Sharon Kinsey's Reflections

Our Sunday morning Adult Faith Formation class is using a powerful study called “Let Justice Roll Down” by Patricia Tull. It is about God’s call to care for neighbors and all of creation. The Rev. Dr. Tull is Professor Emerita of Hebrew Bible at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She is also a Climate Reality presenter, GreenFaith Fellow, and a former program director of Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light. 

Among the topics we are exploring together are environmental and land justice, food justice, water justice, air quality, climate change, intergenerational justice and sustaining creation’s health for all. Dr. Tull reminds us that, “Calls to care for society’s least powerful members resound throughout Scripture.” But I think we all understand the difficulty of living up to these expectations. Something that I’m learning is the difference between social justice and environmental justice. Many of us have thought that our interest in ecology was the same as caring for nature. But our study reminds us that environmental damage harms people, too!

This past week, we tackled some difficult issues around the unauthorized land acquisition that is part of our North American history. We talked about violence that occurred when whole communities were taken from their native lands to benefit others. How many first residents suffered banishment from all that was familiar and were forced to assimilate into other cultures? Many young children were forced to attend Christian boarding schools, harshly disciplined, had their names changed, and were separated not just from their parents, but from their heritage as well. 

We all did a “centering” activity during which I asked our participants to close their eyes and visualize a favorite and comforting landscape. How did they experience God’s presence in this place? We gave thanks to God for connecting us to this land. Then I challenged the class to close their eyes again and ask themselves how they’d feel if they could never return to this place again. Or if this special place was going to be affected in such a way that it would change completely. Finally, we closed our eyes one last time and felt the land itself. We envisioned God’s spirit encouraging us to speak out and join together to preserve these well-loved places. We closed with the following prayer:

God of lands and peoples, give us fearlessness to discover more about our own collective past. Help us understand both the depth of human sin and the grace that seeks reconciliation. Creator and shepherd of all the earth and its peoples, teach us ways to repair and share the land in justice for all. Amen.

I encourage you to come join us at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings before service. We are a vibrant group, we share ideas, listen deeply to one another, and praise God for providing us with the sacred space and time to grow in community with one another.