{"id":3342,"date":"2022-03-22T16:42:37","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T20:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/food-faith\/?p=3342"},"modified":"2022-03-22T16:43:51","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T20:43:51","slug":"journey-to-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/2022\/03\/22\/journey-to-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"Ides of March or Journey to the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"realGuest blog post by\u00a0<\/strong>
\nRev. Ellie Stock, Honorably Retired<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Originally posted<\/a> on March 15, 2022 in the Presbytery of Giddings Lovejoy blog<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

On this day, we Christians find ourselves in the second week of Lent, the liturgical season, remembering Jesus\u2019 journey to the Cross and reminding us of our own calling to be followers of the Jesus Way, even to the Cross\u2014the Way of giving one\u2019s self intentionally, radically, fully, and unconditionally.\u00a0 Today is also the Ides of March, the date on which Julius Caesar was murdered by members of his Senate, including betrayal by his friend Marcus Junius Brutus.\u00a0 Two deaths, but very different:\u00a0 Julius Caesar, dying as he tried to hold on to power as Dictator for Life of the Roman Empire, his death leading to continuing intrigue, chaos, and power grabs by successor Emperors; and Jesus, dying, also betrayed and abandoned by his closest followers, as he tried to empower the powerless in a Kin-dom where the least were the greatest, his death leading to the birth of a Community based on love and justice.<\/p>\n

Since \u201cretirement\u201d from the pastoral ministry in 2011, my husband. Carleton, and I have been focused on an ecological ministry through the Earth Care Team at Second Presbyterian Church, the Presbytery\u2019s Earth Care Team and \u00a0Joining Hands Peru Partnership, and coordinating the Ferguson Eco Team, all of which are ways to move toward living with greater ecological integrity through\"\" education, networking (building relationships), and advocacy in order to create a more environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence locally and on planet Earth.\u00a0 This ministry, guided by the Psalmist\u2019s declaration that the Earth is the Lord\u2019s and all that is in it<\/em> seeks to invite individuals, congregations, and communities to love and live with integrity (or right relationship) not only with humans but with Earth and all of God\u2019s Creation.\u00a0 It raises the question that Martin Buber raised:\u00a0 How do we see each other and Creation as \u201cThou\u201d, rather than a detached \u201cIt\u201d?\u00a0 Thomas Berry says that we and all beings are not a collection of objects but are a communion of subjects.\u00a0 Humans are not separate from Earth.\u00a0 We have come from and are dependent upon Earth, and our survival depends upon living harmoniously as part of Mother Earth.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, human beings have lived as if separate from Earth, have ignored prophetical warnings, and are experiencing the consequences of the degradation, disruption, and destruction of all of Earth\u2019s living systems\u2014air, water, soil, fauna, and flora\u2014animal, vegetable, and mineral. We are moving through what many are calling the Sixth Major Extinction of life forms on Earth.\u00a0 Is Earth moving towards an Ides of March\u2014a death caused by the ambition, competition, hunger-for-power, and mythical vision of unlimited growth and progress of humanity\u2019s economic, political and cultural systems and unsustainable consumeristic personal lifestyles?\u00a0 Or will we, as humans and as part of Earth, follow the Jesus Way and take the Lenten Journey to the Cross, giving up the paradigms and practices that harm Earth, and ultimately ourselves, and move toward living more simply and equitably and creating resilient local communities\u2014systems from the bottom up that are relational, just, and sustainable?<\/p>\n

Neither technology nor hierarchies of government nor wishful thinking will save us. That\u2019s why congregations serving with local communities are so important, and ministries such as Joining Hands and other global partnerships, Earth Care Teams, and the Matthew 25 Vision are critical in their prophetic and pragmatic partnering with others to address root causes of injustice, restore right, equitable, and just relationships, and sustainable communities of Earth at the local level. They hold us accountable to Earth\u2019s integrity and the Lenten Journey lest we betray Earth and the Jesus Way.\u00a0 They awaken the gifts, passions, care, creative engagement, and vitality that are literally a matter of life and death for individuals, communities, and for \u201cEarth and all that is in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I will close with this poem:<\/p>\n

WE ARE THE WEB OF LIFE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>We are the Web of Life,<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 threads of all creation,<\/em><\/strong>
\ncommon origin bursting bright<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 spins common destination\u2013<\/em><\/strong>
\ntwining from atom\u2019s flight<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 to galaxies\u2019 mutation.<\/em><\/strong>
\nPlanets, creatures, humans alike<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 disclose cosmic imagination.<\/em><\/strong>
\nE<\/em><\/strong>A<\/em><\/strong>R<\/em><\/strong>T<\/em><\/strong>H\u2019S <\/em><\/strong>beauty and suffering plight<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 craft universal incarnation.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Will it endure darkest night<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 in bonded collaboration\u2013<\/em><\/strong>
\nexuding elegant delight and<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 bounteous celebration or<\/em><\/strong>
\nwill its warping song decry<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 to sustain strands\u2019 vibration and<\/em><\/strong>
\nits woofing dance succumb to fright <\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 in panicked conflagration?<\/em><\/strong>
\nOr can we confide<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 in trust\u2019s reconciliation and ever abide<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 in Heaven and EARTH\u2019S consummation?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We are the Web of Life.<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0 What we do to the web is our own consecration.<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>~ ejhs<\/p>\n

\"\"Rev. Ellie Stock
\nHonorably Retired<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Grants to PHP partners like Workers\u2019 Dignity are possible thanks to the gifts to<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

One Great Hour of Sharing<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guest blog post by\u00a0 Rev. Ellie Stock, Honorably Retired Originally posted on March 15, 2022 in the Presbytery of Giddings Lovejoy blog On this day, we Christians find ourselves in the second week of Lent, the liturgical season, remembering Jesus\u2019 journey to the Cross and reminding us of our own calling to be followers of… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3631,82],"tags":[6358,3632,6357,6354,6359,2120,5699,6355,6356],"class_list":["post-3342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-earth-care","category-justice","tag-creation-care","tag-earth-care","tag-earthcare","tag-extinction-of-life","tag-ides-of-march","tag-lent","tag-matthew-25","tag-rev-ellie-stock","tag-web-of-life"],"yoast_head":"\nIdes of March or Journey to the Cross - Food and Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/2022\/03\/22\/journey-to-the-cross\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ides of March or Journey to the Cross\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest blog post by\u00a0 Rev. Ellie Stock, Honorably Retired Originally posted on March 15, 2022 in the Presbytery of Giddings Lovejoy blog On this day, we Christians find ourselves in the second week of Lent, the liturgical season, remembering Jesus\u2019 journey to the Cross and reminding us of our own calling to be followers of... 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