Why?

See my blog today on Birmingham Free Press site.

The green stole

Hildegard of Bingen, a nun who died in 1179, spoke of the grace of God inherent in all living things as ‘greenness.’ A thousand years ago she wrote: “If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.” I agree with this ancient nun. The grace of God is found in greenness. (The reason Christian ministers of liturgical traditions where a green stole during the Ordinary Sundays [non-festival times of the year] is that green symbolizes life.)

I, like many others, get tired of debating environmental issues. It seems so obvious; why is there any argument at all? But there are forces that are tied to ego or profits that continue to resist the truth about our need to tend this planet with care. In the Christian tradition we would call those forces ‘sinful’ forces. I believe God the Creator calls us to love the natural world and take care of it, even in the face of big business and political entrenchment. 

Feel free to recycle this blog post.  

##

Alabama town gives choice: jail or church.

See my post today in the Birmingham Free Press.

The Friars' Prayer

I read recently about some Friars in Italy who were a little pissed off because someone had been going into their church and stealing Bibles. At first they simply prayed for the thief. But after he kept coming back and stealing more Bibles, they prayed that he be stricken with a plague of diarrhea. "We couldn't put up with it any longer," a friar said. "The Lord and the faithful will understand."


Amen.