May 2020
The morning paper greeted me with this headline: “Earth is wilder, cleaner – but only temporarily.” The lead article continued: “An unplanned experiment with the virus is changing Earth. The air has cleaned up and beautiful sights are seen that have not been visible in decades. Stars are more clearly seen. Animals are appearing in surprising places.” Stuart Pimm of Duke University is quoted as saying, “It is giving us this quite extraordinary insight into just how much of a mess we humans are making of our beautiful planet…an opportunity to magically see how much better it can be.” As chair of my community’s EARTH DAY committee planning for the 50th anniversary celebration this week on April 22, I have been processing the bad news of the catastrophe of the epidemic with the good news of the growing global environmental movement. My feelings have bounced from the despair of facing months to come sharing this planet with the coronavirus to the euphoria of the possibility of creating a “new normal” in which the human race treats with respect the whole of creation and we live together with health and safety. This is where we are now. As people of faith we can trust that God is at work in us and among us, calling us to an ever new future that expresses God’s loving concern for all of creation. Each of us can use this long pause as a way of reflecting on and moving into a “new normal” for ourselves as we go through this trying time.
Weaving Prayer Into the Tapestry of Life
Martha Rowlett
Martha Rowlett is a minister in the United Methodist Church, a prolific blogger, and author of four books on prayer. Her book, Weaving Prayer Into the Tapestry of Life, provides an overview of the understanding and practice of prayer, offering an invitation to the reader to move from thinking to doing.
Read Martha’s writings from her blog at WeavingPrayerIntoTheTapestryOfLife.Com
The former senior pastor at Rolling Hills, Martha has served in local churches and on Conference staff in the United Methodist Church. Originally from Virginia, she has lived most of her adult life in California and Washington and currently enjoys mountain living in Asheville, North Carolina.
