Monastic Wisdom of St. Benedict Presentation

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The following handout was provided at this presentation:

St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church

Soup and Soul | March 6, 2024

 

Benedict’s Ecological Values for Contemporary Christians

The Rev. Samuel Torvend | torvensa@plu.edu

 

Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home (2015)

If you have not yet read what is the most significant work by a contemporary religious leader on the climate crisis, I encourage you to do so. The work is available as a book and online:

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

 

Pope Francis, Laudate Deum: To All People of Good Will on the Climate Crisis (2023)

This sequel to Laudato Si’ is a heartfelt plea to earth’s inhabitants, especially its powerful land polluting nations, including the United States, to make drastic changes now as poor nations and suffer the growing effects of climate change and pollution. This shorter work is available online:

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html

 

A Catechism of Creation: An Episcopal Understanding (2005) was created by the committee on Science, Technology, and the Faith of the Episcopal Church. It is available here:

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html

 

On early monastic sustainability:

Samuel Torvend, Monastic Ecological Wisdom: A Living Tradition (Liturgical Press, 2023) available at https://litpress.org/Products/6797/Monastic-Ecological-Wisdom

 

On contemporary monastic environmental sustainability:

St. Martin’s Abbey: https://stmartinsabbey.org/our-work/monastic-stewardship/

St. John’s Abbey: https://sjabbey.squarespace.com/stewardship?rq=stewardship

Christ in the Desert Abbey: https://christdesert.org/about/sustainable-stewardship/

 

Concerning the unconscious training of Americans in consumerism:

The Century of the Self (4 parts): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPmg0R1M04

 

The sixth baptismal vow of the Episcopal Church: “We will cherish the wondrous works of God, and protect and restore the beauty and integrity of all creation.” On the significance of this vow, see “Covenant and Care: A Baptismal Promise to Safeguard Creation,” a short article on the baptismal vow, first articulated in the Anglican Church of Canada: https://www.anglican.ca/news/covenant-and-care-a-baptismal-promise-to-safeguard-creation/3006799/

 

Our Carbon Footprint

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In March of 2022 we estimated the carbon footprint of St. Benedict Episcopal Church using the web based tool called Carbon360.

Based on our bills for utilities and the number of people driving to church and other known factors, it was estimated that on whole, we added an additional 12 tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year. At the time, the EPA estimated the social cost of each additional ton of carbon dioxide emissions to be $51.00/ton.

This year we have increased the number of people attending, increased the consumption of energy but we do have more hybrid cars in the parking lot. The total carbon footprint this year is estimated at 19 tons. This is also due to changes in the estimates of the “Average rate of CO2 emissions” in Washington State for each of the factors used in the model. The EPA now estimates the social cost at $190.00 per ton of CO2.

So the total social cost of St. Benedict’s carbon footprint in 2022 was $3,646.10

What seems a paltry impact in the global scheme of things is only significant when compared to other priorities of our time and resources along with the incredible rarity of the natural resources we depend on for life.

Global spending to protect our air and water in 2020 was estimated to be 0.125% of the Global GDP.

In that same year, 7.0% of the world’s GDP was from tourism revenue (that’s 2% more than all the money spent on the military around the world).

My connection to Earth Ministry

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The testimony below records the ways in which we connect with our ministry.

If instead of simply listening you wish to "Hear" these words, we make the following friendly suggestion:

Find an open window, a house plant, a favorite pet.  Anything alive, natural and not manufactured.  Something that suggests living instead of your computer life.  

Center yourself while focusing on the life you're observing and then hit "Play" on the audio file. 

What is our Footprint at St. Benedict?

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You may not believe in Bigfoot, or Sasquatch in your part of the country, but the Carbon Footprint is very much real and it is changing the landscape of our world in ways that we are beginning to see.

Our care for the earth is the number one concern of young people. We can make a difference. We have the technology. The links below are tools to help you learn how to reduce your carbon footprint.

If you want to learn more, talk to anyone on the St. Benedict Earth Ministry Team that is led by Jeff Zahir and they will walk you through learning about ways that you can track.
https://brightaction.app/thurstonpierce/community-group/join/9135

If you choose not to join the Earth Ministry Carbon Tracker, you may opt to join as an individual using the link on the Diocesan website:
https://ecww.org/bishop-rickel-on-creation-care-pledge-and-new-carbon-tracker/

Praised Be

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In May of 2015, the Vatican published a letter from the Pope called “Praise Be”. “Laudato Si” in latin, this is take from the prayer of St. Francis (from whom the Pope derives his Papal name) “Praise Be to Thee my Lord through all your creation.”

For the past seven years, this encyclical (letter) has led billions of people around the world as the clarion call to treat what is Holy as Holy and to know your Creator through creation.

A new video about the movement this has sparked has been published here:

https://youtu.be/Rps9bs85BII

This video is 1 hour, 21 minutes long but is so stimulating in its focus and so inspiring in its message that it is well worth watching.

Listen to the Voice of Creation

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This is something we left behind when we migrated to cities.  On a farm, you get to hear sounds that only occur at the break of dawn, you can see every star in the cosmos, and you can hear your neighbor call for help miles away.

In cities we’re accustomed to tuning-out the cacophony of sounds and are never aware of when winds shift or danger is near.  We prefer our own voices to those of others and watch ourselves endlessly on social media.  Once or twice a year we take a “vacation” from all this noise so that we can listen, but we always take a cell phone…just in case.

When hunting or hiking (or in battle), you become aware of everything around you but its adrenaline fueled and isn’t listening to hear but to interpret for our own ends…and we wouldn’t think of taking the sandals off our feet.

As we close out this year’s Season of Creation, we’re reminded to Listen to the voice of Creation as participants and not observers. 

Nutrition and God's Creation - by Kelly Ellis

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Hello! I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Kelly, and I’m a Registered Nurse with a BSN, and am also a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (or BSN, RN, CDCES for short!) Many of you know me as Sammy’s Mimi. I wanted to share what has been on my mind as I consider this Season of Creation as it relates to the Earth Ministry and Saint Benedict’s.

Looking at the eco-church model, I wanted to shed some light on how this can also relate to the foods we eat and how we consider our food. God gave Adam and Eve everything needed in the Garden of Eden, and after they were banished, their descendants continued to grow and cultivate food for centuries, up until the industrial revolution, as a matter of fact. As a society, we have grown accustomed to grocery shopping for most of our food, and depending on the individual’s budget, might splurge on some treats, but overwhelmingly, good, healthy and nutritious foods are generally more expensive than non-nutritious and sugar-laden “junk food”. It’s common to see the less financially advantaged not only shop with coupons, but go for foods like chips, ramen, soups, cookies, and choosing only a few fresh fruits and vegetables to accompany their meals because this is what they can afford to help fill their bellies. Purchasing whole, natural foods and knowing how to cook them is not as common. People used to grow everything for their families, and give their gardens adequate hydration, nutrition, sunlight, and kept as free from pests as possible.

Doesn’t that ring true for us as God’s creation, too? Fueling our bodies purposely isn’t always easy. Type 2 Diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity… These things were not common even 40 years ago like they are now. Many consider these ailments “normal for many adults” but the truth is, people are being diagnosed with all of these things earlier and earlier. Food additives and preservatives are changing God’s creation. Food isn’t just fuel. It also helps with the production of serotonin in the gut, where most of this important neurotransmitter is actually made. Does this mean that all prepackaged food is bad? No. I’m not good with “always” and “never” statements, because rarely are they truth when it comes to discussion about eating a healthier diet.

When you envision a garden, do you mostly see vegetables with some fruit? That’s actually how our bodies tend to function best. Balancing our macronutrients, like carbohydrates, proteins and fats, with micronutrients, like good sources of vitamin C, E, magnesium, etc., is just as much of an art as it is a science. Some things resemble what they are good for, like walnuts are great for the brain, unless you’re allergic! Carrots are good for your eyes, tomatoes are good for your heart, beans and legumes are good for the kidneys. Ginger is wonderful for the stomach. God designed all these things with a purpose.

A big question for everyone to consider is this. How do you show respect and appreciation for God’s creation with the food you eat and how you treat your body? I know I have a ways to go to be doing much better with my own journey with this. It’s not a question to shame or guilt you, it is something to ponder. So many people use food as a drug to help them feel better by eating too much, or look a certain way by withholding it. Food caries a lot of emotion with it. Smells are one of the biggest triggers for memories, and our limbic system in our brains can hold some of those memories for decades. Celebrations centered around sharing large platters of food is a common scene. As a diabetes educator, I help people learn to balance their blood sugars by focusing on what and how they look at food, and what they’re eating.

Balancing food, medication, hydrations, and activity levels are the science behind it. Looking at the personal relationship we each have with food and considering God’s part in it is separate, but nonetheless important. Everyone is a work in progress, and I’m not here to judge or shame anyone. God made us in His image and He means the best for us, just as He wants the best for the rest of His creation. The choices we make about food can daily contribute to either worsen or better or health, just like those choices affect the rest of God’s creation.

Lambeth Call for the Communion Forest

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In one of their finer moments, the Bishop’s at the 2022 Lambeth Conference pledged to support the “Communion Forest” as an environmental initiative across the Anglican Communion. Each diocese represented will define how best to implement this but it explicitly includes woodlands, grasslands, meadows, wetlands and coastal habitats.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, even considered the possibility of the Communion Forest becoming the “most widespread and diverse” environmental project in the world.

Maybe we could be a part of that vision.

In another call, the Bishops agreed that “The perception of a rift between science and religion should be laid to rest across the Anglican Communion”.

With science and faith backing us, what possible reason could there be for not defeating climate change and bringing equity, justice and health to an ailing world.

It starts (as all good stories do) in the beguiling, tiny Parish of St. Benedict Episcopal Church.