{"id":1262,"date":"2011-09-30T08:37:12","date_gmt":"2011-09-30T15:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1262"},"modified":"2011-10-30T22:17:55","modified_gmt":"2011-10-31T05:17:55","slug":"pastors-pen-september-2011-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1262","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Pen October 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"
We do not call this world our own, <\/span><\/em><\/address>\n
yet we will make this earth our home;<\/span><\/em><\/address>\n
Holy One, in you alone.<\/span><\/em><\/address>\n

\u00a0<\/em>– Ray Makeever, Holy One, In You Alone<\/span>. \u00a9 1993.<\/p>\n

Beloved of God,<\/p>\n

There are times in our lives when events or threads come together in such a way that we discern a shared meaning behind them.\u00a0 (I say \u201cwe\u201d because I know I\u2019m not alone in this experience.)\u00a0 At such times, elements that at first seemed separate become intertwined in a way which is beyond coincidence.\u00a0 It was Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung who first put a word to this experience: synchronicity<\/span>.\u00a0 One of the features of this felt experience is that it can be crystal clear and at the same time fiendishly difficult to put into words.\u00a0 There is a sense that an array of events\/connections\/ideas\u2014some conscious and some below the surface\u2014are engaging each other in such a way that the sum is greater than the parts. For people of faith through the ages a much older word may often apply \u2013 \u201cprovidence\u201d \u2013 the guidance, care and wisdom for our lives provided by God.<\/p>\n

Four personal experiences over recent weeks have gathered themselves into a critical mass within me:\u00a0 our communal marking of the Season of Creation<\/em>; UW Professor Paul Johnson\u2019s address on global climate change at the Greening Your Congregation<\/em> workshop; my attendance at PLU\u2019s Water Conference<\/em>; and my encounter with songwriter Ray Makeever and his eloquent hymn Holy One, In You Alone<\/span><\/em> at Holden Village.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I write to you, four facts on global climate change stand out for me. \u00a0(1) Carbon dioxide concentrations in earth\u2019s atmosphere today are higher than they\u2019ve been in 50 million years.\u00a0 Decisions that human beings and human governments make over the next decade will determine whether the global temperature 100 years from now is 4 degrees higher than currently, or 12 degrees higher.*<\/a>\u00a0 (2) Climate change on planet Earth during our era is taking place at a pace 10 times faster than at any other period in the history of the planet.\u00a0 (3) As the global average temperature rises, raising the freezing level in winter and reducing mountain snowpack, the average water flow in the Columbia River is projected to be 43% less than current levels by the year 2030.\u00a0 (4) Less than 0.08% of the earth\u2019s water is available for human use, yet over the next decade, human use will increase by at least 40%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The facts are numbing\u2014and depressing.\u00a0 And there are plenty more.\u00a0 On such a scale, what difference can one person possibly make?<\/p>\n

Throughout our Season of Creation<\/em> we have sought to connect our faith life with the fate of Earth and all its inhabitants; to take God\u2019s enfleshment in Jesus seriously enough to see how this whole garden planet has, from the beginning, been the sacred sphere for God\u2019s unfolding plan of healing and restoration.\u00a0 God\u2019s deep incarnation in Christ leads us to deep affirmations of our purpose and mission as stewards of this<\/span><\/em> world.\u00a0 As we commit ourselves purposefully to this task by joining with congregations and faith communities around the world in the Green Faith<\/span> movement, we will move from hand-wringing paralysis to crucial and purposeful action.\u00a0 There\u2019s the \u201cwe\u201d again.\u00a0 It\u2019s about community, and the power of common minds and wills bent on making changes\u2014personal, local, and global\u2014 that will leave this pale blue dot of a planet, this unparalleled gift from the Creator, habitable for future generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This mission is daunting; and humbling, too; a road we can only travel together.\u00a0 Information is an important ally.\u00a0 Good science is essential.\u00a0 That\u2019s where efforts like the CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT<\/a> come in.\u00a0 But information is not by itself enough. A deeper process of conversion is called for.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where Ray Makeever\u2019s poignant and powerful song Holy One, In You Alone<\/span><\/em> comes in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When I encountered Ray at Holden during the Theological Symposium last month, I found myself recalling the impact of his music on my life and ministry over the course of 30+ years.\u00a0 At the closing Eucharist service, Ray on his guitar, with wife Linda and daughter Sophie on their violins, introduced us to his hymn HOLY ONE, IN YOU ALONE.\u00a0 I can\u2019t speak for anyone else, but the effect the song had on me was immediate and has endured.\u00a0 I am so struck by the simple, reflective melody, the way it moves and rests within its own rhythm, the hymn\u2019s humble frame, and the sense both of relinquishment<\/span> and hope<\/span> it embodies.\u00a0 Here\u2014take in the words:<\/p>\n

Refrain:<\/em> We do not call this world our own, yet we will make this earth our home; Holy One, in you alone.<\/em><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/address>\n
(1) We do not claim this living word that we have heard is our alone to give;<\/em><\/address>\n
We only know we have a heart in which it lives.<\/em> Refrain<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/address>\n
(2) We do not claim this love of ours can tame the pow\u2019rs that lead our world to sin:<\/em><\/address>\n
We only know we walk the road where Christ has been.<\/em> Refrain<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/address>\n
(3) We do not claim these seeds we sow will sprout and grow from our own hopeful hands:<\/em><\/address>\n
We only know we are the ground on which it lands.<\/em> Refrain<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/address>\n
(4) We do not claim our prayers for change can rearrange this world by or own will:<\/em><\/address>\n
We only know the risen Christ is with us still.<\/em> Refrain<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n

It\u2019s that final verse which speaks in a particular way to the call we share as earthkeepers, and to the hope we share in the presence of the risen Christ!\u00a0 This month, as we participate in the CROP WALK, as we write letters to Congress in Bread for the World\u2019s Offering of Letters campaign; as we launch our Confirmation program and our Journey of Faith process; as we remember once more the young German monk who had the gumption to confront the powers-that-be and so begin a reforming movement that shook the world, we do it all with hopeful expectation.\u00a0 For the risen Christ is with us still.<\/p>\n

Hubris and bravado, which seem in some quarters to be in plenteous supply, will get us nowhere.\u00a0 Ideological skirmishes will accomplish nothing.\u00a0 Denying the realities that we face as our climate changes is worth about as much as sticking our heads in the sand.\u00a0 Maybe even less. Leaders who can\u2019t or won\u2019t see the bigger picture won\u2019t get my time, my dime, or my vote.\u00a0 People like us who have stood at the cross and seen the empty tomb know better and we expect better.\u00a0 We, with \u201chopeful hands,\u201d put our trust in the one who says I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.\u00a0 We make no claims for ourselves or for our project\u2014but we stake everything on our belief that the Word who became flesh, the one we call Immanuel, is with us still, and still cares about this<\/span> world and everyone and everything in it.<\/p>\n

The words of Ray\u2019s song Holy One, In You Alone<\/span><\/em> have settled in a place deeply within me, a providential response to some harsh challenges these recent weeks have brought.\u00a0 When we sing this song on October 2nd, perhaps you\u2019ll agree.\u00a0 I hope so.\u00a0\u00a0 But more than that, I hope you will join me in committing our congregation to a Green movement that calls us further on this journey of renewal “In You (God) Alone.”<\/p>\n

Your companion on the Way,<\/p>\n

Pastor Erik<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\n

*<\/span><\/a>Figures are in Fahrenheit.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We do not call this world our own, yet we will make this earth our home; Holy One, in you alone. \u00a0– Ray Makeever, Holy One, In You Alone. \u00a9 1993. Beloved of God, There are times in our lives when events or threads come together in such a way that we discern a shared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-newsletter","category-pastors-pen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1262"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1278,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262\/revisions\/1278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}