Friday, April 24, 2015

Perspective


      It is, said nature photographer Galen Rowell, “the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.” The image by astronaut Bill Anders was taken from Apollo 8 on Christmas, 1968.  Often called “Earthrise,” that image gave us a new perspective on our planet when we really realized earth’s fragility and beauty, that bright blue orb in the darkness of space, our home.

      Wednesday was the 45th observance of Earth Day, begun just under two years after “Earthrise.”  We have hundreds of other striking images of earth from space from human space missions and from satellites since which have given us far greater clarity about our home planet, but that Christmas globe remains the most emotionally powerful.  Astronaut Gene Cernan later remarked that from space none of the human boundaries were visible, just the natural features.  Recent images from the International Space Station have documented floods, volcanoes, ice changes, wildfires, and seasons, but also oil slicks, shrinking reservoirs and rainforests, pollution, oil rig fires, and devastation of war.  This planet is fragile.

      Above all, “Earthrise” gave us a new perspective of Earth, not just spatially but conceptually and socially.  It got us out of our usual short distance, short-term view.  Some people said it was the first time we all got to see a “God’s eye” view of Earth.  It has, of course, radically changed our theology of our stewardship of our environment.  Although theologians from fourth century patristic writers and Martin Luther have frequently made a point of God’s presence encountered in nature, and there are scores of references in the Hebrew Bible and Psalms and the New Testament, many quite beautiful, the environment as a topic of theological reflection is new, new since photographs from space gave us a cosmic perspective.

      An interesting comparison: at the dawn of “the space age” there was actually a conference about the Christian response to encountering beings from other planets.  Should we be evangelizing them?  Does “for God so loved the world” apply to other worlds?  What might it mean if there are other creatures to consider in the phrase “God created them in God’s image?”  If we now know that Earth is a planet suspended in space, how do we deal with passages speaking of a “three-story universe” of Earth, with Hell below and Heaven above?  It was a serious set of questions raised by serious Christian thinkers.  What happens if we meet other creatures?  How do we respond?  What does space exploration mean for other planets.

      You may have noticed that line of theology disappeared pretty much without a trace.  What did happen was the rise of environmental stewardship theology.  The urgent question was what does space exploration mean for us, here on Earth?  Apollo 8’s “God’s eye view” changed our humans’ eyes view forever.  Just as Earth Day affected political and societal decisions, bringing environmental calculations into play, so it has affected stewardship and environmental theology.  The Hebrew words in Genesis once translated as “to have dominion” over in the King James Version are now translated as humans having “management over” or “stewardship of” the earth, much closer to the original meaning.  God is sovereign over the planet, and we only have temporary management and use of it, and thoughtless exploitation of resources is now visible as a problem, as sin.  And so you have most mainline denominations working very hard on environmental initiatives and theology, both practically, in congregations cleaning up vacant lots or trashed streams or, like the UCC, encouraging divestment from fossil fuels and support of renewable energy sources, and teaching stewardship of the environment in seminaries and Sunday School curricula.  That striking image really changed our perspective on this Earth.

      Incidentally, many call this “the iconic image of ‘Earthrise.’”  At the risk of sounding pedantic, an “icon” is a representation of holy person intended to inspire devotion or meditation.  It stands in for a thing or person.  This Apollo 8 image is not a representation of Earth; it is Earth.  It is the real thing.  It is not an icon.  It is an image not for us to meditate upon.  It calls us to good stewarding of this fragile blue orb and our neighbors upon it.  It calls us to action.

       May God’s perspective be the source of our faithfulness.

                                                                                                         In Christ,
                                                                                                
                                                                                                         David
                                                 
Texts For Sunday Worship:

       From the Hebrew Bible                      Psalm 23
      From the Acts of the Apostles        Acts 4:5-12
      From the Gospels                       John 10:11-18

Friday, April 17, 2015

The Chapter House and the Church

      After it was clear that no one was injured in the fire which destroyed The Chapter House tavern in Collegetown and the adjacent apartment house, and that the community and Cornell had immediately started to help and support the 40 graduate students left homeless, my thoughts drifted to wondering, “If First Congregational Church burned down, would people miss it as much as they seem to miss The Chapter House?”

      That off-centered thought may not be as callous as it seems on your first reading, because in my past I was the interim at a church which had, in fact, burned fifty years before and rebuilt.  While I was in Watkins Glen, lightening struck the Glen Baptist Church, which burned to the ground; they built a new and more useful building on that site, as well.

      The Chappie was a familiar landmark and a place generations of graduate students frequented, and in the last week lots of people have reminisced about it, and many efforts have begun to house the displaced and help them financially get back on their feet.

      So, I asked myself, if First Congregational Church burned, would anyone miss it? or even notice?

      I’d like to think people would.

      Would people reminisce about the good times they’ve had in this building? Easter and Christmas services?  Boy Scouts in the basement? Sunday School?  Taking their children to the Community Nursery School in the basement over the years (or maybe being a kid at CNS themselves!)?  Choir or band or play practice here?  Community meetings in our building? The beauty of the sanctuary? The thunder and delicacy of the organ?  The huge production that was the Feed My Starving Children Mobile Pack?  Wonderful hours in committee meetings? (OK, that one might not have been serious.)  Baptisms or weddings or funerals marking the transitions of our lives?  Workbees or tending the gardens?  Worship in the chapel area in the woods?  Would people tell each other stories about the great times and wonderful people they were with as if they were reminiscing about a favorite gathering place or tavern?  I’d hope so.  Lots of ministers hope that the congregations they serve feel like walking into that television tavern, Cheers, “Where everybody knows your name.”  That sort of communal gathering place would be so welcome by so many.

      Would the community think of the programs and ministries and missions left homeless if our facility was gone?  Would they scurry to help the Ithaca Concert Band or Scouts or Community Nursery School or Music Together or the toddlers playing soccer on the lawn or FA or a dozen other “tenants” find new homes?  I’d hope so.  There is a lot of living that happens in this place.

      I was reminded of a funny (really!) event from early in my career, when a pastor was telling about a Pentecost celebration at their church with helium balloons released in worship.  He was awakened from his Sunday afternoon nap (yep, ministers are tired after worship) by sirens followed by a frantic phone call from a parishioner, “I just heard on the scanner that it’s the church!”  He dashed back over, only to discover the fire crews walking out shaking their heads and laughing.  He was relieved to hear that as the helium balloons caught in the ceiling lost pressure and started to sink, they broke the smoke detector beam and set off the alarm.  The pastor said that was forever after known as “The time the Presbyterian Church caught fire.”

      So are we so aflame with spiritual excitement and love of neighbors and world and community that we could set off our fire detectors without actually having the building burn down like the buildings on Stewart Avenue?  Are people talking about First Congregational like Cheers or The Chapter House, a place of true human contact, a place from whence important mission and ministry happens?  Would Ithaca miss First Congregational if this building wasn’t here?  I’d hope so.

      Remember: Pentecost is coming in six weeks.  Are we “on fire?”


                                                                                                          In Christ,
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                          David
                                                 
Texts For Sunday Worship:

      From the Acts of Apostles         Acts 3:12-19
      From the Epistles                       1 John 3:1-7
      From the Gospels                       Luke 24:36b-48