Spirituality With A View 
Greetings!

"When designing our renovated worship space, our design team of parishioners hoped that you would feel God’s loving presence all around you, including nature’s beauty in the view beyond our Sanctuary, the snow-capped mountains, the majestic Ponderosa Pines, the breathtaking sky vibrant with sunrises and sunsets, and the filtered view of the lake.

May the sacredness of God’s creation and peace flow inside of you. May you hear our God speaking to your heart in the splendor of silence."

The above quote is from page 93 of my book, “Reflections of Father Bill.” It brings me to the subject of this message:

Our beloved Lake Tahoe and Creation Care ... Stewardship of the Environment.

We are blessed to live in a beautiful place surrounded by God’s creation. We enjoy welcoming our many visitors to North Lake Tahoe and to our Parish.

And because we care ... and because we want to everyone to enjoy God’s beauty, we ask your help as we together pray, study, give a little, and share a lot about Caring for Creation and specifically, caring for Lake Tahoe.

Please read our suggestions below. If you have comments or additional suggestions, please let us know by replying to this message.
Blessings to you and yours,
VISION: 
To be a vibrant community that welcomes, prays, studies, gives, and shares our faith...
WAYS TO LIVE OUR VISION NOW!
PRAY
O Lord, grant us the grace and wisdom to grow deeper in our respect of and care for Your creation. Help us to recognize the sacredness of Your creation as a sign of Your wondrous love. Help us to turn from the selfish consumption of resources and see the impact of our choices on future generations and all of Your creatures.

Amen
STUDY
There are many Sacred Scripture verses about creation that we can study such as:

“The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.” Genesis 2:15

For more Bible verses on Creation Care and Stewardship of the Environment please click here .

To learn more about our patron saint, St. Francis who cared for all creation, read this short biography.

Lastly, please read the article below about Lake Tahoe.

AN EYE-OPENING STUDY
by The Tahoe Environmental Research Center

The Winter 2017-2018 Newsletter from The Tahoe Environmental Research Center included an enlightening article about microplastics in Lake Tahoe. The article explains:
 
“Microplastics, plastic particles less than 5 mm long, have received a lot of attention recently due to their presence in the oceans and in drinking water. While microplastics in marine environments has been extensively studied, their impact on freshwater systems is not well known.”
 
“Microplastics can come as:
        
·        Fibers - like those from synthetic fleece jackets.
·        Microbeads - found in some exfoliating face and body washes.
·        Fragments - smaller bits of larger plastic items.
·        Foam - from coolers or takeout containers.
·        Nurdles - the pelletized raw material used to manufacture of plastic goods.
 
Fibers and microbeads typically originate from residential wastewater and nurdles can enter water systems through spills during shipment. Since no wastewater flows into Lake Tahoe and no shipping operations occur on the water, the main types of microplastics found here are likely to be fragments and foam.”
 
A study was done last summer to investigate the presence of microplastics in and around Lake Tahoe beaches. The study analyzed sand samples from different beaches around the lake, including Hidden Beach, Commons Beach, D.L. Bliss State Park and Baldwin Beach. “The results confirmed the presence of microplastics in the lake and surrounding beaches. This was not surprising as we have all seen large quantities of plastic trash on Tahoe’s beaches.”
 
“Microplastics in Lake Tahoe are completely avoidable,” says Katie Senft, TREC Researcher. “Their presence is a direct result of litter and mismanaged waste.”
 
We learned from the article that we can all take part in fixing this problem. It’s important that we all do something to reverse this trend. A few suggestions:
 
·        Refuse single-use plastic that you do not need (such as straws, bags, single-use water bottles).
·        Reduce the amount that you do use (bring a refillable coffee mug or food container).
·        Clean and reuse plastic items whenever possible (such as zip lock bags).
·        Ensure that plastics are disposed of properly or recycled whenever possible.
·        If you do see trash on the beach, pick it up to prevent it from breaking down further.
 
Source: The Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) Winter 2018-2019 Newsletter

Trash left on our beaches and by our roads will eventually end up in our lake ... unless we do something about it!
GIVE
We can all give a little by adjusting our habits.

For me, I realized I have a lot to learn and a lot of changes to make. Just the other day, a member of our Creation Care Ministry suggested that we always purchase eggs in cardboard rather than Styrofoam cartons. It sounded like a good idea and pretty easy to implement. When I went home that evening, I opened my refrigerator and staring at me were the eggs I just bought ... in a Styrofoam carton ... so I have a lot of room for improvement!
Watch for a message soon from John Keehan, our Office manager, on steps that are being taken by our St. Francis of Assisi Parish Office to support Office Staff and Ministries as we all work on Creation Care.

In the meantime, below are some suggestion to get started:
PLEASE SHARE
What can you do to implement tip #9?

Share these tips with your friends! 

Reflect, pray, and act!
 
In conclusion ... It’s not all gloom and doom. I am grateful for scientists, like the woman in this video clip who are finding ways to deal with the problem of plastic waste.
“Do not pollute the land of your habitation ...”  Number 35:33
 St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
701 Mount Rose Hwy
Incline Village, NV 89451 
(775) 831-0490