This Week

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and 
the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw 
the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice 
from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. 
He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, 
and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. 
Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, 
for the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on 
the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, 
"Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." 
Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, 
the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift 
from the spring of the water of life. ----Revelations 21:1-6

If we, the generation that faces the next century, don't do the impossible, 
we shall be faced with the unthinkable. ----Petra Kelly, Co-founder, German Green Party

We are free as a species to continue to accelerate the degradation 
of the earth or to slow and finally reverse this process.  
Our decision depends on the deepest convictions and fundamental 
commitments that constitute the religious level of our being. 
For many people this level is not expressed in their official 
involvement in a traditional religious community. 
Especially in the West since the Enlightenment, explicitly 
religious traditions have been assigned more limited roles, 
with the basic belief structure being determined elsewhere. 
----John B. Cobb, Jr, "Christian Faith and the Degradation of Creation," 
Simpler Living, Compassionate Life

What we're really facing is the convergence of a number of powerful trends - 
climate change, species extinction, the spread of poverty, and the growth 
in population. All of these factors could develop individually, 
but what's unique about our time is that the world has become a closed system. 
There's no place to escape, and all of these powerful forces are 
beginning to impinge upon one another and reinforce on another. 
Our situation is something like a set of rubber bands that you stretch out 
and out and out until they reach the limit of their elasticity, 
which is the breaking point of the system. My sense is that we still 
have a fair amount of elasticity in the world system. 
It's going to be another couple of decades until we reach the breaking point. 
---- Duane Elgin, in "What Is Enlightenment?," Spring/Summer 2001

For what's the use
of a utopian dream
if we're stuck
with the same old
men and women?...
Unless we can be 
changed we'll dream
a Holy City but
end with death
and pain and a warring
of nations, everytime.
"A new heaven and
a new earth"? My God!
What we need 
is nothing less than
a whole new human race.
----David Buttrick

Because (1) science has given us unforeseen power over nature, 
and (2) human beings do not have the wisdom and virtue to keep 
from using that power for private gains that work against the common good, 
science is no longer seen as the messiah that will save us. 
---- Huston Smith, Why Religion Matters	

Now, do you want to know a secret? Making new; 
that's what's going on in the world; that's what's happening. 
The Holy City is not future perfect, it's present tense. 
(Check out the Greek verbs in the text!) Now the Holy City is descending. 
Now God is making things new. Right now God is wiping tears 
and easing pain and overcoming the power of death in the world.  
Now! There's nothing otherworldly about the vision; 
it's happening now in the midst of our worn, torn, broken world. 
And with the eyes of faith, you can see it happening. ----David Buttrick

• As a person of faith, how do you respond to statements that indicate we are killing the earth, or that we are in trouble environmentally? Do you agree, disagree? Does it make a difference for you?
• Do we have the wisdom to do what we need to do? How can faith communities respond? How should they?
• How do you find hope?
• Do we deserve a new earth? What if we got a new earth and didn't change ourselves?
• How can you see God doing a new thing in our world, our earth, our lives? Is it enough?