A Positively Poetic Priest

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the summer season. Many people celebrate with backyard picnics and parties. The weather is usually nice (though the forecast isn't good for my neck of the woods this weekend) and everyone is ready to be outside in the sun after the winter snows and spring rains.  In pre-pandemic times, Memorial Day weekend always included parades and outside ceremonies, cemetery visits and backyard barbeques. For some of us across the country, this Memorial Day will hold some of those things, unlike last year. Some of us are still under restrictions, so it might still be more muted than before. However, you celebrate the coming weekend, there are ways to make the experience a little less harmful to the environment.  Now, you might be thinking, how could Memorial Day weekend be harmful to the environment? Well, mostly in through the trash we leave behind as we go through all the outside events. Parades often involve throwing candy, which ends up a...

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday BCP 228) Trinity Sunday! The most confusing liturgical holy day on the calendar! Despite our continued confusion about the Trinity which is our God, Trinity Sunday is also one of my favorite holy days. This is one of the Sundays we cannot even pretend to understand everything. On Trinity Sunday we acknowledge the awe-inspiring mystery of God. In focusing our energy most of the year on stories of Jesus in the gospels during church, we can almost start to get the sense that we can understand God through Jesus. However, when we ...

My husband has started getting into environmentalism in his own way, mostly so far through technology. He recently bought us a AA & AAA Sustainability Kit from Pale Blue, aka, rechargeable batteries. He uses plenty of batteries in his Xbox controller, remote controls, and all sorts of little gadgets around the house. All my talk about making environmentally friendly choices for our home spurred him to look into rechargeable batteries.  When it comes to the simple environmental impact of batteries, rechargeable batteries are the way to go. Every year Americans throw away somewhere around 3 billion batteries, about 250 million tons worth. This means toxic chemicals are being thrown into landfills on a regular basis and leeching into the soil. Unfortunately, no matter what kind of batteries we use, disposable, rechargeable, or other, there are heavy metals or other toxic chemicals in all of them. The best way to use rechargeable batteries is to use them for their entire lifespan. ...

Every once in a while, I clean out my kitchen cabinets. I find the old stuff in the back of the cabinets that I totally forgot were there. I have lentil flour? Oh yea, I vaguely remember buying that for an experiment. Extra boxes of prepackaged meals I haven't been eating lately. Yes. What does one do with all of this stuff? Donate it! Food waste is such a huge problem in our country. People throw away tons of good food on a daily basis. Some of that food is misused, but some of it is thrown away because people simply don't want to eat it! This is not good for people or the environment. When it comes to non-perishable items, such as rice or prepackaged meals, cans of soup or veggies, all of these can easily be donated to your local food pantry or food bank. Or if your neighborhood has a blessing box, those items can be shared there. In this way, people who don't have access to enough food for themselves or their families can find what they need. Naturally some of the food t...

It finally got warm enough in north west Pennsylvania. My husband and I put in the first of our two room air conditioners last night. (I also ended up destroying the end of my thumb in the process... but that's another story.) The Rectory we live in does not have central air conditioning and we have found for the most part we don't really need it. The two rooms we desire cooler temperatures in during the summer are the bedroom (to sleep!) and the living room (we have fake velvet couches (which cause static all year long)).  In looking to buy these two room air conditioners, I've learned that air conditioning uses somewhere between 5-10% of all electricity. They also release millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air. There are some air conditioner makers which claim to be more environmentally friendly, but there are also a number of ways you can cool off your house without using air conditioning. Using ceiling fans properly are great ways of circulating air flow in the...

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (The Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday BCP 227) Christian history has a good number of big moments. However, this coming Sunday we celebrate the second biggest. The coming of the Holy Spirit. The followers of the Way, as followers of Jesus called themselves early on, may have only ended up as a footnote in history if it weren't for Pentecost. All their courage in sharing the Good News in front of rulers and those who threw them in jail came from this moment. Even Jesus' resurrection (the biggest moment in history) didn't quite propel them into the streets proclaiming the story and making disciples, until the H...

 We are all on our own journey It seems like a funny thing to have to say,  but sometimes you need to remind yourself,  we are all on our own journey.  The rate at which I make a life change or my husband makes a life change or other people do so are all going to be different. They may make those changes faster than you or you may make them faster than them. The rate of change is not the point. Life changes through growth happens when it is necessary or intentionally sought after. Sometimes it may take a little while after learning a new fact or idea to implement it. Sometimes we learn things and we change our ways immediately. Certainly when it comes to the global climate crisis, it can take a while to synthesize the enormous amount of information out there to get down to what you can do to make a difference.  For most of us, the areas of our lives we can make a difference for the climate crisis in are areas of comfort. Our homes, our cars, our clothes, perhaps...

Its can be funny how one doesn't think about normal things in their lives. As I have started to question the impact of everything in my life on the environment, I have found so many things that I didn't realize had plastic in them.  For example, nail polish. I am not sure what I thought was in nail polish, however I didn't realize that most nail polish is based on plastic compounds. As I dived more into the nail polish industry, I realized how bad it really is. Nail polish is considered a household toxic waste because of all the chemicals in it. You cannot recycle the glass bottles with any polish left in them. I've used nail polish for years and never knew these things.  I have very thin and fragile nails, and I've used polish over the years to try to make my nails stronger. While plastic nail polish does protect the nail, it isn't actually making my nails any stronger or helping in any real sense of the word.  In my looking around, I found that there are water...

As a priest in the Episcopal tradition, I deal with plenty of funerals and funeral planning situations. One of the best things you can do for your loved ones is make a plan for your funeral and make sure the paperwork and your wishes are known ahead of time. So many people feel uncomfortable talking about their own death and it leads to their loved ones having no idea what to do when they do inevitably die. All your loved ones want in that moment is to mourn. They don't want to have to make decisions. All funeral homes and churches are happy to help you plan your funeral ahead of time. We have forms which make it easy to go through all the steps and think about all the options, and we will even keep these forms on file for you. All your loved ones need to know then is which church or funeral home to call once your time has passed. So be proactive! Make a plan. Write it down. Put it together with your important bank information and other necessary documents for the time and let your...

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Ascension Day BCP 226) Ascension Day is a "Principal Feast Day" in the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches. However, it is one we tend to forget about too often; partially because it always falls on a Thursday and partially because we are all looking forward to Pentecost in ten days. On the list of Principal Feasts, Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday are the closest feasts together. In the space of 18 days, we have three high holy feast days. A lot to celebrate! This year the Daughters of the King are participating in a novena, a nine day prayer journey between Ascension Day and Pentecost. The theme is "...

Rain water barrels are wonderful. If you own your own home or have environmentally friendly landlords, I highly suggest rain water barrels. They are fairly easy to install, can be made diy-style, and are so helpful if you have a garden or some greenery around your house. Rain water barrels are barrels at the end of your downspouts which collect rain water running off your house to use for watering gardens or refilling outdoor ponds or whatever outdoor water uses you need. It is rain water, so it is not recommended for drinking water. However, if you have ever tried to keep a vegetable or flower garden during the warm summer months, you know it needs plenty of water to keep it growing healthily.  I was introduced to rain water barrels by my parents who built some DIY rain water barrels for their house. They have two in the backyard, made from recycled, plastic, open-topped 55 gallon drums with tap spouts, old snow-saucers, black netting, and bungie cords. (Totally my father's handiw...

I haven't quite managed one fully.  My favorite food growing up was chicken, preferably on a bone.  I was a little carnivore. I'm not that bad anymore. I enjoy a wide range of vegetables and other food these days. While with my diet being dairy free we use a lot of vegan products, there are no chances of our household going vegan any time soon. However, we have woken up to the harmful effects of the meat industry on our environment and we are trying to make better choices about which meats we buy and eat. The real costs of meat production are in the side effects, the billions of tons of water used. The tons of methane gas released into the air. The tons of carbon dioxide released from transportation and production. The chemicals and land used and the overall treatment of animals which happens along the way. Not to mention the tons of styrafoam used as grocery store trays and single use plastic for wrapping raw meat. The real costs of eating meat is not reflected in the monetar...

Sorry Mom, Mother's Day cut flowers are bad for the environment.  Not just Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Memorial Day and funerals... all of these cut flowers add up to a bad cost on the environment.  Every year the flower industry dumps thousands of tons of harmful chemical pesticides into the environment and travels thousands of miles across long distances using fossil fuels to reach the customer. The trucks must be refrigerated and that means more fuel and more carbon dioxide going into the air. All of this waste goes to making sure the flowers are almost perfect looking.  This really makes me sad, because I love flowers and I like having flowers in my house. Of course, giving up cut flowers doesn't mean I cannot have flowers in the house. Another way to have flowers in the house is to grow them naturally. Buying seeds or plants which have been started naturally and are homegrown bring lots of beauty and color into a room. And you get the satisfaction of having g...

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Sixth Sunday of Easter BCP 225) "Pour into our hearts such love towards you..." Keep on pouring God! Oh wait, our hearts are already full! If you pour it will simply overflow and we won't be able to hold that. We need to empty our hearts of all the other stuff we put in them so that God can pour love into them, and then we can share that love with others.  I definitely feel like my heart has gotten way too full this last year. I am slowly trying to process everything that has happened and what it means for me. As I do so, I am able to empty out a little bit of my heart, and I hope God will pour more love...

"Pay attention!" I don't know how many times my mother yelled that at us as children. Jesus never yelled at his disciples to pay attention, but he did tell them to listen fairly often. Almost every prophet, spiritual teacher, or religious leader has at some point told their students and followers to pay attention in some way. We humans are a distractible bunch. We make fun of dogs for their distractibility, but we humans get distracted very easily as well.  (All that nonsense about goldfish memories and attention spans is just nonsense. Attention span is very determined by the task and our emotional involvement in it.) However, the point about paying attention, being mindful, to what is going on around us is really important. Not only does it help us survive on a daily basis, it can also teach us new ways we can help our environments. When we are paying attention, we are more likely to see problems as they arise, see cause and effect situations we take part in, and change...

 This post goes back to two weeks ago when I wrote about Eco-anxiety. Since the global climate change issue is so large, it can be very easy to get overwhelmed. There are so many things which need to be done. Cleaning up waterways from plastic and toxins. Cleaning the air of CO2. Using less plastic and consumer goods. Living more in tune with the natural resources around us. Changing our eating and washing habits. The list goes on and on. And while all of these things need to be done, we really need to focus on what we can do personally. We can't change all of these aspects all at once. We cannot change the world in a single stroke.  Thankfully, we are each unique and we can each uniquely contribute to changing the world for the better. The best way forward is for each of us to focus on what we can do. Each of us has gifts we can contribute to the long term care of our planet. Without any of us, we won't have all the gifts we need to change the fate of the world.  (This i...