Jill and I had a blast facilitating an Easter/spring retreat with Orange County Friends, which took place in Camp Stevens, an Episcopalian retreat center in the beautiful mountains of San Diego county, not far from the quaint 19th century gold mining town of Julian. Around 20 Friends participated. We were pleased that Orange County Friends are eager to know more about the Sustainability Testimony that is becoming increasingly important to Friends (and everyone) world-wide.
We shared our experience at the FWCC World Plenary in Peru where over 320 Friends from around the world unanimously approved a statement on Sustainability. I believe that just as the Peace Testimony brought Friends together for the first world conference of Friends in 1920 (right after World War I), the Sustainability Testimony is uniting Friends from around the world in the 21st century as we face the challenge of climate disruption. See FWCC World Plenary in Peru
We also discussed the way we "greened" our home as well as policies that help green our cities. We shared about our gray water system and how to make non-toxic, earth-friendly cleaning products..See Greening our home.
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Biblical Perspectives on Creation
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky
above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech and
night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes
out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." --Psalm 19:1-4
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness
thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. --Psalm 24:1
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth
rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field
exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest
sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the
earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his
faithfulness. --Psalm 96:11-13
All creation is yearning for the revealing of the
children of God.–Romans 8:19. (The
Bible verse for the 2016 FWCC World Plenary in Pisac, Peru)
Testimonies
on Sustainability from Early Friends
God's
works declare his power, wisdom and goodness; but man's works, for the most
part declare his pride, folly and excess. God's are for practical use; man's
works are chiefly for show and lust. (222) From William Penn’s Fruits of Solitude
It would
be better if we studied nature more in natural things; and acted the way nature
does; whose rules are few, plain and most reasonable…. That would go a long way
to caution and direct people in their use of the world, if they were better
studied and understanding in the creation of it. For how could man find the
confidence to abuse the things of the creation, when they could see the great
creator stare them in the face, in all and every part of it? (9-13) From
William Penn’s Fruits of Solitude
I have
known landholders who…being intent on paying their debts by raising grain, have
by too much tilling, so robbed the earth of its natural fatness, that the
produce thereof has grown light…The produce of the earth is a gift from our
gracious Creator to the inhabitants, and to impoverish the earth now to support
outward greatness appears to be an injury to the succeeding age.—John Woolman
Care of the Natural
World
Queries adapted from
Southwest Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice
Queries:
·
Do
we seek live in harmony with nature amidst the messiness and confusion of
modern life? If so, how?
·
Do
we seek to live in keeping with the spirit of the unity, sacredness, and
integrity of all creation? If so, how?
·
How
do we seek to minimize our consumption of the earth's resources?
·
Do
we encourage equitable and sustainable use of those resources?
·
Do
we walk, drive, fly, etc. gently over the earth, seeing that of God in all of
nature?
·
How
do we seek to educate ourselves, our children, our meeting, and our community
about how our lives can be more sustainably?
·
How
does the meeting strive to bring all its practices in harmony with the natural
world?
Advices
from Britain Yearly Meeting’s Faith and
Practice (quoted by Doug Gwyn in A
Sustainable Life):
·
#39:
Consider which of the ways to happiness offered by society are truly fulfilling
and which are potentially destructive. Be discriminating when choosing means of
entertainment and information. Resist the desire to acquire possessions or
income through unethical investment, speculation or games of chance.
·
#41:
Try to live simply. A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of strength.
Do not be persuaded into buying what you do not need or cannot afford. Do you
keep yourself informed about the effects your style of living is having on the
global economy and environment?
·
#42:
We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will.
Show a living consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty
and variety of the world. Work to insure that our increasing power over nature
is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendor of God’s
continuing creation.
Faith-based Environmental Organizations
Other organizations:
Citizen Climate Lobby
Recommended readings:
Doug Gwyn, A Sustainable Life: Quaker Faith and Practice in the Renewal of
Creation (2013)
Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything (2015)
Scientific Perspectives
To learn
how to respond to climate change deniers who cherry-pick evidence to argue
against global warming, see http://www.skepticalscience.com/
and Al Gore’s https://www.climaterealityproject.org
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