Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
5 A’s for Earth Day: Practices of Compassion and Resistance

5 A’s for Earth Day: Practices of Compassion and Resistance

Last updated on: April 21, 2018 at 7:44 am by Leah D. Schade

5 A’s for Earth Day: Practices of Compassion and Resistance 2018-04-21T07:44:00-04:00 Leah D. Schade

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As we approach Earth Day, the stakes for our planet have never been higher. Here are 5 ways to cultivate our attention, and claim our individual and collective power.

5 a's for earth day.gif

Runaway climate-change. Species disappearing at alarming rates. Storms unleashing billion-dollar catastrophes. Lack of access to clean water for millions. These are just a few of the global ecological threats confronting humanity. Add to that the current administration’s plans for gutting EPA and rolling back life-saving regulations, and even the most optimistic among us can fall into green-tinged despair. Here are five practices in exercising our agency – both individually and collectively – that can help counter feelings of powerlessness and reignite creative acts of resistance.

Appreciation

Overcoming what Richard Louv calls “nature deficit disorder” is essential for not only cultivating a relationship with the world around you, but for restoring physical, emotional and physical well-being. Even if you can only find a patch of weeds in an abandoned lot, take a few minutes to settle into a circle of nature for a few minutes of observation, contemplation, and appreciation. Cultivate the habit of noticing . . . What lives here? What passes through? How do the smells change between morning and evening? What surprises you with unexpected joy?

Leah D. Schade (far left) with community activists in 2012 protesting plans for a tire burner in White Deer Township, Pennsylvania. The burner was defeated! Photo credit: David Young.

Leah D. Schade (far left) with community activists in 2012 protesting plans for a tire burner in White Deer Township, Pennsylvania. The burner was defeated! Photo credit: David Young.

Awareness

Following Twitter feeds from your favorite “big greens” (Sierra Club, Greenpeace, World Wildlife Federation) are one thing. But learning about local environmental issues that affect your community can equip you for engagement that makes a difference closer to home. Seek out the groups that are working on natural lands preservation, community gardening, and addressing threats to local waterways, for example. Educate yourself about how you can connect with your neighbors to improve the quality of life for your community.

Acknowledgment

Giving space for eco-grief is necessary during this time. Lament is an important spiritual practice in most of the world’s religions. Biblical theologian Walter Brueggemann notes that lament enables us to do three things: 1) recognize the reality of injustice, loss, and grief; 2) name the injustice as intolerable; 3) and ultimately, be moved to action to make things right again. As island nations lose their homes to rising sea levels, as children suffer from preventable diseases due to environmental toxins, as we watch majestic icebergs calving their bodies into the ocean, what other response can we expect, other than what I call “raging lament”? This energy is necessary, and must be channeled into the last two aspects of resistance: advocacy and activism.

$Leah D. Schade testifying at a hearing to protect public lands in Pennsylvania from fracking, June 2013. Photo credit: Wendy Lynn Lee$

Leah D. Schade testifying at a hearing to
protect public lands in Pennsylvania
from fracking, June 2013.
Photo credit: Wendy Lynn Lee

Advocacy

The democratic act of exercising our collective voices to address injustice and effect change is experiencing a resurgence in the face of autocratic policies and heavy-handed legislation. While there are seemingly unending emergencies of human rights violations erupting weekly (sometimes daily), we need to remember that advocating for environmental protections, climate action, and habitat protection remain vitally important for our species. Many people don’t recognize the way environmental issues impact and exacerbate nearly every other issue our nation faces – from immigration and refugees, to energy production and jobs, to healthcare. Use your voice to speak out and help people connect the dots. Protecting water, land, air and public health remain just as important, and even more so, since the election.

Activism

The Indivisible Guide put together by former congressional staffers to help people resist the Trump agenda has been an invaluable resource for helping individuals connect at the local level and leverage their collective power in support of policies important to them (or fighting against their elected leaders in effective ways). The strategies and tactics they describe are also key to being an activist for Earth. They point out that while education and advocacy are important, there’s no substitute for a body in the chair at a congressional representative’s office. Or holding a cardboard sign in a protest rally. Or standing at the mic at a town hall. As Princeton religion professor Jeffrey Stout reminds us, “blessed are the organized.” Get involved with the local groups who share your passion for protecting the environment, and find ways to be both creative and methodical in carrying out acts of resistance and renewal.

For a reflection about preaching on Earth Sunday, click here.

For ideas on incorporating Earth-care into faith practices and preaching, try 17 Ways to be an EcoPreacher.

For ways to help children connect their faith with their love of nature, click here.

Also read:

A Dozen Bible Passages for Preaching a Creation-Care Sermon

Six Children’s Sermon Ideas for Earth Day

Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary (Kentucky) and author of the book Creation-CrisisPreaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015).

You can follow Leah on Twitter at @LeahSchade, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LeahDSchade/.

Previous Post

April 13, 2017

Competing Fractals: Good Friday and Saturday Vigil

Next Post

April 16, 2017 Chaos Theory and the Butterfly Effect: Why Easter Still Matters

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academy of Homiletics Addiction Advent AI (Artificial Intelligence) Animals Apocalypse Appalachia Ash Wednesday Baptism Bible Black Lives Matter Blade Runner Book review Children in church Christian Nationalism Christian/Islamic relations Christmas Church Clergy Climate change COVID-19 Creation Data Centers Death penalty Devotional Dialogue Doubt Earth Day Easter Ecofeminism EcoPreacher 1-2-3 ELCA ELCA Youth Gathering Election Environment/ecology Epiphany Faith Faith and Politics Feminism Film review Food Food and Faith Forgiveness Fracking Good Friday Good Omens Grief Gun violence Holy Humor Sunday Holy Week Howard Thurman ICE Immigration Indigenous wisdom Interview Jesus Kentucky Lafayette High School Marching Band Leadership Lent LGBTQIA+ Marching band Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Mary Maundy Thursday Michael Sheen Mother of Jesus Nature New Year's Eve Palm Sunday Parables Pentecost Poem, Poetry Politics Poor People's Campaign Pop culture Prayers Preaching Progressive Christianity Public theology Purple Zone Racism and White Privilege Religion Religion and environment Religion and politics Religion and pop culture Religion and violence Rev. Nelson Rabell Gonzalez Sermons Spanish language resources for preaching Technology Thanksgiving Theological education theology Trees Trump Uncategorized Vegan War Women and religion Workshop Worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What New Covenant promise is found in Jeremiah?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God will raise a new king in Israel God will write His law on their hearts God will flood the earth God will destroy Egypt

Books by This Author Books by Leah D. Schade

See All Titles »