Earth Day 2021: Embarking on the "Green Way"

 April 22 is Earth Day... 

Earth, from a lunar point of view.
Source: NASA's Apollo 8 mission

We set this day aside each year to intentionally focus on our home planet.  

An impetus for the first Earth Day (in 1970) was the famous Earthrise photo taken by Astronauts onboard Apollo 8 in 1968.  This was one of the first times that human beings could look back on  the great blue marble we call home and see clouds floating in a thin veil of atmosphere set against harsh blackness of outer space. 

 

Seeing Earth from a lunar point of view seemed to increase our awareness just how fragile the Earth was.  The image captured our collective imagination as a society.  It opened our eyes to see the state of the world as it was—and then to employ our best efforts to make it better. 

 

Not long after that first Earth Day, we created the Environmental Protection Agency.  We enacted Federal legislation to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and endangered species, and to clean up hazardous waste sites.  In the ensuing decades, we’ve realized that the Earth’s resources are not infinite and that we have a responsibility to future generations to preserve the natural world.   Thanks to Earth observing satellites, we’ve learned much more about the condition of the planet we call home.  We’ve  been reckoning with the environmental impacts of rising concentrations of carbon dioxide (primarily from burning fossil fuels to fuel our industrialized economy) as well as declining concentrations of stratospheric ozone (from the use of products containing chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs).

 

Air quality over the Northeast U.S. improved
during COVID compared to other years.
Source: NASA's Aura mission

In the last year, we got a glimpse of what a renewed world might look like.  At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with much of the normal automobile and pedestrian traffic removed, the air and water quality in many major cities around the world improved significantly. You could literally see the change in air pollution from space.  Packs of animals were even seen roaming on some major roads.  These examples remind us how quickly nature can repair itself when human activity is reduced—even for a short time. 

The pandemic also gave us another glimpse of our future. In March 2020, as COVID-19 was spreading like wildfire around the world and indefinite lockdowns were mandated, we had no choice but to move many activities that we've traditionally conducted primarily in person to online.  (While this shift had started to happen before COVID for some activities, the pandemic accelerated it to warp speed.)  Work, school, faith communities, sports, and entertainment—all of these had to make a quick shift from "business as usual."  And although there was certainly a steep learning curve for some, for the most part we've done it remarkably efficiently and effectively.  

And now that we've gotten used to conducting so much more of our lives online, it's unlikely we're going back—at least not entirely. This shift to interacting with one another in the virtual world, made out of necessity at first, is here to stay. Social gatherings in the post-pandemic world that is starting to emerge will need to evolve to accommodate a hybrid of in person and virtual participants on a regular basis.  

Is this glimpse of a renewed Earth just a blip in time, or is it a preview of things to come?  if society can pivot quickly to embrace new "normals" during a pandemic, can we also do it in response to the climate crisis?

 

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I think our 21^st century conundrum regarding our response to climate change has something in common with how those disciples on the Emmaus road responded when they encountered the Risen Lord (Luke 24:13–35).  The Resurrection (John 11:25) literally came and walked beside them.  However, trapped in the gloom and grief of their current reality, they could not see.  Once they shifted their perspective to imagine a new possibility—one that includes the reality of resurrection—then they could “see” who had been walking with them all along.  

 

To be fair, it’s hard to blame the disciples for their lack of imagination.  Rome was the dominant power of their day.  When Rome executed someone, they were “really most sincerely dead.”  The Roman Narrative defined the way things were for most ordinary citizens of the Empire.

 

Then along comes Jesus, proclaiming an alternative Kingdom (of God) Narrative.  Ordinary people are attracted to this counter-Imperial message.  The men walking the Road to Emmaus had been followers of Jesus.  They believed Jesus was the Messiah—the “liberating king” that the Jewish people so long anticipated would save them from the dominant power of the day.  

 

When Jesus went to Jerusalem during what we know as “Holy Week” his followers thought this was when he would finally take action against Rome.  He did act—just not at all in the way they expected.  Never in their wildest imagination did they expect their “Messiah” to die.  Frankly, it was a major disappointment.  As of Good Friday evening,  it looks like the little movement Jesus started has failed utterly.  Jesus appears to have joined countless other false Messiahs crushed under the heel of the Empire.   On Holy Saturday it sure seems the Roman Narrative is the only one that matters.  Thus, when they walk that road on Sunday, they are in a state of despair.

 

Given that context, we can imagine why the men are skeptical of the women’s incredible claim that when they visited the tomb on Sunday morning, they found it empty!  Albeit from a safe distance, they’d watched their Master die. They knew that no one comes back from the dead—and most certainly not from a Roman crucifixion.  Even though Jesus repeatedly told them to expect exactly what happened, they are completely absorbed in the Roman Narrative and not yet able to grasp what was happening.

 

As Luke tells the story, we encounter these two downcast disciples as they walk the Road to Emmaus, trudging along toward an uncertain future.  At some point the Risen Lord joins them on their walk—but they don’t recognize him.  The mysterious stranger strikes up a conversation as they walk, getting them to recount the horrible circumstances of the last 36 hours.  The traveler seems to know the Scriptures.  He explains that what happened is precisely what the Prophets predicted would happen.  The disciples stop to camp for the night.  At first Jesus seems to be continuing along the road, but the two disciples “convince” him to stay with them.

 

And that’s when the shift happens.  There was something about entering in, breaking bread together—seeing Jesus up close—that broke through the gloomy fog of the Roman Narrative. Suddenly resurrection was no longer just an abstract idea—the Resurrection was eating dinner with them.  Something totally new was set free—and Rome could not stop it.  Suddenly, it dawned on them that the Kingdom Narrative was rewriting the whole story!  

 

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Now, if resurrection of one man sometimes seems impossible to believe, how much more does resurrecting—of, if you prefer, transforming—the Earth seem hard for our society to fathom?

 

Climate change is a complex and nuanced issue that defies an easy solution.  However, even the deepest skeptic finds it increasingly hard to deny that such change is happening—and that it bears a distinctive human footprint.  Climate change is inexorably linked to other complicated issues like racial injustice and economic inequality.  We can’t truly address one of these issues without addressing all of them.  Given all of this, it’s easy to assume there’s nothing you and I can really do to make a difference.  

 

This attitude comes in part because, just as the disciples lived under a dominant Roman Narrative, our society lives under the influence of a dominant Exploitation Narrative. Even though we often don’t give it a second though as we go about our daily lives, entire economies—and Christian doctrines (e.g., the Doctrine of Discovery)—have been set up to justify our [1] exploitation of Earth’s natural and human resources.  Fossil fuel extraction (e.g., oil, natural gas, coal) has provided a convenient means to fuel the fires of our relentless engine of progress.  But we’re now starting to realize that these resources have limits—and that the unregulated burning of fossil fuels has caused harm to our environment. 

 

Still, a world immersed in an Exploitation Narrative struggles to imagine alternative possibilities to fossil fuels.  In the same way the women’s initial claims of resurrection were dismissed as impossible by the skeptical men, those who have the audacity to suggest an alternative Sustainable Narrative (e.g., the “Green New Deal”) are called “crazy dreamers” who are out of touch with reality.   We probably react that way because we fear the changes suggested would wreck the economy as we know it, or otherwise disrupt our lives beyond what we consider convenient. 

 

Perhaps, like those disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the time has come for us to look a little closer at what might be possible. The Exploitation Narrative is failing us; the status quo simply isn’t sustainable for planet Earth.  The evidence is all around us for those that have eyes that choose to see.  Though the situation is grave, there is reason for hope if  we can shift our perspective and embrace a new Sustainable Narrative.  This new “Green Way” (which I think is what Joe Biden would have the U.S. follow) would allow us to take meaningful action to protect the environment while still maintaining a robust economy—but we would do it in ways that are ethical to all people and ecologically just to all of God’s Creation .  

 

In much the same way the Apollo Program’s audacious goal of landing on the Moon by the “end of the decade” galvanized the best creative energy and collective imagination of the U.S. in the 1960s, intentionally embarking upon a “Green Way” in the 2020s could harness our world’s intellectual and imaginative power to decisively respond to the existential threat posed by climate change.

 

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Resurrecting the world would require a shift in our collective thinking.  What we did during the pandemic would need to be done on an even bigger scale to respond to climate change. We’d have to make an intentional choice to defect from the dominant Exploitation Narrative to embrace a new Sustainable Narrative and embark upon the “Green Way” discussed in this essay.  This “Green Way” I’m envisioning can’t be accomplished via a massive top-down government initiative alone.  I think it will emerge more like a Clematis vine, composed of many  strands of individual and small group environmental efforts around the world coming together to create a lattice of green that transforms the world and resurrects the environment. (In this analogy larger government climate initiatives can serve as a trellis to help direct the growth of the vine.) 

 

Each of us will have to do our part to forge this new “Green Way.”  For example, last December I was commissioned as a Global Ministries EarthKeeper through the United Methodist Church.  A group of us met via Zoom and learned about the interface of issues related to the environment and climate with issues of racial and economic justice.  As part of the training, each student chose a project to work on so that we could carry what we’ve learned back into our communities.  My goal is to eventually compile an EarthKeeper Compendium to chronicle our activities. I also hope to raise awareness of these issues where I live.  I would like to see a “Green Team” at my church to think about how our faith community can respond to the climate crisis.   

 

Clematis vine climbs a trellis in my backyard.
Source: Photo by Alan Ward

Maybe you’d like to become an EarthKeeper?  The program is always looking to expand.  But even if you don’t pursue formal training as I did, you can still do your part.  You can work to "resurrect" your own corner of creation.  You can reduce, reuse, and recycle.  You can clean a stream or a roadside in your neighborhood.  You can work to reduce your carbon footprint.  You can purchase your food from local sources.  You can become more aware of your own habits of consumption—and then take intentional action to change them.  You can apply your imagination and creativity and add to this list something that fits the unique circumstances of your local environment. 

The world that our children and grandchildren will inherit is counting on each of us to do our part to make it a better place.  It won’t just happen.  We must act decisively—now.   We must come together for the common good of our common home.  I hope you’ll use Earth Day 2021 as an opportunity to ponder to how your Creator is calling you to embark on the “Green Way.”

 

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[1] Historically, our has mostly meant white males. 

Never Underestimate the Gardener

 ¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ ¹⁶Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher)—John 20:11–16.

 

These verses are from John’s account of the disciple’s discovery of the resurrection of Jesus—John 20:1–18—which has similar elements to but stands apart from the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels.  In John’s account Mary Magdalene saw the stone rolled away from the tomb (John 20:1–2) and ran off to tell Peter and John.  Mary, Peter, and John then return to the tomb together.  The men go inside to further investigate for themselves and find it empty (John 20:3–10).  Meanwhile, Mary stands in the garden just outside the tomb, weeping.  There, according to John, the Risen Lord makes his first post-resurrection appearance to Mary.  We're also told that when Mary first sees Jesus, she doesn't recognize him.  She somewhat dismissively, “supposes him to be the gardener.”  

 

I think we tend to overlook this last detail as unimportant.  We assume that Mary, distraught with grief, is not able to identify the familiar friend standing in front of her.  And maybe it was as simple as that?    Considering what she has just lived through, such confusion would be understandable.  After all, the last time she saw Jesus was 36 hours ago, when she watched in horror as he was crucified on a Roman cross.  His lifeless body was then laid in the nearby tomb on Friday evening until the Sabbath had passed.  When she set out before dawn on that Sunday morning, she was going there to give her “rabbouni” a proper burial.   She never expected to find the stone rolled away—much less meet someone walking in the garden at that hour!

 

But could her mistake be understandable on a much more practical level?  Like any good storyteller, most of the details John gives us are quite intentionally placed in the narrative. So, if it’s there, we probably should consider why John chose to include it.  If Jesus, the teacher—and the Second Person of the Trinity—can so easily be mistaken for a gardener, we might be wise to consider why that should matter to people reading these words over two millennia later.  

 

The choice to have Mary’s encounter with the Risen Lord occur in a garden should harken us back to the original stories of the first encounters between the Creator and his creation in Genesis 2.  The setting there is the paradisical Garden of Eden.  John presents Jesus as a new Adam, who offers new hope to restore the human race and all of creation to right relationship with the Creator.  Seen in that light, Mary’s first perception of Jesus wasn’t entirely wrong.  He really is “the Gardener” (or Caretaker) of the New Creation, which begins with his resurrection—the seemingly impossible conquest of Death itself. The implication John makes is clear: where Adam fell short, Jesus Christ will succeed.  

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I’ve been rereading the Lord of the Rings during Lent.  One of my favorite characters in the trilogy is Samwise Gamgee, who, at the beginning of the book, identifies as "just a gardener."  In the idyllic world of the Shire that was pretty much who Sam was.  Although he was Frodo’s friend—it was always in servant–master relationship, evidenced by Sam’s always referring to his friend as “Mr. Frodo.”  Sam is comic relief at the beginning, eavesdropping on the conversation between Gandalf and Frodo that sets the whole Quest to return the Ring of Power to Mount Doom to destroy it in motion.  He is a rather reluctant participant in the Fellowship of the Ring.  But if Mr, Frodo has to go on this epic journey there's no way Sam was going to stay behind!  Wherever Frodo goes, his loyal friend Sam will not be far behind.  

Sam travels all the way there—to the crack of Mount Doom—and back again with his dear friend Frodo.

Humble Sam "the gardener" from the Shire undergoes tremendous growth over the course of the three novels—probably the most of any member of the Fellowship.  By the time he returns to the his home after Ring is destroyed, Sam is a completely different person than when he left a bit over a year ago.  People who knew him well hardly recognize hm when he returns to help "scour" the Shire from the disgraced Saurumon's (a.k.a., "Sharkey") despotic rule. 

 

By the end of the trilogy, for Frodo—or anyone else—to suppose Sam be "just a gardener" would be an error of the same magnitude that it was for Mary Magdalene to make that assumption about the Risen Lord.  

 

Even If you aren’t that familiar with Lord of the Rings, you probably know Frodo Baggins is the star of trilogy.  He’s the Ring Bearer, the one given the Quest to take the One Ring of Power that the evil Sauron created to the only place in Middle Earth where it can be destroyed.  Only Frodo can complete that task; Sam can’t take that burden from him, no matter how much he wishes he could.  But Sam is content to follow Frodo faithfully, to “carry him” when he needs help to keep going.  At one point near the end of the trilogy,  Sam literally carries Frodo up the treacherous slopes of Mount Doom so that his Master can finish his quest.  In that moment he embodies what Jesus said in the Upper Room: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”—John 15:13. 

It struck me more than once as I reread the climactic scenes of the “Return of the King” during Holy Week that what Peter arrogantly promised Jesus he would do is precisely what humble Sam actually did do for Frodo.  The consummate disciple, Sam may waiver but he never betrays, denies, or abandons Frodo.  

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According to John, Mary initially thinks the Risen Jesus is just the gardener. Likewise, Tolkien intends for us to underestimate Sam when we meet him.  However, in both narratives we soon learn that, if our eyes are open, these gardeners have much to teach us.  Like Jesus, Sam exemplifies many virtuous traits:  e.g., sacrifice, humility, courage, inner strength.  

 

Perhaps the lesson we learn from these two examples is that it is a mistake to assume that  “simple folk” (e.g., Hobbits and Jewish carpenters) have no wisdom to impart.  Also consider that those who spend lots of time with their hands in the soil may know Creation in ways that it would benefit us all to learn—important wisdom as our world faces a climate crisis and as we begin to emerge from a pandemic.   After all, we never know what form the Risen Christ will take.  

 

FOR REFLECTION

·      Have you ever formed a first impression of someone or perhaps dismissed someone as not having much to teach you—and then later learned you were wrong?  What did you learn from that experience?  

·      Is there a Sam in your life?  Is there someone who can’t carry your burden for you but has helped carry you through a dark time in your life?  Are you Sam for someone else?

The Synoptic Gospels: Three Uniquely Similar Resurrection Accounts

The Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels.  Each writer tells their own story of the life of Jesus and its significance.  The stories contained in these three Gospels are similar—or synoptic.  They likely draw from similar ancient source material.  For example, Luke and Matthew both probably used Mark’s Gospel as one of their sources.  However, it’s pretty obvious as we read them that the three stories are far from identical.  Each author wrote his story for a different first century audience and thus decided to emphasize different details that would have mattered to that audience.  We combine these to get a fuller picture of who Jesus was—and why his life matters to us living 2000+ years later.  

 

For example, in the Easter season, we often combine the stories to form a picture of the discovery of the empty tomb and of Jesus’s post-resurrection appearances to his disciples.  (We do the same thing at Christmas with the birth narratives in Luke and Matthew.)  But sometimes it’s interesting to consider each story on its own merit and see how they differ—not so we can pick apart discrepancies to disprove the factuality of the events describes—but to appreciate the nuanced beauty of the individual storyteller’s accounts of the life of Jesus.  

 

What I’ve done below is to give a quick take on the resurrection stories in each of the Synoptics.  I started with Mark, since it is widely agreed to be the “original” story of Jesus, and then proceeded to Luke and Matthew—since they both drew from Mark’s story and essentially follow his outline.  I did this quick exercise on my deck on a Wednesday afternoon so it’s hardly a rigorous academic review.  Nevertheless it underscored some details about the individual Easter stories that I never noticed before.  Although these tales are indeed similar and describe the same event—and the overall plot is one I know well—each individual account has unique details that are worth taking time to appreciate.  I hope you find it helpful as well—ABW.

 

Mark 16:1–8 (9–19, added later).  Start with Mark’s story, since this is the earliest account. 

 

·      The original ending of Mark leaves the reader with a mystery.  The woman run off seized by both terror and amazement (see verse 8).  

·      And our human nature is to ask: But what happened next?!

·      As if readers couldn’t live with an “open-ending” of such an important story, at some point someone (or maybe a group of people) decided to “finish” the story. 

·      If you read Mark 16:9–19, it’s clearly written in a different style than Mark 16:1–8.  The “added” verses read like a CliffsNotes summary of events described in other Gospels, with a few unique details added (e.g., followers of Jesus picking up snakes, verse 18).

 

Luke 24:1–12.  While Luke’s resurrection story is similar to Mark’s, he adds unique material.

 

·      The overall structure is similar to Mark’s original account of the resurrection, but details are different…

·      There are two angels in Luke’s story—as opposed to one in Mark’s account (verse 4).

·      The women are never told to Galilee to find Jesus in this account, but they are reminded of what Jesus said to them while they were in Galilee (verse 6).  

·      Several women (5+) report the empty tomb to the skeptical men (verses 10–11).

·      Only Peter—not John as in John’s account—runs to the tomb to see for himself what has happened; he too leaves amazed by what he discovered (verse 12). 

·      Luke uniquely gives us the famous Walk to Emmaus scene (Luke 24:13–35). 

·      Luke uniquely records another post-resurrection encounter where Jesus eats a meal with the disciples.  This is no ghost; it really is Jesus in the flesh!  (Luke 24: 36–49).  

 

Matthew 28:1–10.  Matthew adds some material that’s unique to his version of events.

 

·      While similar to Mark’s account, Matthew’s resurrection story has some unique details. 

·      Overall, events are more dramatic than Mark’s (and Luke’s) telling… 

·      There is an earthquake (verse 2) as the women approach the tomb.

·      A lone angel makes a spectacular entrance as the women approach, rolls away the stone, and sits on it (verse 2).  Matthew leaves no doubt how that stone got moved. 

·      Contrast Matthew’s story with Mark and Luke’s more passive accounts where the angel(s) appear to the women inside the tomb—which is already open when they arrive. 

·      Only Matthew mentions the Roman soldiers standing guard outside the tomb—who are paralyzed with fear and become like dead men when the angel shows up (verse 4).

·      Jesus meets the women as they run from the tomb to tell the others (verses 9–10) but Matthew never specifically mentions the men visiting the tomb to see for themselves.

·      The guards are later bribed into participating in a cover up of what really happened at the tomb (Matthew 28:11–15).