Faith

Canadian Tar Sands + Peace Poets Make for an Interesting Day

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Sr. Margie Swedish and the Peace Poets
Margie Swedish and the Peace Poets

This weekend’s event for Homecoming Farm in Amityville, NY (http://homecomingearth.org/), a CSA on the land of the Dominican sisters, focused on our inter-connectivity with nature and the debate of oil mining for our immediate needs versus awareness of its broader impacts. Speaker Margaret Swedish, author of “Living Beyond the End of the World: A Spirituality of Hope” and the blog http://www.ecologicalhope.org/category/blog/ showed profoundly moving photos and videos from her travels to Alberta Canada where boreal forests are being clear-cut for the mining of sand containing bentonite that can be converted into fuel oil. In her interviews of locals, she discovered that people are generally split on whether or not they support the mining since it has been a large boon to the economy but they, including some native tribes, also see beautiful areas of their homeland being destroyed and the work itself is dismal.

The mood was lifted to a more hopeful one by an incredible performance by the Peace Poets, a group of young Bronx men that “spits” positive messages about peace, caring for family, and personal responsibility, in an artistic form of rap. See https://www.facebook.com/ThePeacePoets.

Water & Peace in the Middle East

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Gidon Bromberg of FOEME speaks to a packed house
Gidon Bromberg of FOEME speaks to a packed house

If you value Dead Sea salts, water, or are Christian, Jewish or Muslim, you will appreciate this post. New York had the honor of having the 3 co-directors of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FOEME) offer a presentation at a local place of worship, invited by a network of faith organizations.

I learned that the Jordan River, which runs between Palestine, Israel and Jordan, and which was where Jesus was baptized, is now suffering from heavy water pollution from sewage and has lost over 90% of its original water flow due to dams and diversions. It is the Dead Sea’s primary fresh water source, so as a result, the Dead Sea has lost 1/3 of its surface area.

FOEME works towards clean water solutions and education, and is unique in being the only organization known to enjoy cooperation among these 3 countries, so is a beacon of hope. They bring youth together on this shared water issue who are otherwise separated by the difficulties of the political situations going on in the region. FOEME doesn’t take funding from their governments so donations are welcome.

Ground for Hope: GreenFaith Inspires Environmental Stewardship in Long Island

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Reverend Fletcher Harper, GreenFaith, addresses the crowd

GreenFaith, a NJ based nonprofit, came to Temple Beth David in Commack, Long Island on 3/10/13 to enliven the community of faith’s efforts on stewardship of the earth.

Through their Ground for Hope event, over 100 people from different religious backgrounds came together to learn:

  1. How their institution can grow gardens that provide food for the needy,
  2. Opportunities to save energy & money in their buildings, and
  3. Ways to inform their communities about sustainability issues.

Inspiring and educational, it was a great opportunity for people of different faiths to meet local sustainability leaders and recognize that stewardship of our environment is a goal shared commonly by all. See Greenfaith.org.

Proud to have been a part of organizing this great event!

Greenfaith Hosts “Ground for Hope” in Westchester

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One of the main inspirations for the formation of the LI Interfaith Environment Network (LIIEN.org) was Greenfaith, a NJ-based nonprofit that helps faith institutions to embrace sustainability values and to take action as role models in their communities. Run by the charismatic Reverend Fletcher Harper, Greenfaith provides numerous programs to engage the faith community in environmental stewardship, including hosting forums entitled “Ground for Faith.”  On March 11, 2012 a forum was held at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY in collaboration with multiple local partners. Topics included food and faith, sacred texts and the earth, and green facility management. The day also featured multi-faith prayers from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist traditions, centered on the shared wish to bring about a spirit of awareness and stewardship. A very inspiring day indeed, which we hope to re-create on Long Island in 2013, so stay tuned…. For more info see Greenfaith.org.

Food & Faith Conference, CT

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I spent Martin Luther King Day traveling by ferry up to New Haven, Connecticut to the Food & Faith conference hosted by the Unitarian Fellowship of New Haven. I was joined by several others from Long Island who work to bring local food opportunities to Long Island, including Fran Whittelsy of the Gateway Community Farm in Huntington, NY plus Bhavani Jaroff and her helper Yolanda, who both are involved with Slow Food Huntington and iEatGreen. We learned about similar efforts happening in CT and how places of worship can be involved in the local food movement. We learned that groups there have worked to start gardens at schools so kids can learn how to grow their own food. Great idea!

(Clockwise) Beth, Yolanda, Frances, and Bhavani at Food & Faith Conference

Interfaith Thanksgiving Nov. 28, 2010

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The Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury hosted an interfaith day of thanks which included prayers read by leaders from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. Prominent speakers included Bishop William Murphy, Assemblywomen Michelle Schimel of Great Neck, and a representative of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The purpose was to highlight a wish for peace and harmony among the various people of faith in our society during the Thanksgiving holiday. I went to represent the LI Interfaith Environment Network (LIIEN.org),  and several members of my committee were there. It was an inspiring occasion, and I wish the spirit of solidarity there could spread to the places in the world where hostility unfortunately runs so deep.

Bishop Murphy joins Jewish and Muslim leaders in prayers