Still Crunchy (And Cultivating)
Posted by JohnS (May 15, 2006 at 4:22 am)
Christ is Risen!
“Humankind, to whom God has given the responsibility ‘to cultivate and protect’ the earthly creation, as well as its dominion, must behave toward it as its wise steward and not as its foolish destroyer.”
—His All Holiness, Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,
Havana, Cuba, 22 January 2004
You might recall that a few weeks ago I was reading Rod Dreher’s timely tome Crunchy Cons. Well, I finished it last week and am on to my next book. But I’m still chewing on Cruncy Cons. I passed the book on to the next reader. So many ideas that Rod sets on the table are core to our Eastern Christian ethos. Concern for the God’s environment is one. In fact, we start preparations for Sunday Divine Liturgy the evening before with Vespers, the evening prayer of our church, with the all-glorious Psalm 103:
- When you send forth your breath, they are created,
- and you renew the face of the earth.
- May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
- may the LORD be glad in these works!
- If God glares at the earth, it trembles;
- if God touches the mountains, they smoke!
- I will sing to the LORD all my life;
- I will sing praise to my God while I live.
- May my theme be pleasing to God;
- I will rejoice in the LORD.
Our parish grounds (pictured above) we have integrated stewardship of God’s creation in our particular locality as God created it here. For us in Illinois, that means a restoration and maintenance of the original prairie that thrives in our environment. Part of our parish vision (I know, Byzantine Catholics aren’t supposed to have one) is that of a church in the natural environment: “a living land that grows with the people who care for it and love it.” This has a all kinds of consequences for our parish. Read about some of them here.
Good points. I look forward to reading it. Also, nice pic of Annunciation!
God bless,
Gordo
Comment posted May 17th, 2006 at 7:21 am
Another interesting read on “being green” and “eastern is this http://www.svspress.com/product_info.php?products_id=148.
Gordo
Comment posted May 17th, 2006 at 7:36 am
Hello,
I am a Byzantine Catholic at St. Michael’s in Toledo. Since your blog has been christened with the word “evangelization” I wonder if you might say something in future posts about that topic. I gather from our dear older friends at St. Michael’s that our church in the not too distant past had a substantially larger congregation than it does now. This, to me, is puzzling since my family finds the Byzantine church very prayerful (we joined 4 years ago, have not quite officially transferred Rites).
Have your parishes worked on evangelization? What works and what doesn’t to get people in the door (and to stay)? If you have any experience, don’t keep it under a bushel basket!
Christ is risen!
John Murray
Comment posted May 22nd, 2006 at 1:13 pm
I’ve been reading about Dreher on Beliefnet, but it is your comments that encourage me to go out and get his book. The connection between Eastern Christianity and the environment is exciting! Could spiritual environmentalists be another potential group for evangelization?
The photos are inspring. Thanks John
Peace,
Daisy
Comment posted June 15th, 2006 at 11:49 am
John Murray,
I have a post that is in the waiting as soon as someone tells me how to post it that begins to address your question. Moreover, I will be posting more on the topic, should I figure out how to post.
Carson Daniel Lauffer
BTW does your Church have a Pantocrator?
Comment posted June 19th, 2006 at 9:44 am
Are Democrats, Libertarians, or Greens welcome in the Byzantine Catholic Church of the BEMA vision? Or are the WorldNetDaily/RenewAmerica types the only truly suitable new members? On the other hand, if Rod Dreher does become Orthodox, he’s got a long, tough road ahead of him.
Comment posted June 28th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
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Comment posted February 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 am