I’m happy to report that travel to General Conference proceeded without a hitch.
Catching up on Earth Day news during the flight, I wondered about the ginormous carbon footprint to be created by this event! It is imponderable and includes miles flown, shuttles taken, rooms air conditioned, workers showing up, food grown, transported, prepared, and consumed.
This is the 38th anniversary of Earth Day which began in the era of the Whole Earth Catolog, optional recycling, and occasional meatless main dishes. It was a trendy, hippie thing. Young adults turned to evangelical theologian Francis Schaeffer in the early 70’s, inspired by his advocacy of a Christian ethic, a distinctive way of being in the world. Later came the deeper creation spirituality of Matthew Fox who posited the original blessing of creation as a starting point.
The scriptures begin and end in a perfect garden. We exist somewhere in between.
No longer is Earth Day a hip fad, but an essential call to doing rather than pious pontification about preserving Planet Earth.
Scriptures say of the first Christians that “they met constantly.” The gathering of Christians is a tradition that defines us. Yet there must be eco-friendlier ways to do all of the meeting that church people do. I believe that some of the Conference conversations will focus on how it is that we will gather around the table. Can the work of being the UMC be done by fewer people and yet still represent all constituencies? Can technology reduce our footprint without diluting community?
1 Comment
April 24, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I remember the hippie, trendy earth days in my college years. I have not pondered about the pious pontification of preserving the Planet. Enjoy the conference.