Today the Earthkeepers are sharing these poems\/reflections:<\/p>\n
\u201cMay the deep blessings of earth be with us. LOCKDOWN<\/strong> But, they say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise They say that in the streets of Assisi They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting. To how big we really are. So we pray and we remember that Today, breathe. Open the windows of your soul Join the Virtual Earth Day March!<\/strong><\/span> Welcome to Together in Spirit from Hamline Church! This Sunday, April 19 we will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day! Join us for worship Sunday at 10am. A little bit about Hamline Church Earthkeepers: As part of Hamline Church\u2019s social justice ministry and mission to be sanctuary for the city, the Hamline Church Earthkeepers seek to live out our sacred responsibility to God\u2019s creation by providing meaningful opportunities for our church and community to engage with, learn from, and care for God\u2019s creation. As Christians and as Methodists, we firmly believe that we are called to deeply love… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-togetherinspirit"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6697"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6701,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6697\/revisions\/6701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMay the fathomless soundings of seas surge in our soul.
\nMay boundless stretches of the universe echo in our depths
\nto open us to wonder
\nto strengthen us for love
\nto humble us with gratitude
\nthat we may find ourselves in one another
\nthat we may lose ourselves in gladness
\nthat we give ourselves to peace.\u201d
\n-John Philip Newell, from Praying With the Earth (Eerdmans: Michigan) 44.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nYes there is fear. Yes there is isolation.
\nYes there is panic buying. Yes there is sickness.
\nYes there is even death.<\/p>\n
\nYou can hear the birds again.
\nThey say that after just a few weeks of quiet
\nThe sky is no longer thick with fumes
\nBut blue and grey and clear.<\/p>\n
\nPeople are singing to each other
\nacross the empty squares,
\nkeeping their windows open
\nso that those who are alone
\nmay hear the sounds of family around them.<\/p>\n
\nIs offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
\nToday a young woman I know is busy spreading fliers with her number
\nthrough the neighborhood so that the elders may have someone to call on.
\nToday Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
\nare preparing to welcome
\nand shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary.<\/p>\n
\nAll over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way.
\nAll over the world people are waking up to a new reality.<\/p>\n
\nTo how little control we really have.
\nTo what really matters. To Love.<\/p>\n
\nYes there is fear. But there does not have to be hate.
\nYes there is isolation. But there does not have to be loneliness.
\nYes there is panic buying. But there does not have to be meanness.
\nYes there is sickness. But there does not have to be disease of the soul
\nYes there is even death. But there can always be a rebirth of love.
\nWake to the choices you make as to how to live now.<\/p>\n
\nListen, behind the factory noises of your panic.
\nThe birds are singing again. The sky is clearing,
\nSpring is coming, And we are always encompassed by Love.<\/p>\n
\nAnd though you may not be able
\nto touch across the empty square,
\nSing.
\n\u2013Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM (a friar in Ireland), March 13, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMNIPL is having a livestream event from 1-3pm on Wednesday, April 22 (Earth Day). \u00a0One way you can help make this Earth Day livestream powerful is to take a photo of yourself with a sign answering this question:\u00a0Why do you stand for climate justice?<\/strong>\u00a0Create your sign\u00a0\u201cFor love of ____, I stand for climate justice\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0and include it in your photo.\u00a0\u00a0You can be creative or use the \u00a0this template<\/a> for your sign.\u00a0 Then, email your photo to\u00a0charissa@mnipl.org<\/strong><\/a>. If you’re on social media we encourage you to share on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the hashtag\u00a0#MNEarthDay<\/strong>\u00a0the week of April 20. \u00a0MNIPL will be sharing this visual mosaic on the Earth Day livestream and with candidates and decision-makers throughout the year. Here is an example from Susan Mullin:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.hamlinechurch.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/IMG_9183-300x225.jpg\")
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