The Burden of the Climate
It was an intensely sunny, windy, and warm day on Wednesday June 28th
in Monterey County, California.
I was driving a Nissan Murano up Highway 101, otherwise known as El Camino Real,
the royal road, what began as the path taken by the Spanish friars and military
between the Missions through Alta California in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
I had three sleeping teens listening to Billy Joel
and I was going along well...
until I realized I missed my exit.
As I pulled off the next exit,
I found myself stopped behind a white painted school bus towing porta-potties.
I was somewhat surprised, and quickly realized I wasn't the only one
since my exiting had woken up my passengers
and there was quickly conversation about what the bus and porta potty combination was doing.
Luckily I was only three miles past the exit I needed,
so it was a quick detour through the small town we were in to make it back to the road we needed.
Along the way we saw more school buses towing porta potties
and coming out of the town we saw the reason for them.
If you don't know, this region of California produces millions of tons of food each year.
The likelihood is that you've tasted the goods of Monterey County,
as the yearly strawberry crop of Monterey County is worth almost a billion dollars.
The other top ten crops being lettuce, broccoli, wine grapes, spinach, cauliflower, celery, poultry, and Brussels sprouts.
What we saw on our drive that day were fields and fields of crops.
And fields and fields of farm workers
fully covered in hats, long sleeved shirts, and pants
gathering strawberries by hand in some of the strongest wind and sun I have ever experienced.
We saw where all those buses were going,
to the fields
to offer a spot of respite and bathrooms to the farm workers.
While we had been taking turns praying grace over our meals during the youth pilgrimage
and praying for the people who helped make our food possible,
after that day all our prayers were a little more heartfelt when it came to praying for the farm workers.
We talked about the conditions and the bathrooms and what it must be like to be bent over all day
hand picking strawberries.
Later that evening,
after a long day of driving, visiting Hearst Castle, driving again,
we drove close to six hours that day,
visiting Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmel,
hiking and seeing seals at Point Lobos State Reserve,
and having dinner in a local pub,
we gathered together before bed in the hotel lobby to have Compline.
During Compline our reading was these verses from our Gospel passage today:
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This was one of the days the gospel sounded like good news
the scriptures made sense.
Not necessarily for me, no.
For the fifty thousand farm workers and fruit pickers of Monterey County
toiling in the blazing sun and unrelenting wind
in full length clothing in 85 degree weather
This scripture is for them.
Jesus is speaking to them.
During our Compline prayer time one of the teens remarked,
'I didn't realize people still picked food like that.'
To people working day in and day out for food to eat
Anyone offering rest, or just an old school bus with some porta potties
would be welcome.
This is why we take pilgrimages.
The scriptures come alive to us in ways we didn't understand before.
All the youth from Christ Church Short Hills who had never seen farm workers working at picking fruits and vegetables for the rest of us to eat,
now they know who they are talking about when they pray before eating.
Not that Jesus wasn't talking to us, but we have lost touch with the earth.
We have lost touch with the real feeling of knowing what it is to carry
water for our drinking or for watering our crops.
We have lost touch with the bodily knowledge of what it takes to walk the land and know how to survive off what you grow
Jesus was talking to them.
In the first century, the people in the regions that Jesus walked through
survived mainly on subsistence farming
they grew crops to eat
There was some fishing industry around the Sea,
there was some wine, olive, and barley industry
where wealthier landowners would be able to sell their goods at the market
but otherwise, the crowds Jesus was talking to
were farm workers.
Shepherds, laborers, field hands, grape or olive pressers,
masons and builders.
They knew what it was to have to work to eat.
And that can be a hugely heavy burden.
Today, more than 2 billion people still work to eat,
about a quarter of the global population is still involved in subsistence farming.
And another billion work on farms owned by other people or companies.
Unfortunately, the conditions for farm workers are becoming worse.
And because the poor carry the most heavy burdens,
they are feeling the worst effects of the changes in the world.
On the other hand, those of us with the money and ability and voice,
the agency to make changes in our lifestyles and society at large,
especially those of us who follow Jesus' teachings, emphasizing the poor and disenfranchised,
we should be carrying this burden.
We know what the solutions are,
we have the ability to change our ways without putting our survival at risk
we have solution aversion,
we are more afraid of changing our lifestyles
rather than the bigger changes that are going to happen.
Even though the bigger changes of the climate are going to force us to change anyway.
As we all have noticed recently with the air quality alerts from the fires in Canada
what happens in one part of the world definitely affects other parts of the world.
Millions of pounds of strawberries are grown and harvested in Monterey County California.
As their temperatures rise and their weather gets weirder
we are less likely to be able to enjoy strawberries year round.
Strawberries may once again become a local special treat for only the spring months of May and June.
Here in New Jersey, climate changes are affecting blueberry and cranberry growth
which affects the state economy.
Heat waves are affecting our power grids and stressing the road and sewage infrastructure.
In Morris County, flooding, power outages, and longer mosquito seasons has affected the county expenditures,
which affects the county budgets, which affects the tax rates... and we all know who that affects.
All of us.
And you may want to say,
climate change is too big and heavy a burden.
Or you may think that it is not affecting you.
But all of us were affected in some way by the air quality alerts,
I mean, how many of you exist without air?
Thankfully, we aren't left without options.
We can change our gardens to native plants. We can grow more vegetables. We can buy more local produce.
We can use our cars less and carpool or use the train
or buy a bicycle, its both good for your health and good for the earth.
We can use our devices until they no longer work, not just the next upgrade comes out, and then recycle them through electronics recycling programs.
We can wear our clothing until it no longer fits, slowing down our changes in fashion.
(And if you've noticed that I only wear the same six dresses, you should ask me about my dresses.)
We can talk to our neighbors and colleagues, our bankers and financial planners,
our lawyers and restaurateurs and politicians about the crazy weather
and how much we care about our space and land here.
There are hundreds of things we can each do
and it comes down to each of us deciding that we care to do one thing differently in order to help.
We can lay down the heavy burden of the whole world of climate change at Jesus' feet.
We are crushed in face of that burden.
We can pick up Jesus' yoke of loving what is in front of us,
which includes the land under our feet, the air we breath in, and the food we eat.
Jesus offers us an exchange.
The burden of the world which we cannot carry,
for the burden of love which we can carry.
Jesus offers this to each and every one of us,
knowing that love in action always makes a difference.
One last thing.
I know I landed the plane, I shouldn't continue on.
However, I can't help myself.
Jesus preached in Aramaic, the language of the people of the fields.
He spoke the good news to those who needed it most.
Here in the United States, the people in the fields don't usually speak English.
The people in the fields are immigrants.
The majority, something like 90% in California, are Latinx.
And in case there is anyone here or watching online in that category, here is the good news for you:
in Monterey County, California.
I was driving a Nissan Murano up Highway 101, otherwise known as El Camino Real,
the royal road, what began as the path taken by the Spanish friars and military
between the Missions through Alta California in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
I had three sleeping teens listening to Billy Joel
and I was going along well...
until I realized I missed my exit.
As I pulled off the next exit,
I found myself stopped behind a white painted school bus towing porta-potties.
I was somewhat surprised, and quickly realized I wasn't the only one
since my exiting had woken up my passengers
and there was quickly conversation about what the bus and porta potty combination was doing.
Luckily I was only three miles past the exit I needed,
so it was a quick detour through the small town we were in to make it back to the road we needed.
Along the way we saw more school buses towing porta potties
and coming out of the town we saw the reason for them.
If you don't know, this region of California produces millions of tons of food each year.
The likelihood is that you've tasted the goods of Monterey County,
as the yearly strawberry crop of Monterey County is worth almost a billion dollars.
The other top ten crops being lettuce, broccoli, wine grapes, spinach, cauliflower, celery, poultry, and Brussels sprouts.
What we saw on our drive that day were fields and fields of crops.
And fields and fields of farm workers
fully covered in hats, long sleeved shirts, and pants
gathering strawberries by hand in some of the strongest wind and sun I have ever experienced.
We saw where all those buses were going,
to the fields
to offer a spot of respite and bathrooms to the farm workers.
While we had been taking turns praying grace over our meals during the youth pilgrimage
and praying for the people who helped make our food possible,
after that day all our prayers were a little more heartfelt when it came to praying for the farm workers.
We talked about the conditions and the bathrooms and what it must be like to be bent over all day
hand picking strawberries.
Later that evening,
after a long day of driving, visiting Hearst Castle, driving again,
we drove close to six hours that day,
visiting Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmel,
hiking and seeing seals at Point Lobos State Reserve,
and having dinner in a local pub,
we gathered together before bed in the hotel lobby to have Compline.
During Compline our reading was these verses from our Gospel passage today:
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This was one of the days the gospel sounded like good news
the scriptures made sense.
Not necessarily for me, no.
For the fifty thousand farm workers and fruit pickers of Monterey County
toiling in the blazing sun and unrelenting wind
in full length clothing in 85 degree weather
This scripture is for them.
Jesus is speaking to them.
During our Compline prayer time one of the teens remarked,
'I didn't realize people still picked food like that.'
To people working day in and day out for food to eat
Anyone offering rest, or just an old school bus with some porta potties
would be welcome.
This is why we take pilgrimages.
The scriptures come alive to us in ways we didn't understand before.
All the youth from Christ Church Short Hills who had never seen farm workers working at picking fruits and vegetables for the rest of us to eat,
now they know who they are talking about when they pray before eating.
Not that Jesus wasn't talking to us, but we have lost touch with the earth.
We have lost touch with the real feeling of knowing what it is to carry
water for our drinking or for watering our crops.
We have lost touch with the bodily knowledge of what it takes to walk the land and know how to survive off what you grow
Jesus was talking to them.
In the first century, the people in the regions that Jesus walked through
survived mainly on subsistence farming
they grew crops to eat
There was some fishing industry around the Sea,
there was some wine, olive, and barley industry
where wealthier landowners would be able to sell their goods at the market
but otherwise, the crowds Jesus was talking to
were farm workers.
Shepherds, laborers, field hands, grape or olive pressers,
masons and builders.
They knew what it was to have to work to eat.
And that can be a hugely heavy burden.
Today, more than 2 billion people still work to eat,
about a quarter of the global population is still involved in subsistence farming.
And another billion work on farms owned by other people or companies.
Unfortunately, the conditions for farm workers are becoming worse.
And because the poor carry the most heavy burdens,
they are feeling the worst effects of the changes in the world.
On the other hand, those of us with the money and ability and voice,
the agency to make changes in our lifestyles and society at large,
especially those of us who follow Jesus' teachings, emphasizing the poor and disenfranchised,
we should be carrying this burden.
We know what the solutions are,
we have the ability to change our ways without putting our survival at risk
we have solution aversion,
we are more afraid of changing our lifestyles
rather than the bigger changes that are going to happen.
Even though the bigger changes of the climate are going to force us to change anyway.
As we all have noticed recently with the air quality alerts from the fires in Canada
what happens in one part of the world definitely affects other parts of the world.
Millions of pounds of strawberries are grown and harvested in Monterey County California.
As their temperatures rise and their weather gets weirder
we are less likely to be able to enjoy strawberries year round.
Strawberries may once again become a local special treat for only the spring months of May and June.
Here in New Jersey, climate changes are affecting blueberry and cranberry growth
which affects the state economy.
Heat waves are affecting our power grids and stressing the road and sewage infrastructure.
In Morris County, flooding, power outages, and longer mosquito seasons has affected the county expenditures,
which affects the county budgets, which affects the tax rates... and we all know who that affects.
All of us.
And you may want to say,
climate change is too big and heavy a burden.
Or you may think that it is not affecting you.
But all of us were affected in some way by the air quality alerts,
I mean, how many of you exist without air?
Thankfully, we aren't left without options.
We can change our gardens to native plants. We can grow more vegetables. We can buy more local produce.
We can use our cars less and carpool or use the train
or buy a bicycle, its both good for your health and good for the earth.
We can use our devices until they no longer work, not just the next upgrade comes out, and then recycle them through electronics recycling programs.
We can wear our clothing until it no longer fits, slowing down our changes in fashion.
(And if you've noticed that I only wear the same six dresses, you should ask me about my dresses.)
We can talk to our neighbors and colleagues, our bankers and financial planners,
our lawyers and restaurateurs and politicians about the crazy weather
and how much we care about our space and land here.
There are hundreds of things we can each do
and it comes down to each of us deciding that we care to do one thing differently in order to help.
We can lay down the heavy burden of the whole world of climate change at Jesus' feet.
We are crushed in face of that burden.
We can pick up Jesus' yoke of loving what is in front of us,
which includes the land under our feet, the air we breath in, and the food we eat.
Jesus offers us an exchange.
The burden of the world which we cannot carry,
for the burden of love which we can carry.
Jesus offers this to each and every one of us,
knowing that love in action always makes a difference.
One last thing.
I know I landed the plane, I shouldn't continue on.
However, I can't help myself.
Jesus preached in Aramaic, the language of the people of the fields.
He spoke the good news to those who needed it most.
Here in the United States, the people in the fields don't usually speak English.
The people in the fields are immigrants.
The majority, something like 90% in California, are Latinx.
And in case there is anyone here or watching online in that category, here is the good news for you:
Mi sermón de esta mañana es sobre el cambio climático y cómo afecta a los trabajadores de la granja.
Dije una cuenta sobre mi viaje a la Alta California y visitando a los misiones españoles.
También, cuando estaba en California, veÃamos a los trabajadores de la granja en los campos.
Ver a los trabajadores agrÃcolas hacer que las escrituras tengan vida.
Todos necesitan oÃr lo que Jesus dice en el evangelio de Mateo, especialmente los trabajadores quienes hacen todas las comidas que comamos.
»Vengan a mà todos ustedes que están cansados y agobiados, y yo les daré descanso. Carguen con mi yugo y aprendan de mÃ, pues yo soy apacible y humilde de corazón, y encontrarán descanso para su alma. Porque mi yugo es suave y mi carga es liviana»
Dios ofrece amor y descanso a ti.
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