Transcript for April 19, 2009 by Ian Lawton

The White House has gone a deeper shade of green. It has a new organic herb and veggie patch, and an eco-friendly swing set for the first kids. There are also some undocumented aliens living on the premises. A family of raccoons has taken up residence on the organic veggie patch and it seems that no one can prevent them from running rampant on the grounds. Raccoons have a history in the White House. When the Peruvian government gave President Calvin Coolidge a raccoon, it was intended as part of a Thanksgiving feast. Instead, President Coolidge and his wife were so enamored with the raccoon that they named her Rebecca, gave her the run of the East Wing and walked her on a lead around the grounds.

Have you heard about the two elderly vultures who decided to migrate south by airplane. When they checked their baggage, the attendant noticed that they were carrying two dead raccoons. “Do you wish to check the raccoons through as luggage?” she asked. “No, thanks,” replied the vultures. “They’re carrion.”

The raccoon is one of the curiosities that we have been introduced to in this country. About 4 years ago we locked horns with our first cheeky bandit, tearing up our garden and eating all the bird food. It took us a while to figure it out. Then one night, I saw two green lights in the darkness and on closer inspection realized it was the eyes of a pesky raccoon feasting on the bird feeder. I tried to chase it away, but it looked back at me indignantly. I’ve seen that look before from my kids. Slowly, it sauntered away while giving me a sideways glance that said “You may have won the battle, but the war is not even close to over.”

Sure enough, one warm summer night some months later, we found our friend the raccoon perched up on the kitchen table. The bird food had run out, so it ventured inside enemy territory to polish off our leftover dinner scraps. We managed to get it out of the house, somehow. It was still winning the war. We tried everything that we knew to do.

The war reached a climax on Easter Day. As we sampled the first fruits of the Easter Bunny, we saw our friend the raccoon in a trap we had set, looking defeated. We took every precaution, and on advice drove it 5 miles away. We even drove in circles to try and disorient it. We thought about a blindfold, but couldn’t keep it still enough to get a blindfold on. Finally we let it free in Hoffmaster Park. As it fled to freedom in the woods, it ran almost as far as the eye could see before looking back at me. Then it happened. From a safe distance, this cheeky little rodent stood up on its haunches, stared me down and I saw the same green flash from its eyes that I had seen 4 years earlier.

Our family became quite attached to the caged raccoon. I’ll never forget the deep shade of green in its eyes, and our Easter drama.

Our topic is living a deeper shade of green. It’s natural to live a deeper shade of green once you see nature looking back at you with its deep green eyes. Once you have engaged heart to heart with the earth, it’s not a matter of guilt but an intrinsic sensitivity for the earth that motivates you.

There are so many ways to live more mindfully of the earth. I want to pick on two that are two of my favorite activities; eating and sleeping. Living green doesn’t have to be a chore. It’s ordinary, and even fun. Take sleep for example.

Ecological Sleeping

Maybe you have never heard a sermon on sleep. Some of you have slept in sermons, but never heard a sermon on sleep. There was a call to the church a few weeks back. Someone was asking for pastoral help. They were having trouble sleeping. They requested copies of my sermons. Well that was made up, but I do want to speak about sleeping.

The more you sleep, the greener you are. It’s true. Studies were conducted on the people of Britain. Those who sleep less than 5 hours a night use nearly 20% more electricity, and 10% more gas than those who get over nine hours a night. For all those who are frustrated at their partners for stumbling out of bed and not flushing while half asleep, keep in mind that they too are doing their bit for the environment.

The wonderful news is that most of the things that are good for the environment are also good for you, like sleep.

As you go off to bed, turning off lights and appliances as you go, the whole earth rests with you. It’s no accident that many appliances have a function called “sleep mode”. In fact even sleep mode is not enough. Sleep mode is equivalent to a cat nap for the earth. If you really want to save money and the earth, turn as many appliances as possible completely off.

Here is just one statistic. The total load of appliances in sleep mode in the United States alone would provide enough juice to power Vietnam, Peru, and Greece.

As you regenerate your mind and body, the earth is also regenerating. Just as in sleep, your mind becomes stronger, you increase your body’s immunity, prevent disease and control your appetite better when awake, so the earth builds its strength while you sleep.

There is an ancient story of a man traveling with his donkey that was very close to his heart. After a hard day of traveling, he stops at an inn. He is greeted warmly but little attention is given to his donkey. The man is invited inside and offered sumptuous food. He says he can’t relax until he knows his donkey is being cared for. They assure him they will care for his donkey, but he has an uneasy feeling.

Finally the man gives in and enjoys a fine meal by the fire and a comfortable bed. As he lays down in the bed, he can’t sleep despite the silk sheets and toasty temperature. When he finally drifts off to sleep, he has nightmares about his donkey lying on cold stone without food or water. In the middle of the night, he goes out to find that sure enough his donkey is cold, hungry and dying of thirst.

Once he attends to his donkey, he sleeps soundly through the night.

The donkey is the symbol for the earth that is close to your heart. If you know that you’ve done what you can to respect the earth, you will sleep easier. And your sleep will enable the earth to sleep easier.

So get some sleep. While you sleep, the earth heals. And with due respect to insomniacs, keep the lights and appliances off while you don’t sleep at night.

Ecological Eating

The other area where you can help the earth to heal is eating. You are what you eat. The earth reflects the mindfulness of those who eat of its bounty.

When you eat with love, what’s grown with love, prepared with love and served with love, you feel more nourished, revitalized, satisfied, balanced and loved!

Have you seen the film “Like Water for Chocolate”?  It’s the story of a 20th century Mexican family that has their own family tradition that the youngest daughter can never marry and must instead stay at home and care for her parents.  I like that tradition.  I think we might re-introduce that into our family. 

In any case, the youngest daughter who is confined to the kitchen to care for the family falls in love with a man but cannot consummate their love because of the family tradition. Instead he marries one of her sisters. So the young daughter is confined to the kitchen cooking for the whole family including her lover and her sister.   The food that is prepared out of that kitchen represent the moods of this young daughter.

When she is having a frustrating day and prepares food out of frustration then around the dinner table people weep into their soup.   If she is feeling particularly happy and lustful, then the energy around the kitchen table is playful and erotic.  

This is a beautiful film and one that speaks of the relationship between eating food and preparation of food, consumption of food and consumption of life.  It tells of the connection between our spirits, the way that we experience community and family. 

We have appetites not so that we can consume the world and forget it but so that we can taste its goodness and remember our connections. We consume earth’s food to give us strength to serve the earth and everything in it.

When it comes to living a deeper shade of green, it’s about love and not guilt. So don’t be anxious if every meal is not a seasonally kosher. Be realistic. Change where it is a joy to change.

Eat one meal a day that is local and seasonal. Eat one meal where you are aware of one ingredient’s journey to your plate. Pause before you eat and give thanks for one ingredient. Talk to your family about the journey of food; who was involved in getting it to your plate, and how different food takes more of a toll on the environment.

Try out this prayer from Thich Nhat Hanh-

My plate, empty now, will soon be filled with precious food. In this food, I see the presence of the entire universe supporting my existence. Many beings are struggling for food today. I pray that they
all may have enough to eat.

Green Easter

It’s appropriate that we begin Earth Season right after Easter. Easter was a pagan earth celebration before it was a religious celebration. Originally it was a celebration of Spring and new growth. Jesus was the archetype for the greening of life. Maybe those who spoke about Jesus as the vine had some intuitive understanding of earth connections, with the imagery of green growth and a web of relationships. Jesus death represented the dark days of winter that gives way to the new birth of spring. It may also be no accident that the story of Mary seeing the risen Jesus, has Jesus appearing in the form of a gardener.

This green spirit, the emergence of new life resides within you. It manifests in the most practical and ordinary ways. It manifests when you eat mindfully, and when you sleep deeply. The green spirit may be dormant in you, but it is there. It will come alive when you come face to face with the piercing green eyes of the earth.

Connecting to the Deep Shade of Green

Aldo Leopold is one of the great conservationists in this country. However he wasn’t always a conservationist.  In fact he was a hunter before he became a conservationist.  A deep experience of the earth changed his life, as it changed his motivation toward the earth. 

One day Aldo went with a group of friends to hunt wolves to clear the mountain in order to hunt deer.  There was one particular wolf that Aldo shot – he looked into the eyes of this dying wolf and watched a fierce green fire dying in her eyes.  At that moment he realized that something in the mountain, something in himself was dying.  Something that could not ever be recaptured. 

It was in looking at this fierce green fire dying that Aldo Leopold’s life was changed and he committed the rest of his life to advocating for earth issues.

What experiences connect you to that fierce green fire dying in the earth every day?  

Wendell Berry said, “I eat my history day by day. Bird, butterfly, and flower pass through the seasons of my flesh.”

How deep is your connection to the earth?

Here is an affirmation you can use to remind yourself of your connections and interdependence on the earth.

Every part of this shining earth is sacred. We are one.
Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of earth. We are one.
We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us.

Say to mother Earth- We are yours
Say to the universe- We are one.

Namaste.