In this Issue
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Opening Reflection: Lenten Thoughts
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Events: Upcoming and Past Highlights
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Faith and Creation: Connections and Insights
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Carbon Tracker: Updates & Lenten Actions
- Resources & Quick Links
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A birch leaf held fast
In limestone ten million years
Still quietly burns,
Though claimed by the darkness.
Let earth be this windfall
Swept to a handful of seeds—
One tree, one leaf,
Gives us plenty of light.
—John Haines, The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer: Collected Poems
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Lent. The word derives from the Old English lencten meaning spring season, perhaps derived from a related root meaning long, connected to the lengthening of days. Or, perhaps, to just how long it can take for spring to arrive in the north. Think of the melting of icicles off gutters, which I remember best from my childhood on the edge of Chicago when I used to delight in eating them like popsicles. Lent is no longer winter exactly, but in northern climates it’s also not that burst of energy that we associate with Spring, even though the spring equinox often occurs during Lent. Still, it’s during this liturgical season that somewhere below the surface of the earth things are beginning to quicken. Life returning—time itself is in motion again...
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TONIGHT!
Celtic Spirituality: Delight, Wonder & Reverence—Conversations with Canon Jennifer Daugherty
Canon Daugherty will continue to explore the riches of creation-based spirituality in the Celtic tradition with content from her sabbatical in Ireland and Iona. Join in person at Bloedel hall or via Zoom. View the slides and recording here from the first part of the series on February 16.
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Cathedral Campus Gardening
On the second Saturday of each month, 9 a.m. to noon. All are welcome and needed, whether you have a green thumb or not! Questions? Email norva@ix.netcom.com.
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Intergenerational Hike at Tradition Lake
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2 P.M
For the second intergenerational hike, intrepid hiker and Creation Care member Betsy Bell has chosen a route that’s friendly for all ages. We’ll meet at the Tradition Lake trailhead at the end of the road at High Point exit off I-90. The hike includes the Swamp Trail, the Ruth Kregs Big Tree and Tradition Lake Trail, for about 3 miles with almost no elevation gain. Story boards of creatures in the area will make for fun stops along with time for prayer song. Learn more here.
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Middle East Children's Alliance: The Maia Project
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 6:45 P.M.–8:15 P.M., in person in Bloedel Hall and online via Zoom
The Maia Project began in 2007 when the Student Parliament at the UN Boys’ School in Bureij Refugee Camp, Gaza were given the opportunity to choose one thing they most wanted for their school: They chose to have clean drinking water. The reason: 95% of Gaza’s water is unfit for human consumption. Since then The Maia Project has completed 73 water purification and desalinization projects, bringing clean water to 90,000 children in Gaza. Join Zeiad Shamrouch, Executive Director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, as he discusses MECA’s Maia project, which is supported by Bishop Rickel and the Diocese of Olympia.
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Ravished by Nature’s Beauty: The Mystics and Their Longing for God
FRIDAY, APRIL 22 and SATURDAY, APRIL 23
A two-part workshop led by Belden Lane. Renowned theologian and best-selling author Belden Lane will guide a wholesome exploration of reconnecting our spiritual lives with the earth through images, storytelling, poetry, and guided meditation. Advanced registration and fee ($60) required. Learn more here.
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ELSEWHERE
Our Blue Planet: Global Visions of Water
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM, MARCH 18 through MAY 30
Artists across centuries and continents explore how art helps us understand the significance of water at this exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. Learn more here.
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Winter Talk 2022 from Indigenous Ministries of the Episcopal Church
Winter Talk 2022, themed A Chain Linking Two Traditions, included special greetings and speakers, a listening session and evening prayer with Presiding Bishop Curry, a “Doctrine of Discovery” video, a discussion of Indigenous theological education with the Rev. Mary Crist, and “A Native Way of Giving” presentation by Forrest Cuch and the Rev. Michael Carney. View the recordings here.
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Change our Buildings, Save Our Planet
In this TEDxSeattle talk, Saint Mark's parishioner Andrew Himes speaks about ways to reuse and improve existing buildings to help store carbon and heal the planet.
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UW Paleoclimatologist and Saint Mark's Parishioner Lisa Graumlich Chats about Netflix’s Hit Satire Don’t Look Up
Have you seen Don't Look Up? It's a satirical movie about a massive comet headed toward Earth with implications of climate change as a theme throughout. Saint Mark's parishioner Dr. Lisa Graumlich, president-elect of the American Geophysical Union and Dean Emeritus at UW’s College of the Environment, was recently featured in the Seattle Times about how movies can start a conversation about climate change. Check out the article here.
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Clearing Invasives for a New View
Previously, this area between Leffler and the cathedral was completely overgrown with blackberry, ivy and wild clematis. Saint Mark’s parishioner Kelly Lundquist has been hard at work to clear invasives from the area. “Now Leffler can see the cathedral and the cathedral can see Leffler,” said Kelly. She still has to dig out the berry root crowns and weed the newly sprouting poison hemlock, but these photos show her progress:
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Our Future in Our Hands
On Being with Krista Tipett and Katherine Hayhoe - “Our Future in Our Hands” is a conversation with Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist who is also a Christian. This recommendation from Canon Jennifer King Daugherty is both informative and inspiring to understand what is happening and what is needed. Listen here.
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Talking Theology: How Can Studying the Stars Help Us Encounter the God of Creation
This podcast, recommended by Emily Meeks, discusses how the study of astronomy might shape the way we see the world, the way we see ourselves and the way we see God. Listen here.
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Climate Change and the Arctic:
What’s at Stake for our Northernmost Neighbors?
Nowhere is climate change more pronounced than in the Arctic, which is warming twice as fast as any other part of the planet. The warming is profoundly changing people’s lives and livelihoods. A particularly devastating impact is the melting of permafrost, the previously permanently frozen ground that underlies most of the Arctic landscape. As our fellow parishioner, CJ Beegle-Krause, has pointed out to us, the scientific evidence of permafrost melting is compelling, based on precise monitoring of deep borehole temperatures that date back to the 1970s. The melting is destabilizing the roads and infrastructure across the Arctic. And, the melting affects us all as it releases carbon from long frozen soils, adding more greenhouse gases to our atmosphere, thus accelerating global warming.
It can be hard to imagine what this new life is like for people who have lived for time immemorial in the coldest part of the planet. This hauntingly beautiful photo essay on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway and the pastor of its church, Siv Limstrand, documents the challenges faced by communities in the far North.
The ministry of the priest in Svalbard reminds us that climate change challenges us not just economically but also spiritually. As we move into Lent, let’s keep in our hearts and minds those impacted by climate change, both near and far. May the knowledge of the plights of our northernmost neighbors keep our focus on taking action to care for all of creation.
— Dr. Lisa Graumlich
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Savings as of Feb. 7, 2022 from 110 households: |
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Make Lent a Time of Caring for Creation
As we head into Lent, we have perhaps a new opportunity to go beyond our usual reflection and repentance by caring for God’s creation too.
The Book of Common Prayer reminds us that Christians are invited “to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.” We often think of that fasting as giving up something in our usual routines during Lent, whether it’s chocolate or binge-watching videos or even more substantial actions. But by going beyond what we’ve done before and changing habits that have an impact on the environment or climate change during Lent, we can both prepare for Easter and help care for the creation—our wonderful Earth—that God has given us.
One example is a “carbon fast,” whereby we reduce our carbon emissions through actions such as using public transport rather than driving or turning down the temperature for our heater. Another is a “plastic fast”, such as not purchasing bottled water and soft drinks or using our own reusable water bottles and utensils rather than throwaway plastic ones. The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia suggests making simple changes in faith and food choices during Lent—as individuals or together with others. Eating meatless meals daily during Lent or buying locally sourced produce rather than fruits and vegetables shipped in from exotic locales are just two examples. You can look at or sign up for the carbon tracker to find more ideas.
We should of course continue to pray, read and reflect. At the same time, our fasting can have a more meaningful impact on the entire Earth than just not eating a dessert or missing a few videos.
—Richard Hartung
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RECOMMENDATIONS & RESOURCES |
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Indigikitchen features recipes that are inspired by Indigenous foods from Mariah Gladstone (Blackfeet, Cherokee).
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This list from The New York Times highlights destinations "where travelers can be part of the solution." Tourism is frequently a destructive force both environmentally and culturally, but this list suggests that we can be more purposeful in our travels, by prioritizing destinations where toutists can be part of ongoing sustainable change.
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Saint Mark’s Cathedral acknowledges that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of the Duwamish Tribe. [Learn more]
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