From Daily Reflections by Fr. Richard Rohr Adapted from The New Cosmology: Nature as the first Bible
At the end of the Noah story – when the flood waters have receded – they all come out of the ark, and God makes with them what has been called the second covenant, after the covenant with Abraham and Sarah.
“Then God said to Noah and to his sons, ‘I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that was with you – the birds, the livestock, the wild animals – all those that came out of the ark, every living creature on earth. I establish my eternal covenant with the earth. I am making between Me and you and every living creature a covenant for all generations to come. And the sign of it will be this: I have set my rainbow in the clouds. This will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the Earth itself” (Genesis 9:8-17).
It’s amazing that we never noticed that. The fact that the covenant was with every living creature and with the earth itself, we forgot. So every time you see a rainbow, you can think of that promise of God to be in an eternal bond of love with everything that God created, and not just humans.
Submitted in light and peace by Susan Genest on behalf of the Green Team.
Sanctuary Lights: ON or OFF?
In these days of environmental stewardship, one is always looking for ways to show responsibility in this area.
Many believe an easy way to achieve this is to turn off lights that have no pertinent significance or duty. As a result, the Sanctuary lights often get turned off when not required for worship or Chancel Guild duty.
Admittedly, there is no 'liturgical need' to keep the Sanctuary lights constantly lit. However two lights are focused on the Cross. When one enters the Church, one's eyes are immediately drawn to the Light and consequently to the Cross of our Saviour. This provides us with a focus, leading us to a more reverent manner in God's House.
There is also a safety concern especially involving the steps between the Chancel and the West Wing. The steps are more easily seen when these lights are on. The Sanctuary lights help ensures the safety of anyone entering, or just turning on the rest of the lights if required.
Energy efficient bulbs are used in the Sanctuary lights, which significantly reduces the negative environmental impact.
Certainly, we need to save energy. Are there other opportunities where we might be more conscientious and turn lights off when not required for our attention and/or safety?
We ask that you prayerfully consider the reasons given above and PLEASE leave the SANCTUARY LIGHTS ON.
In Service for Our Lord,
St. Anne's Chancel Guild
Sharing our Journeys… Stewardship of the Earth (April/May2009)
“And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:12-13.
On January 27th I had the opportunity to attend a very interesting presentation by two Ursuline Sisters (Sister Ann and Sister May) who have been extremely instrumental in the building of their new completely ecologically built home in Chatham named Villa Angela (named for their founder Angela Merici). The Sisters (virtually) walked us through their building and told us about all the ecological products they used in the building of this beautiful place. Everything in the building from heating systems, building products,
furnishings, aesthetics have been carefully considered and are all environmentally friendly. They used shingles recycled from tires, the floors that are a beautiful mixture of cork and other natural products look like marble. Although they were unable to use solar heating, there are windows everywhere to bring in natural light. For their heating systems they use pipes buried in the ground (geo thermal technology) to take advantage of the warmth underground which is pumped up into the building. They use “grey water” in toilets (water from laundry, dishwashing, etc and which, by the way, doesn’t look grey). They have green
spaces and trees for cooling the building in the summer. This building carries one of the highest standards of ecological buildings there is in Canada and for this they received a government grant. There is only one other building in Southwest Ontario with the same certification and it is Sisters of St. Joseph’s here in London.
These Sisters have had an amazing vision for this. They recognize that their Order is dwindling, so, instead of building large and being burdened by upkeep in years to come, they purposely built small, so that they could downsize easily into it. They also divided their property and built a row of townhouses for some of the Sisters. Because these houses are severed from the main property, in future years when they are no longer needed, they can easily sell this portion of their land.
Sister May admitted that where there are 100 women, there are 100 opinions. When they started this project they were in their old building. The old building either needed massive renovations or start new all over again. They did a cost analysis of renovating the old building versus building new and being ecological leaders in the community. It became apparent that renovating the old building didn’t make sense so they sold it, bought this new piece of property and started over. They even came in under budget! Sister May said that for a long time they educated, educated and offered more education to members of their
community to help them understand the beauty of the project. They had their struggles along the way and learning about all the technology was both interesting and at times a headache, but the end result is magnificent. All the details are there - beautiful stained glass, their cross atop the building sits on an iron forged sculpture of the earth made by forgers in Thamesville. They installed many of their beloved artifacts from their old building, like their beautiful stained glass doors that led into their old chapel and their bell that for years called the Sisters to worship. The Ursuline’s are a teaching Order and they now use their building to teach young people how to build ecologically.
It was very impressive. Both Sisters also commented that some of the financial savings with the new technology was immediate and very noticeable. Other savings will take a little longer. These two elderly women, hold such love for the future of the world in which they currently live. They are selfless and generous in their passion. It made me wonder about St. Anne’s vision in terms of the possibilities for our own church community, property, and our parish hall which could be made into something beautiful, in keeping with our promise, our own covenant with God, that while He would look after us, we would, in turn, for Him, look after this garden earth and all the creatures on it.
Offered in light and peace - Susan
2nd Annual EnviroChallenge Day was held May 2, 2009 at Huron Church Camp
A very sunny and hot April 19th, 2008 saw the first-ever Diocese of Huron EnviroChallenge Day take place. This event, a partnership initiative between the Children and Youth Ministry Working Group, the EnviroAction Committee and Huron Church Camp, invited young people between 11 and 15 years to celebrate God’s awesome creation by engaging in fun earth day activities.
The Diocesan website (www.diohuron.org) will be an excellent resource for information.