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Good Earth Stewards by Kathy Itzin

4/29/2015

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As the earth greens up, flowers begin to bloom, and we hear birdsongs again, I’m remembering that all of this is given to us along with the charge to care for it well.  We are commissioned to be good Earth Stewards. 

This ancient responsibility is more important than ever, and it is also new and exciting. We continue to learn new ways of best caring for this great gift which has been entrusted to us.

We know many species are endangered, while we continue to enjoy the earth’s great beauty.  We know about saving energy, conserving fresh water, pollution, and recycling, but what else?

Loons. Bees. Monarchs.

“One lead fishing sinker can poison a loon.”

This is from the Mn. Dept. of Natural Resources Website article ‘Get the Lead Out:’

“Loons routinely swallow pea-size pebbles on the bottom of lakes.  The pebbles pass to the stomach and help in digestion, like grit in the stomach of a chicken.  When fishing sinkers are lost during fishing and drop to the bottom of the lake, they can be picked up by loons or by waterfowl like ringneck ducks and trumpeter swans.  Some loons also swallow fishing jigs when they mistake them for minnows.” - (Mn. Dept. of Natural Resources website “Get the Lead Out.”

It’s pretty easy to ask for non-lead sinkers when buying fishing tackle. Sinkers can be made from tin, steel, and many other materials.  I never have trouble finding them. If they aren’t there, ask. When enough people ask, they’ll want to sell them.

Bees do a lot more than just give us honey.  Bees pollinate about one third of all of the world’s crops, and over 90% of all wild plants. Colony Collapse Disorder is affecting bees across the world.  Bees are threatened with extinction both because of pesticides (Round-up is one), and because of lack of flowers that provide nectar. 

The first, most important action, is to not buy pesticides. The earth doesn’t need the poison. Aside from that, bees need the flowering ‘weeds.’  Dandelions and clover both are major sources of nectar for local bees!


The Honeybee Conservancy also suggests planting flowers that bloom throughout the season, so that bees have a constant source of food.  Bee favorites, according to season include:

Spring: crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula, and lilac

Summer:  Bee balm, cosmos, Echinacea, snapdragons, foxglove and hosta

Fall: zinnias, sedum, asters, goldenrod, and marigolds

The number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico has declined 90% in twenty years. Again, pesticides are the major cause.  Along with killing unwanted plants for farming, they have also killed most of the flowering plants monarchs need to survive.  Milkweed is one of the most basic necessities for monarchs, but other flowers with good nectar help too. Many of the same flowers that we could plant for bees will also help monarchs.

As we begin to relax and enjoy the nature that God has given us, let’s care for it very, very well.

As Max Lucado, a Christian author and preacher said, “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”
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Families Moving Forward documentary: The Journey Home

4/28/2015

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Pastor Kathy's Column, April 2015 - Death and Resurrection

4/27/2015

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"Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12: 24)

Although Jesus is talking about himself here, he goes on to say "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also." (John 12:26) What does this mean for us? What is this business about dying like a grain of wheat?

Maybe it's about letting go of control. Maybe it's about our need to think we "have it together," or at least to make others think that we do. Maybe again, it’s about recognizing our limited humanity. It's letting go of the need to appear more than we are, and accepting our real and limited state. Our time on earth has a beginning and an end. We will not live in the same way forever.

When I read this verse, I looked up how many grains are actually on one head of wheat. According to the Farm Bureau of Kansas, there are about 50. Other sites said 30-50, but either way, that's a lot of individual grains of wheat. That is what is produced by the death and rebirth of one individual grain: another head of wheat composed of 30-50 more grains. If each of them were planted and sprouted into another stalk, we would have 900 – 2,500 more grains of wheat (30 x 30 and 50 x 50). You can see where this is going! In no time at all, by allowing itself to die, one grain has multiplied itself hundreds of times over.

This is the New Life that Jesus is talking about! After Jesus' death, the early Christian Church (and the later Christian Church) spread like wildfire. We wouldn't be here today if that hadn't happened.

But what about us now? How does this wheat image apply to us today? I think it means letting go. Can we let go of the needs and expectations that we force upon our lives, the lives of others, or upon the world? Can we "let go, and let God?" Can we trust that if we surrender ourselves to what God is calling us to in the moment, God will bring new life for ourselves, and for those whom we love?

We are followers of Jesus. We don't know what lies in store for us as individuals, as families, or as a church. And really, why should we know? It is not our job to control the big things in life. We do what we can. We make our best decisions, but we don’t determine the course of our futures…and that’s a good thing!

I keep this poem in my office and use it as a prayer.

The Avowal
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

- Denise Levertov (1923-1997)

Happy Easter! Pastor Kathy

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No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.