This Sunday we recall the feminine face of God, Sophia (wisdom), often missing in religion. We need wisdom in this liminal time. May we be blessed with the birth of a new collective consciousness in all of our relationships and our interdependence with all people, with all of life, including our mother, the earth.

We will hear stories from various traditions, including Matthew Fox’s scientific poetic re-telling of the Genesis story, and a MiWok poem about our home, told to us by local environmentalist and story teller, Mary Ellen Hill.
 
This will be a child friendly service! Join us!!

Photo by Andrew Claypool on Unsplash

The wondrous transformation from the caterpillar into the new life as a butterfly includes the cocooning season, where your body literally becomes mush. You disintegrate. You lose shape. You lose everything that defined you as a caterpillar. You become goo. In meaningful ways, you die to what you were.

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash

But here is the miracle: inside that deathly mush are imaginal cells. These cells hold the vision of a future within them. When all seems lost and nothing that was known can be known as it was, the imaginal cells give us the vision for moving forward. They know that with the right conditions and a little time, a butterfly waits to be born.

Some of us these days, feel like mush right now. We are messy, fragile, unprotected, insecure, unrecognizable, disoriented, developing, transforming, imaginal beings. We are in that liminal space between what was and what can be. Our becoming something better on the other side of this is not guaranteed. But with the right conditions, with the awakening of people to the beauty of our planet and the intimacy of our connection to everyone and everything, we have the chance to become something new.

 If ever there was a time for us, to become the new creation that God is calling us into, it is now, and I am grateful that we are together on this journey into new life.

Photo by Doug Kelley on Unsplash

The 50th anniversary of Earth Day is this Wednesday, April 22nd! It’s no coincidence that it coincides with the 50^th anniversary of our beautiful sanctuary, high on the Skyline ridge overlooking the East Bay Regional Parks.  Please join us as we honor Earth day, this Wed at 12 noon, with storyteller Mary Ellen Hill.  

Here are more events, suggestions, and actions for our anniversary:

1. Encourage your children to learn about Earthday in this video with Mirabelle the Fairy.
2.  Enjoy the photos of our redwood tree planting! 
3. Review this outstanding primer from the UCC on Love of Creation, Climate Change sabbath toolkit.
4. Also join us for this 3 day “Earth Day Live” live stream, detailed below, and featuring Al Gore, Bill McKibben Rep AOC and so many others.

Back in the fall, plans were being made to pack Earth Day and the following two days with rallies, protest, and nonviolent direct action. With the pandemic, those plans have had to change. Gathering in groups is simply too dangerous for our communities. Now, the actions have gone online.

Here’s an overview of what’s happening each day:

• April 22 – STRIKE: On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we will demonstrate our collective power and unity through community building and storytelling. This first day will focus on amplifying the voice of Indigenous leaders and youth climate activists who are leading the movement to halt the climate crisis.
• April 23 – DIVEST: The world’s largest banks have pumped $1.9 trillion into fossil fuels since the 2015 Paris Agreement. We can’t let fossil fuel companies use the pandemic to loot trillions more when people need relief so desperately. Led by the Stop the Money Pipeline Coalition, April 23 focuses on the role of money in driving the climate crisis.
• April 24 – VOTE: We need leaders who will address the existential threat of climate change, and for this to happen, we need people to show up at the polls. Led by the US Youth Strike Coalition, April 24 will focus on the urgency of political change through a nationwide youth voter registration day.

This is all being done online. You can go to the Earth Day Live website to sign up for emails with details about this 3-day live stream and online mobilization. The live stream will include training sessions, performances, and appearances to keep people engaged, informed, and inspired, with speakers including celebrities, politicians, scientists, and youth activists.

Earth Day in California

There are also a whole series of online events happening in California. You can access a pretty comprehensive list of those here. And here is info about some Bay Area events:

April 22: Climate Strike – stories, indigenous voices

• Silicon Valley Youth Climate Strike & Green Foothills,
  Virtual Earth Day
  Here is a link to Virtual Earth Day.
  Here is a link to the Facebook event for Virtual Earth Day.
• Sunrise Palo Alto, Countdown to Earth Day
  Here is a link for Sunrise Palo Alto.

April 23: Divestment day – Stop the Money Pipeline

• SVCAN Local Livestream, 9AM – 10AM
  World premiere of our new video, “Nothing Else Works”!
  Here is the link to SVCAN Local Livestream.
• XRSFBAY Local Livestream, 4PM – 5PM
  Here is the link to XR-SFBAY’s “Defundathon.”

April 24: Political action & voter registration

• Peninsula Peace & Justice Center,
  Virtual Climate Rally, 5:30PM – 6:30 PM
  Here is a link for PPJC’s Virtual Climate Rally.

Bonus Day – Saturday, April 25: Post-Earth-Day Virtual Party

• 350 Bay Area, Party & Fund-Raiser, 5:00PM – 6:30 PM
  Sliding-scale ticket prices go as low as $0.
  Screening SVCAN’s new video, “Nothing Else Works”!
  Here is a link to RSVP for 350 Bay Area’s party fund-raiser.

I hope you’ll participate in some of these wonderful events designed to help us celebrate Earth Day and to encourage our continued commitment to caring for the earth.

May we continue to rise up in the Spirit of Easter!
Pastor Laurie 

Weds, 4-22, 12-1:30 PM: 50th Anniversary of Earth Day 

Sun, 4/26 11:15 AM:  The Human Element Film Discussion – view the film this week

Fri, 4/17-Sun, 4/26:  Faith Climate Action Week,   Pray, Plant a Tree