This event was co-sponsored by New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light and Interfaith Hunger Coalition.

Article photos courtesy of Carlos Navarro.

 One Earth, One Home, One Table: A World Food Day Celebration

Illustration by Brittany Sedillo

Open our hearts that all may find refuge;Open our hands that all may be fed;Open our eyes that all may seeThe oneness of Earth’s familyEconomic justice, immigration/refugees and climate change were the three central themes of our World Food Day commemoration in Albuquerque on Sunday, October 16. The three issues were reflected in the title of our celebration, “One Earth, One Home, One Table,” and in the song that David Poole, the talented director at La Mesa Presbyterian Church, wrote for the occasion. In this video, David Poole teaches the song to the more than 150 people who attended the celebration.

 

 

The song also guided the steps of the participants as we moved into the sanctuary at First Unitarian Church, led by Keri Sutter and other members of the sacred dance company Surgite as well as a group of volunteer liturgical dancers. The liturgical dance team also led the congregation after some of the prayers in the sanctuary.

World Food Day 2016 happened to coincide with the beginning of the Jewish feast of Sukkot. which celebrates the harvest.  Rabbi Min Kantrowitz started us outside with a Sukkot prayer and a poem.

(The outside portion of our service also included a Lakota prayer and a reflection and song from Michael Abeita from Isleta Pueblo. We will post that later, along with other videos from other faith groups who participated during the portion of the service in the sanctuary).

God Bless Our Bread

God bless to us our bread,
And give bread to all those who are hungry
And hunger for justice to those who are fed.
God bless to us our bread.
–A meal blessing from Latin America

Before we sat down to a delicious langar prepared by the Albuquerque Sikh Gudwara, a multigenerational choir sang God Bless to Us Our Bread, a hymn from Latin America. The langar was the culmination of an inspiring World Food Day Service on October 16.  (More about the langar in a separate post).

At the start of the service, the choir also sang “Bread to Share” by Marty Haugen.
“Plenty of bread at the feast of life, plenty of bread to share…”

More videos from the World Food Day Interfaith Service to be posted in coming days.

The Langar: We are Equals as We Sit Down to Share a Meal

Langar means common kitchen in temples where food is served to all visitors without distinction of background for free. While the act of sharing nourishment is important in the langar, hospitality is more important. As opposed to a soup kitchen where one group serves another, the langar ensures participants sit down to a meal as equals, Kulwant Kaur, a local leader of the Albuquerque Sikh Budwara told me in a conversation.

As the langar served as an important unifying act for 7,000 people in Salt Lake City in 2015,  the langar at the World Food Day interfaith service in 2016 helped bring  the faith community in Albuquerque together.

The langar is just one of the ways in which the Sikh community enhanced our World Food Day commemoration. During the service in the sanctuary, Shawn Singh Sidhu and a group of Sikh faithful chanted a traditional hymn. Here are the words in English: Night and day, dawn and dusk, I sing to You,..All beings, all creation celebrate and meditate on Your Name…You are the Giver of bounties; we eat what You give us in the company of your devotees we wash away our sins…Your minion Nanak is a sacrifice, a sacrifice unto You.  

Economic Justice and Traditional Hindu and Christian Blessings

God sleeps in stones, breathes in plants, dreams in animals, and awakens in human beings.   Hindu Saying

Rev. Sylvia Miller-Mutia, Swami Omkara, Rev. Deborah Hill

We chose three themes to highlight the World Food Day commemoration in Albuquerque on Sunday afternoon, October 16, 2016.  We observed the occasion with songs, a shared meal and prayers.

Two faith communities prepared prayers around each of the themes of economic justice (Hindu-Protestant), immigration and refugees (Baha’i-Buddhist), and climate change (Roman Catholic-Muslim). The actual prayers do not necessarily have a direct connection with the theme, which is presented at the beginning of each set of reflections. Here is the economic justice prayer prepared by Joan Brown, OSF, and led by Rev. Sylvia Miller-Mutia, followed by the first of the three reflections.

Reflection and Prayer upon food/hunger and economic justice

Leader: Our spiritual traditions call us to measure economy through the lens of justice for the dignity of human life and workers considering economic equity and fairness. Economic decisions have moral impacts upon all in the family of life and upon our Sacred Earth community. May we have the courage to uncover and face economic injustice and work for equity and fairness.

All Open our eyes, ears, and hands to act in love and justice as we walk in solidarity with those who are hungry and those who hunger for justice.

Hindu Food  Prayer
Rev. Swami Omkara,
Independent Swami and Director of Trinity House Catholic Worker

Brahmarpanam Brahma Havir
Brahmagnau Brahmanaahutam
Brahmaiva Tena Ghantavyam
Brahmakarma Samadhina

Translation:
The act of offering is God, the oblation is God 
By God it is offered into the Fire of God 
God is That which is to be attained by him 
who performs action pertaining to God

Om shanti, shanti, shanti–Peace, peace, peace

Christian Prayer:
Rev. Deborah Hill, 
Associate Clergy, Grant Chapel AME Church
God is Great, God is Good; 
Let us thank God for our food. 
By God’s hands we all are fed, 
Give us Lord Our Daily Bread. Amen

The Light of Boundless Love

Shed the light of a boundless love on every human being whom you meet, whether of your country, your race, your political party, or of any other nation, color or shade of political opinion. Heaven will support you while you work in this ingathering of the scattered peoples of the world beneath the shadow of the almighty tent of unity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks

We chose three themes to highlight the World Food Day commemoration in Albuquerque on Sunday afternoon, October 16, 2016.  We observed the occasion with songs, a shared meal and prayers.

Two faith communities prepared prayers around each of the themes of economic justice (Hindu-Protestant), immigration and refugees (Baha’i-Buddhist), and climate change (Roman Catholic-Muslim). The actual prayers do not necessarily have a direct connection with the theme, which is presented at the beginning of each set of reflections. Here is the economic justice prayer prepared by Joan Brown, OSF, and led by Rev. Sylvia Miller-Mutia, followed by the second of the three reflections.

Reflection and Prayer upon food/hunger and Immigration/refugees

Leader: Our journey through life is long and hard. We cannot make this trip alone; we must walk together on the journey. May we have outstretched arms to welcome those who are refugees and immigrants in our communities and land. May we work to address the deep structural issues of violence, environment, and poverty that cause people to leave their beloved homelands for new and unknown lands where they are strangers.

All : Open our eyes, ears, and hands to act in love and justice as we walk in solidarity with those who are hungry and those who hunger for justice.

Sohana Akhand, Sally Moore, Kalillany Hall

Baha’i Prayer
(Kailany Hall, Costa Rica, Albuquerque Baha’i Community)
O Thou kind Lord! Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence. O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest life upon all. Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy. O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony. O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind. O God! Establish the Most Great Peace. Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together. O Thou kind Father, God! Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence. Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Buddhist Prayer

(Sally Moore, Tibetan Budhhist Temple, Copper Mountain Institute)
This food is a gift of the whole universe, the earth, the sky, many living beings, and much hard work,. May we eat it in mindfulness and gratitude to worthy to receive it. May we transform our unskillful states of mind, and learn to eat in moderation. May we take only foods that noursih us, and keep our planet healthy. We accept this food to help us realize our path of understanding and love.

“O Ye Rich Ones on Earth”:
Sohana Akhand, Bangladesh, Albuquerque Baha’i Community
The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust, and be not intent only on your own ease.” –Bahá’u’lláh Let all be united in this Divine power of love! Let all strive to grow in the light of the Sun of Truth, and reflecting this luminous love on all men, may their hearts become so united that they may dwell evermore in the radiance of the limitless love…When you love a member of your family or a compatriot, let it be with a ray of the Infinite Love! Let it be in God, and for God! Wherever you find the attributes of God love that person, whether he be of your family or of another. Shed the light of a boundless love on every human being whom you meet, whether of your country, your race, your political party, or of any other nation, color or shade of political opinion. Heaven will support you while you work in this ingathering of the scattered peoples of the world beneath the shadow of the almighty tent of unity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks 

 A Responsibility to Establish Good

We recognize that we are but a miniscule part of the divine order, yet within that order, we are exceptionally powerful beings, and have the responsibility to establish good and avert evil in every way we can. We also recognize that –We are but one of the multitude of living beings with whom we share the Earth;We have no right to oppress the rest of creation or cause it harm; Intelligence and conscience behoove us, as our faith commands, to treat all things with care and awe (taqwa) of their Creator, compassion (rahmah) and utmost good (ihsan). –Islamic Declaration on Climate Change

We chose three themes to highlight the World Food Day commemoration in Albuquerque on Sunday afternoon, October 16, 2016.  We observed the occasion with songs, a shared meal and prayers.

Two faith communities prepared prayers around each of the themes of economic justice (Hindu-Protestant), immigration and refugees (Baha’i-Buddhist), and climate change (Roman Catholic-Muslim). The actual prayers do not necessarily have a direct connection with the theme, which is presented at the beginning of each set of reflections. Here is the climate change prayer prepared by Joan Brown, OSF, and led by Rev. Sylvia Miller-Mutia, followed by the second of the three reflections.

Reflection and Prayer upon food/hunger and Climate Change

Leader: Creative and holy Love brought forth this awesome garden of life that we share, and yet, our eyes are blinded to the gifts. Our lifestyles of unconscious overconsumption lead us to be separated from the beauty and wonder around us. Climate Change is changing our world and causing many to suffer. May we come to know the challenging invitation of this moment that calls each of us to have a climate change of heart and soul to inspire profound action for life.

All: Open our eyes, ears, and hands to act in love and justice as we walk in solidarity with those who are hungry and those who hunger for justice.

The part of the service opened with The Cry of the Poor, a song composed by John Foley, a Jesuit. Meg Aschroft, a Norbetine oblate at Santa Maria de la Vid Norbertine Abbey, composed verses appropriate to our theme on World Food Day. Sarah Muhammad from the Islamic Center of New Mexico followed with two readings. Nada Abdel Hack, also from the Islamic Center of New Mexico, followed with a reflection. Finally, Patrick O’Meara from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church read two excerpts from Laudato Si, the encyclical letter on the environment that Pope Francis published in May 2015.

(Note: This video becomes vertical when you click play)

The Cry of the Poor: (led by Meg Ashcroft, O.Praem.Obl.)
Music and refrain copyright 1978, 1991, John B. Foley, S.J., and OCP. All rights reserved.

Refrain: The Lord hears the cry of the poor, Blessed be the Lord. 

Verses: Will we see the face of God in the plight of the hungry and the poor, threatened by drought and rising tides, hoping to live in peace on Earth. 

When we respect creation as blessed, and see all God made as good, we’ll receive grace to help restore Nature’s beauty and vitality.

As disciples of God’s loving care, and stewards of desert, sea and air, we are called to safeguard God’s gift that all may have enough to live.

Sarah Muhammad

Readings from the Q’uran: Sarah Muhammad, Islamic Center

Surah 9:12-16
And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass?
It is the freeing of a slave
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger
An orphan of near relationship
Or a needy person in misery

Surah 6:99
And it is He who sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby the growth of all things. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains arranged in layers. And from the palm trees – of its emerging fruit are clusters hanging low. And [We produce] gardens of grapevines and olives and pomegranates, similar yet varied. Look at [each of] its fruit when it yields and [at] its ripening. Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reflection on the words of the Prophet 
Nada Abdel Hack Islamic Center

One day A Bedouin came to the Prophet (Pbuh) and said to him, “O, Messenger of Allah! I’ve come to ask you a few questions about the affairs of this life and the Hereafter.” The Prophet responded “Ask what you wish!”

The Bedouin said, “I’d like to be the most learned of men.”…The Prophet Muhammad answered, “Fear Allah, and you will be the most learned of men.”…The Bedouin said, “I wish to be the richest man in the world.”…The Prophet Muhammad answered, “Be contented, and you will be the richest man in the world.”…The Bedouin said, “I’d like to be the most just man.”…The Prophet Muhammad answered, “Desire for others what you desire for yourself, and you will be the most just of men.”…The Bedouin said, “I want to be the best of men.”…The Prophet Muhammad answered, “Do good to others and you will be the best of men.”   Here is a link to the full text

Quotes from Pope Francis from Laudato Si
Patrick O’Meara, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

Climate change disproportionately affects the poor. Climate change’s worst impact, Pope Francis says, “will probably be felt by developing countries in coming decades. Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to (global) warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing and forestry.” This environmental inequality creates a strange economic phenomenon: Poor countries are often financially indebted to rich countries. The world has what Pope Francis calls a “social debt towards the poor … because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity.”

Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience. (Laudato Si, Chapter 6, paragraph 217) Chant sung by all: Open our hearts that all may be fed….

A Lakota Prayer for the Well-Being of Humanity

Our Interfaith World Food Day service in Albuquerque started with a Lakota prayer led by Matthew Shoulders. He later joined with Michael Abeita of Isleta Pueblo in the singing of a traditional blessing. The Native American prayers preceded a blessing by Rabbi Min Kantrowitz on the first day of Sukkot, the Jewish feast celebrating the harvest. Participants processed to the santuary to experience prayers, reflections and songs from the Sikh, Buddhist-Bahai, Hindu-Protestant, and Catholic-Muslim traditions.

by Joan Brown
Oct. 31, 2016

Butternut squash beneath some flowers. (Joan Brown)

Several weeks ago I had one of those bad days. Or, maybe it was an accumulation of a number of bad moments and days accumulated throughout a long, hot summer. Difficult moments that continue to sit in the pit of one’s stomach even after prayer or meditation.

My bad day set in after an important meeting that did not end real well. The meeting addressed clean-up of a contaminated site at Los Alamos National Labs (LANL). The lab site was established in 1943 to implement the Manhattan project whose sole objective was to create a nuclear bomb.
LANL creates nuclear weapons along with decades of contamination that threatens the air, land and water of those downstream, including Santa Clara and San Ildefonso Pueblos. My sisters from the Pueblos, Amigos Bravos and Concerned Citizens, who are part of the citizen watch dog group Communities for Clean Water, accompanied me. We met with officials of the Department of Energy, LANL, New Mexico Environment Department and others who said they had no power to address some of our concerns for health of communities and Mother Earth.

The meeting did not meet expectations for clean-up. It was just another event in a hot summer of bad news. Scientists wrote reports about unprecedented heating of the planet. The Arctic Circle will offer ice-free passage to ships in the summer of 2017. We saw historic records of refugees reaching 65 million, a “multiplier effect.” Many people faced droughts, lack of water, destroyed crops and then ensuing civil unrest that set them to flight from their beloved homelands.
Temperatures keep climbing with August capping a 16-month streak of record hot months. September is usually the month of lowest parts per million (ppm) of CO2 because the trees in the Northern Hemisphere are in fullness. However, this September we are at 401 ppm. Katharine Hayhoe, atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech University said that while this shift may not seem significant it marks a threshold. “As a human, though, passing both the 400 ppm and (potentially) the 1°C threshold within such a short time period makes it clear we are already living in a different world. We have blown past targets that were being considered as viable when I entered graduate school. We have significantly reduced the options available to us in the future.”

Zucchini squash. (Joan Brown)

Presidential candidates either spoke little about the crisis or denied the existence of climate change. The prophetic voice of faith leaders did not jar through the silence even with the ink still wet on the papal encyclical “Laudato Sí: On Care of Our Common Home.”
There is much that can lead to depression, even for a person rooted in spiritual practice and realistic hope. So, for a few days I wandered listless and then I decided to write a poem. Sometimes the creative act, which is a prayer in itself, touches the holy and unpredictable voice of mystery freeing the spirit, body and mind to continue our necessary work for all that we are called to Love.
In case you have felt a little depressed and wandering in the past months, I share this poem.

Showing Up
For hours, days, even months
in this high desert place
the storm has been brewing
steeping water in midnight blue-gray bellied clouds
pulsing a life of their own,
tempting, thundering, retreating,
leaving sultry night after night,
breath abated
once again.
One Saturday evening
I walk my usual path.
Clouds hover overhead.
Lightning warns,
pierces, slices a pregnant sky,
slits cloud skin like a watermelon rind-
spits tentative heavy seed drops
that multiply rapidly,
break birth waters into
torrents of rain.
I watch, amazed, expectant, relieved.
The roof leaks drops of water onto the kitchen tile floor.
Mysterious tears flow from some deep place within.
My eyes transfix on the storm outside.
A deluge drowns the garden.
Zucchini cower beneath large umbrella leaves.
Tomatoes, beans, basil, kale, and lettuce
wonder whether to rejoice,
recoil in fear
or run — flee as refugees,
if only they could.
But no place is safe now
from drought or storm
or unprecedented weather events that beat consistently
upon the door of Our Common Home.
There is no new land to escape to.
There is no over there.
There is only here.
There is only this one precious place
where I can
scoop soil in my hands
smell earthy microbial life
squirming by the billions between my fleshy fingers.
There is only one sky where the loud kleer
of the red-shafted flicker announces
her landing on the hummingbird feeder
to feast upon little black ants.
There is only one Garden of Eden
where I a 60 year-old woman can
pluck mint leaves, figs, and plums
to share with my wide-eyed-three-year old friend, Mateo.
I stand in humble wonder.
Wonder at the immensity 2 small degrees temperature rise
makes in our changing climate
and imprints upon our souls.
Sunday dawns fresh breezes.
They breath in and out through my lace bedroom curtains.
I wake, walk, sit amidst
green pulsing vegetables.
My eyes meet the gaze of yellow orange squash blossoms.
Our eyes wink,
nod knowingly—
this morning after.
There will be many more nights, storms and sunrises.
Together
the squash, flickers, ants,
neighbors down the street,
sisters in Bangladesh,
brothers in San Salvador,
and I
will eat the stories of the storms
together.
We will digest the sorrow and beauty
again and again
showing up,
praying,
working.
What else can we do
but
Love the world as deeply as we can?

What Christians Can Learn From Standing Rock

By Todd Wynward 10-17-2016 first published at Sojouners

Read the entire article here: https://sojo.net/articles/what-christians-can-learn-standing-rock

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Originaly posted by Bread New Mexico Blog @ http://breadnm.blogspot.com/2016/09/santa-fe-among-state-capitals-to-hold.html
Bread New Mexico Blog: Santa Fe Among State Capitals to Hold Rally on National Moral Day of Action

Rev. William Lyons (photo Kay Huggins)

On Monday, September 12, more than 70 people gathered at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe to urge the New Mexico State Legislature, Gov. Susana Martinez and candidates for office to emphasize that our budget is a moral document and should give a priority to the needs of the disenfranchised in communities around the state.

The group in Santa Fe joined coalitions in Boston; Washington, D.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Springfield, Ill.;Madison, Wis.; Carson City, Nev., and dozens of other state capitals for the National Moral Day of Action to advance a moral public policy agenda that responds to the urgent needs of the poor, people who are ill, children, immigrants, communities of color, and religious minorities.

The groups that gathered on that Monday were all part of fusion coalitions created with the help of Rev. William Barber, founder of the Forward Together Moral Movement and president of the NAACP chapter in North Carolina. Rev. Barber came to Albuquerque in June to help facilitate conversations around the creation of a fusion coalition in New Mexico.

(Photo: Kay Huggins)

Diverse Group of Clergy in Santa Fe
The rally in Santa Fe was sponsored by Interfaith Worker Justice-New Mexico, the New Mexico Conference of Churches (NMCC), New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light and the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-New Mexico. More than two dozen other organizations, including Bread New Mexico, endorsed the event.

The rally included a diverse group of clergy from around the state, touching on many of the issues that affect New Mexico. According to Rev. Kay Huggins, interim executive director of the NMCC, the more than 70 people who gathered at the Roundhouse included 40 ordained members of the faith community, representing the United Methodist Church, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church USA, Metropolitan Community Church, and Mennonite Church.

Rev. William Lyons, Southwest Conference Minister for the United Church of Christ, was the opening speaker. Others who joined in were Rev. Dr. Keith Wilkes of Portales (Democracy and Voting Rights), Rev. Steve Wiard of Taos & Rev. David Rogers of Carlsbad (Poverty and Economic Justice), Rev. Dr. Holly Beaumont of Santa Fe (Workers Rights), Father Richard Murphy of Santa Fe (Education), Rev. Lorelei Kay of Gallup (Healthcare), Rev. Chan Osborn de Anaya of Navajoland & Farmington (Environmental Justice), Rev. Antonio Aja of Santa Fe (Immigrants’ Rights and Xenofobia), Rev. Steve Voris of Carlsbad (Criminal Justice), Rev. Judith Maynard of Albuquerque ( LGBTQ Rights) and Rev. Todd Wynward of Taos (War Mongering and the Military). KRWG TV/FM had a nice write-up ahead of the rally.

Faith leaders call on oil and gas to drop opposition to venting and flaring rules

Original posted at http://nmpolitics.net/index/2016/09/faith-leaders-call-on-oil-and-gas-to-drop-opposition-to-venting-and-flaring-rules/

By Sister Joan Brown | September 7, 2016

COMMENTARY: Dozens of western faith leaders and socially responsible investment firms recently joined together in a letter calling on oil and gas lobby groups to drop their opposition to Bureau of Land Management rules, which aim to reduce natural gas waste on public lands.

For faithful citizens, support of the BLM rules is a matter of stewardship of creation and care for our brothers, sisters and future generations. Each year, $330 million worth of natural gas is wasted from venting, flaring, and leaks from equipment on public and tribal lands throughout the West. Furthermore, no royalties are assessed on the wasted gas, which amounts to tens of millions dollars more in lost revenue for Western States.

Many Western states are facing budget crises, too. Oil and gas revenue-based states like New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota have cut vital social programs, decreased public education funding, and proposed tax hikes to fill their budget deficits after oil and gas commodity prices plunged over the past year.

One solution is to look to the tens of millions of dollars in available revenue by simply reducing natural gas waste on public lands.

It is our moral responsibility and duty to cultivate and conserve the gifts of God’s creation in a sustainable way – including natural gas. We must ensure our future generations can continue to benefit from God’s abundant gifts while protecting health.

Our letter comes on the heels of a ground-breaking NASA study, which found oil and gas facilities were a significant contributor of emissions that have resulted in a methane cloud the size of Delaware hovering over the Four Corners region. Of the 250 individual sources NASA evaluated, just 10 percent were responsible for more than 50 percent of all the observed emissions in the San Juan Basin. Most of these were oil and gas facilities.

The good news is this is an easy and cheap problem to solve. We have low-cost technology that cuts natural gas waste for oil and gas operators for pennies on the dollar. That’s why we are encouraging the oil and gas lobby groups to join us in supporting the BLM natural gas waste rule, rather than working against those of us who live in the West.

The Right Reverend David E. Bailey of Episcopal Bishop for the Navajoland Area Mission has underscored the importance of acting to cut natural gas waste and pollution from tribal lands.

“We all have a moral obligation to be responsible in protecting the land, air, and water, and that includes oil and gas companies that operate on tribal lands in New Mexico,” said Rv. Bailey. “As people, God gifts us with human intelligence and wisdom to create a world that can be shared by future generations. This includes common sense rules to cut methane waste from oil and gas operations and help ensure that we are good stewards of our natural resources and the health of the Navajo people.”

We encourage western oil and gas stakeholders to work with us and support the BLM’s natural gas waste rule. It’s in the interest of preserving God’s gift of clean air, better stewardship of our public tax dollars, and ensuring the long-term health of both the oil and gas industry and our Western economies and tribal communities.

Sister Joan Brown is executive director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light.

A World Food Day Weekend, October 15-16, 2016

One Earth, One Home, One Table

Annual Sustainability Meal

St. Thomas of Canterbury Church, 425 University Blvd. NE, ABQ Saturday, October 15, 6 p.m. The Action Corps (formerly Oxfam Action Corps) hosts annual sustainability and food sovereignty meal. The evening event features home cooked meal using locally sourced ingredients. Contact KChavez@salud.unm.edu to volunteer.

Interfaith Service

First Unitarian Church, 3701 Carlisle Blvd. NE, ABQ Sunday, October 16, 3-4:30 p.m.

Join people of all faith traditions in commemorating Food Day. An interfaith service of prayer linking food, climate change, immigration and economic justice will feature scripture readings, reflections, music and dance from the Sikh, Baha’i, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Native American and other communities. The prayer will lead people to make a commitment to address hunger, climate change, immigration and economic justice through direct service or policy advocacy. The Sikh community of Albuquerque will provide Langar or a meal served to close the service. Those who would like to be part of a pick-up choir led by David Poole or sacred dance group led by Keri Sutter for the service, please come at 1:00 to prepare. All are welcome to participate!
Co-sponsored by NM Interfaith Hunger Coalition, NM Interfaith Power and Light. For more information contact: Joan Brown,osf, info@nm-ipl.org or Carlos Navarro nminterfaithhungercoalition@gmail.com

First published in National Catholic Reporter Global Sisters Report on  Aug. 11, 2016.

Read the full article here

by Joan Brown

Sometimes messages follow us around. This summer voices of violence at home and abroad, the face of white superiority, racism, and the very visceral weather events intensified by climate change through the heat waves, drought, floods seem to attach themselves to us like strong neon colored sticky notes.

In the midst of these messages there is one that keeps following me. This particular theme has taken me by surprise. In fact, I have tried to put this message on the back burner for a number of years because there is so much pressing work around climate change and climate justice.

Faith Leaders Urge Full Speed Ahead Towards Clean Energy Transformation

http://www.faithinplace.org/news-events/program-updates/faith-leaders-urge-full-speed-ahead-towards-clean-energy-transformation

Joan Brown,osf Executive Director, NM Interfaith Power and Light

On Earth Day the sun seems to shine brighter. The songs of the finch, meadowlark and red winged black

bird ring more boldly upon the air. All creation seems to celebrate Earth Day. But, Earth Day this year

seems different. The joyful rays and songs are still there, however, they feel tempered. A

bittersweetness rests upon my heart.

April 22 is a monumental day for the world as leaders sign and affirm the UN Paris Climate Accord

agreed upon by 195 nations in December 2015. We celebrate the beauty of the Sacred Earth Community

with this signing. We also officially recognize that the Earth Community is suffering as climate change

escalates. After more than 25 years of trying to come to a resolution for action, we are finally agreeing

to act as one community of developed an d developing nations living or dying together on this small

planet spinning through space in a vast cosmos.

I am particularly aware of the signing of the Climate Accord in New York at the UN because I attended

the UN Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris as a Franciscan’s International official observer inside

COP21. My body carries the memory of meeting with brothers and sisters from Central America, Africa,

Bangladesh and island nations. So many are suffering from drought, flooding, food insecurity and

ensuing violence related to climate change disruption.

Echoes of thunderous applause by the tens of thousands of people gathered in the halls of La Bourget as

the agreement was affirmed ring in my ears. Voices of brothers and sisters from the global south whose

lives depend upon stronger ambition by developed countries to keep temperatures below 2 degrees

Celsius or 3.6 degrees Farenheit also haunt my ears.

The beauty, melodies, joy and community that form our reality of life is only possible because we share

One Common Home. Now Our Common Home, like any home we share, begs our time and energy to

care for her and ourselves.

Actions to care for Our Common Home are sprouting mare rapidly in the light of Laudato Si and the

COP21 agreement. April 22 is the final day for public comments to the Bureau of Land Management

(BLM) in rule making to address methane pollution from existing and future oil and gas wells. Any day

now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will unveil final rules addressing methane from oil and

gas production on any land in the United States. Methane waste from leaks, flaring and venting is a large

and extremely potent contributor to climate change in the short term.

This week New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light participated in a rally outside a Santa Fe hotel where

people gathered to bid for leases for oil and gas extraction. I was invited to speak from a religious

perspective on the requirement to act for climate and intergenerational justice. In the Denver area,

organizers are planning still another public event at a May oil and gas lease public auction. People of

faith are engaged in many actions and activities because the moral and ethical imperative to act is very

clear.

Many faith communities and organizations are calling and writing Senators and Congress people to

approve $750 million in the President’s budget for the Green Climate Fund to assist brothers and sisters

around the world who face climate change adaptation and mitigation. You can help gathering signatures

on postcards or make phone calls. Check out Interfaith Power and Light resources and actions for the

weeks around Earth Day at http://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/.

You can also join thousands who are praying on Earth Day. Lend your prayer at

http://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/. As we celebrate this amazing moment of life as part of Earth

on Earth Day, may our hearts also be turned to compassionate action, which I believe always plunges us

more deeply into the vast mystery of the Holy and the meaning of our call as part of the Sacred Earth

Community. May this prayer invite our hearts to act in new and bold ways.

We Hold the Earth We hold brothers and sisters

who suffer from storms and droughts

intensified by climate change.

We hold all species that suffer.

We hold world leaders delegated to make decisions for life.

We pray that the web of life may be mended through courageous

actions

to limit carbon emissions.

We pray for right actions for adaptation and mitigation

to help our already suffering earth community.

We pray that love and wisdom might inspire my actions

and our actions as communities. . .

so that we may, with integrity,

look into the eyes of brothers and sisters

and all beings and truthfully say,

we are doing our part to care for them and the future of the children.

May love transform us and our world with new steps toward life.