. Every year since 1964, this site has been home to “The People’s Tree,” cut down in one of our nation’s National Forests and carted to the seat of legislative power to be adorned with lights and ornaments.

A Just Resource Extraction Theory?

I have struggled with recent vocational changes in an effort to feel comfortable with who I am and how I make my livelihood. And it is more complex and challenging than I have ever given much thought to before. As I approach mid-life and look back at my experiences, I do see that my decisions include making difficult choices, certain compromises and justifications.

When You Have the Chemistry

“When you have the chemistry, the biology will follow.” 
This is an actual quote from a conversation between a farmer and a soil chemistry specialist.. What are they talking about you ask??? 
They are talking about soil. 
 

Justice Prayers - October 4, 2023

We are dab-hands at fishing: why should we incline
To net people instead? {Matt 4:18ff
‘There’s a catch to convince you that I am divine.’

We’re five thousand famished; you tell us to dine
On two herrings? They’re red! {Mark 6:30ff
‘Except for a soul I will give you no sign.’

Whale Catch Sole Catch Pike Catch Plaice by Michael Ward

A Bluer Theology: Protecting and Restoring God’s Marine Creation

On the beach in Pacific Grove, CA, eight middle and high school students bend over the wet sand, digging as the wave water recedes to catch sand crabs. Blue Theology fellow Gabrielle Poli leads the group to catch the crabs (Pacific mole crab, to be specific), measure them, write down the data on a clipboard, and release them back into their sandy home. The students are part of a church youth group, one of many who will visit the Blue Theology Mission Station for a week over the summer.

Justice Prayers - August 16, 2023

“God’s love is like an ocean. You can see its beginning, but not its end.” Rick Warren

Thank you to everyone who contacted us last week about Do Justice prayers. We experienced technical difficulty with this website that has now been resolved.  You can read last week's prayers at this link. 

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