GLOBAL WARMING, OUR MORAL IMPERATIVE (continued)

Rev. Millie Rochester

January 28, 2007

The problems and consequences of global warming are vividly documented in the movie. But both Al Gore and our Unitarian Universalist faith encourage us not to give in to despair. Our faith calls us to go forward as a people of hope, of new beginnings. Our theology calls us to know that, despite our human arrogance, our place is not at the center of the universe. We are not “number one” in the hierarchy of value.

Something beyond us must come first. Call it what you will – the Transcendent, the Spirit of Life, Creation, God – the life force that flows through all that is – what was here before us and will be here after we are gone; what is now and ever shall be, world without end. Preserving the fabric of creation affirms that our place in the universe is just one part of the interdependent web of life.

Aldo Leopold, who is considered the father of wildlife ecology, put it this way, in 1949:

Text can contain quotes, like in the phrase “we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

All ethics… rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. Our instincts prompt us to compete for a place in that community, but our ethics also prompt us to cooperate …[to] enlarge the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively, the Earth.

Our human journey is a relationship within the biosphere of all life – all of the aspects of nature, living and non-living – of which we are a part. We are connected with the whole, and so the environmental changes we cause have an impact on other parts of the whole.

The impact we have now is literally a matter of life and death for our fellow creatures. I read recently a sad consequence of an early spring: Last April, in Wyoming's Teton Range, horseflies arrived early, killing the young Red-tail hawks, who had yet to grow feathers. Not a single baby Red-tail survived in the Jackson Hole valley. Migration patterns, even DNA, are undergoing Earth-changing shifts. Scientists estimate that 12 to 25 percent of the planet's species are headed toward extinction, if global warming continues its course.

As Unitarian Universalists, we are called to action. At last June’s General Assembly, delegates addressed the subject announcing in a Statement of Conscience:

We will not acquiesce to the ongoing degradation and destruction of life that human actions are leaving to our children and grandchildren. We as Unitarian Universalists are called to join with others to halt practices that fuel global warming/climate change, to instigate sustainable alternatives, and to mitigate the impending effects of global warming/climate change with just and ethical responses.

We have often been trail blazers in social and environmental efforts. But in this case, we arrived late to the party. Interestingly, we join prominent evangelical ministers, who led the Evangelical Climate Initiative. The National Association of Evangelicals recently released this statement by Edward Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author:

"The price for future generations will be paid in economic opportunity, environmental security, and spiritual fulfillment. The saving of the living environment is therefore an issue appropriately addressed jointly by science and religion."

Collaboration – Engaging with one another to live the change we seek – or as Mahatma Gandhi said, to “Be the change we wish to see in the world” – may yet make the difference for our fragile planet. How will we choose to do that? Viewing “An Inconvenient Truth” this afternoon is only the beginning. Immediately after that, there will be what I hope is lively conversation about the issues raised. Another opportunity to learn more is coming soon – a four-week discussion series, GLOBAL WARMING: CHANGING COURSE.

But as much as we UUs love to talk with one another, we have tools beyond words, and we have an obligation to put those tools to the task. One of our means is to educate ourselves and others, unafraid of hearing viewpoints that don’t necessarily coincide with our own.

We elect the mayors, state legislators, and governors, the members of congress and the presidents who set the policies of both conservation and waste. We are bound to be aware of the stance on these issues of those who seek office; to help elect those whose views are consistent with eco-justice; even to run for office ourselves.

As a congregation, we have an opportunity to become a Green Sanctuary. The Unitarian Universalist Association describes this as a congregation that lives out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable life style for its members as individuals and as a faith community – eco-spirituality, so to speak. Sustainable living is not about our material comfort, though these choices are an important part of overall life style. It is about choosing to live in a way that nurtures life, builds relationships, and rejects material consumption as the sole determinant of happiness. It is the way we embody our religion.

Aldo Leopold, as an environmentalist before it was “cool” to be one, observed:

Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a good shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree – and there will be one.

We take for granted the reliable milestones of annual rhythms – the flowers and robins returning in the spring, animals hibernating in winter. These common events form the pulse and fabric of the passing years, connecting us to previous generations of our history, and providing the rich context of our communities. Let us live in ways that nurture and strengthen that context. May it be so. Blessed be.