In this Earth Day blog series, Pastor Jocelyn offers a meditation, followed by a response from a member of our Creation Justice Ministry.
In the popular Marvel movie Avengers, Tony Stark (Iron Man) is the CEO of Stark Industries, which in the past sold weapons. The first two Iron Man movies were Tony’s journey from being a leading weapons manufacturer to becoming the leading voice in clean energy. Avengers begins with Tony Stark using arc reactors to light up Stark Tower, a massive building in the middle of New York City with his name on it. The Arc reactor is a self-sustaining energy source.
Meanwhile, SHIELD has the Tesseract, an Infinity stone (which holds unlimited energy) in their possession. Because SHIELD is using the Tesseract without understanding it, Loki (Thor’s trickster adopted brother) can open a portal and come to Earth to conquer it.
SHIELD has called in the Avengers: Tony Stark, Captain America, and Bruce Banner (the Hulk) to find the Tesseract and stop Loki. They are all on the flying aircraft carrier…
Conversation between Stark, Banner and Captain America
Captain America: You need to focus on the problem, Stark.
Stark: You think I’m not. Why did Fury (SHIELD’s leader) call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.
Captain America: You think Fury is hiding something?
Stark: He is a spy. He is THE spy. His secrets have secrets. (pointing at Banner) It is bugging him too, isn’t it?
Banner: Ahhhh… (dodging the question) I just want to finish my work here…
Captain America (interrupting): Doctor
Banner (looking at Stark): “A warm light for all mankind” — Loki’s jab at Fury about the Cube (Tesseract)
Captain America: I hear it.
Banner: Well, I think that was meant for you (pointing at Stark). Even if Barton (SHIELD agent kidnapped by Loki) knew about the tower, it was still all over the news.
Captain America: The Stark Tower? That big ugly building in NY?
Banner: It is powered by an Arc Reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, about a year? (asking Stark)
Stark: That is just the prototype. I am kind of the only name in clean energy right now.
Banner: So why didn’t SHIELD bring him (Stark) in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?
As the movie progresses, we learn that SHIELD has been using the Tesseract to create weapons, not clean energy. Because they have been creating high-tech weapons, they have come to the attention of war-oriented aliens. SHIELD has inadvertently signaled to the cosmos that Earth is ready for a higher form or war (according to Thor). Thus, Loki’s arrival.
Our Current Political Climate
This is a dynamic that we are aware of in our current climate. We currently have a President who is more interested in the ‘might’ of America through displays of weapons, power, aggression; than in the ‘might’ of America through invention, innovation, intellect. Our national government has focused on weapons and destruction instead of clean energy and healthy innovation.
Our current administration has taken this a step further. The President and DOGE is currently gutting the EPA, the Department of the Interior (which oversees our National Parks). The administration is backing away from clean energy, and turning the country back to fossil fuels.
At the same time, he is working to remove protections of our lands and oceans, opening them up for drilling oil.
Why is our government shifting away from a priority for creating clean energy? How would going back to oil be a positive move for us? Why protect the oil corporations or their own political careers over our Land and Waters, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples?
We currently have a government, the Executive branch, Congress and the Senate that is more interested in their personal financial investments than in the health of the Earth. Certain Congressman, Senators, and the President are creating laws to remove protections so that oil companies (where they are invested, who are funding their campaigns for office) can expand their profits. Greed is more important than caring for the planet we live on, the planet that will need to sustain future generations.
Spirit, however, calls us to be stewards of this Earth. God desires that we are care-takers and custodians, not polluters and destroyers. We are to focus upon what Mother Earth needs during Earth Day Month, not our own personal gains. It is about humility, not domination and greed.
Standing Rock: Transformational Stewardship
Standing Rock challenged and transformed me. I watched and witnessed on social media the injustices that were being done against our Indigenous brothers and sisters who were standing on the side of Mother Earth and clean water.
In the act of prayer, members of the Native American tribe came together in protest of a pipeline that was re-directed over their land instead of going close to a more populated area. Racism created the situation. The predominantly white populated area did not want an oil pipeline that could leak and contaminate their land and water. So the company redirected it across the water source for our Sioux brothers and sisters.
Here, a people were calling out the injustices of racism, particularly environmental racism and ecological injustice. And our government was silent. President Obama allowed brutality to be the response to peaceful protests. I wept as I watched and read, keeping myself informed.
To me, Standing Rock was a transformational example of true, authentic stewardship, with all the costs that sometimes accompany it.
This is the call to stewardship.
Our Standing Rock brothers and sisters stood as true stewards against the powers of domination, racism, and violence. They stood in prayer and song and Power. Their faith and spiritual practice informed their understanding of stewardship, and they took their stand! They held their vision, stayed true to the call of Spirit to be guardians and caretakers of our Earth and Waters.
Spirit invites us to reflect upon our apathy toward eco-justice and stewardship. I’m not suggesting we should all be out protesting like Standing Rock. I am suggesting that Spirit is inviting us to step up and engage in the policies that harm Mother Earth. Stewardship requires that we use our voice as much as our bodies and minds.
Reflection Questions
- How are you using your vote, your voice, to speak for eco-justice?
- Reflect upon one thing you can do this week to create change and protect Mother Earth.
- Go for a walk and carry a small trash bag. Fill it with trash and debris that you come across on your walk. Notice how this small action enhances the beauty of your walk, of the Land, of Spirit’s reflection on Earth.
Prayer For You
The ocean and the land are yours, O God. Too often we have treated them as a means to an end or an unlimited resource, without realizing the delicate balances of nature. As we pave over farmland and pour oil into the ocean, forgive our over-reaching ways.
Response by our Creation Justice Ministry
At age 87 and living far away, the idea of increasing my biking, however worthy, is unrealistic. I can, however, lobby for more bike trails and lanes in public spaces. Our senior living complex, with two buses, provides many opportunities to “leave the car at home” and attend cultural and outdoor recreation events, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Recycling, long a passion with me (e-waste in particular), can be increased, especially working toward eliminating single-use plastic, personally, and legally and scientifically.
Another area I have come to appreciate on a recent trip to Hawaii is paying more attention to the source of our food and finding local farmers’ markets, which reduce transportation costs, stimulate local economies, and provide healthier eating. Aloha!!
