40 Days of Caring for Creation: A Lenten Practicum

40 DAYS OF CARING FOR CREATION: A LENTEN PRACTICUM

It’s a beautiful planet, this Earth. Carl Sagan wrote of the view from space, “To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

Home to 8-billion people now, Earth is heating up and heating up fast. None of us is immune from the resulting climate changes and their catastrophic effects. It’s “code red for humanity,” says the U.N. Secretary-General.

It’s Kairos time, says the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America in its draft social statement on Earth’s climate crisis, “a critical time when decisive action is required.”

This Lent, join us in taking decisive action! Featuring the Christian practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, we will renew and improve our care of creation.

Here’s a hard truth: One person’s dietary and lifestyle changes won’t reverse a drought or stop the glaciers from melting or prevent a wildfire.

But here’s another truth, a truth about faith: We don’t have to carry on with our earth-crucifying ways. Nor do we have to be paralyzed by anxiety and despair. Each of us individually and all of us together can do better. We can choose to actively trust God’s vision for creation. We can do our part, small as it may be, to keep this Earth a habitable and wholesome home.

Creation Care Weekly themes

• February 23: Coming full circle, a fuller and creation-integrated faith.
• March 2: Present bias and why it is working against future generations.
• March 9: Your carbon footprint and what it says about walking the talk of faith.
• March 16: Food choices and what they say about putting your money where your mouth is.
• March 23: Human migration patterns and global demographic decline.
• March 30: Purchasing choices and what they say about faith-based earth advocacy. 

Join learner/facilitator Sheri Brown on Thursdays at 4:00 pm MST (AZ) for six half-hour virtual workshops, beginning Thursday, February 23, as we live into 40 days of caring for creation.