Christian & Vegan
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The LENT ion PAGES 4-6 Te Newsletter of LSt. Mark's Episcopal Church March 2015 CHRISTIAN & vegan by Jack Sawyer s a Christian, I endeavor to let my help them” (intercession). I say and pray these thoughts and actions fow from words, silently or aloud. I pray and take what I love (the topic of my M.Div. the- get. I pray a lot. It is a blessing to be poor in sis at Harvard thirty years ago). I spirit–to know my need of God. do my best to love God and God’s I call myself Christian because the par- creation with all my heart, all my soul, all my ticular words and ideals that move me are in the Astrength, and all my mind, and to love Christian scriptures and hymns that my neighbor as myself. To love the express the love of Jesus, some quite stranger, to love my enemies. As long simply: (“What a friend we have in Je- as I can remember, I have found myself sus;” “Jesus calls us, o’er the tumult of intuitively sympathetic to those who our life’s wild restless sea;” “I love to were shunned, feared, or oppressed. tell the story...of Jesus and his love”), As Rabbi Hillel said, “If I am not for as I sang in the Disciples of Christ myself, who will be? If I am for myself, choir during high school. More re- alone, what am I? If not now, when?” cently, and fervently, in the Oakland What does this desire to ex- Interfaith Gospel Choir: (“In the press love call me to do? First, to be good times, praise his name, in the aware. Ten to do God’s will, as I see it, as best I bad times, do-oo the same!”) Other, more formal can, with God’s help. When I am not clear, I pray words move me, too. It was the Church Teach- one or more (sometimes all) of the seven forms of ing Series, which I encountered browsing in the prayer (BCP, p. 856-7): “Dear God” (adoration), GTU then-bookstore, that brought me to the “Praise God” (praise), “Tank God” (thanks), “God forgive me” (forgiveness), “God’s will be done” (ablution), “God help me” (petition), “God Continued next page Continued from page 1 eighteen years ago and becoming vegan. I started studying and thinking about how what we eat af- Episcopal Church and St. Mark’s, 33 years ago. It fects ourselves, our planet, and our fellow beings. is the words of devotion in the liturgy, the hymns, I am steward of my body, mind, soul, and the psalms, the Creed, the Eucharist, that for me heart. Tese were given me, and it is up to me to encourage transcendence when we say them to- honor this gif of life and be as kind as possible gether. to myself--to eat, to move, to sleep, above all to I have studied and practiced other re- think, in ways that are helpful, not abusive, to this ligions. I subscribe to the four noble truths of one precious life. Afer breathing air and drink- Buddhism and admire the eightfold path, prac- ing water, the most important (and enjoyable) tice yoga, studied the Bhagavad Gita (at the Pa- thing I do is eating food. (Touching, seeing, hear- cifc School of Religion), meditate in both Hindu ing, good conversation, making love are right up and Buddhist traditions, there, too.) Food sustains me. As to what kind recite Tao Te Ching verses, of food sustains me, and what kind compromises Rumi, Wordsworth, and my body, the evidence is in. Consuming satu- Kipling[!]. I pray that “my rated animal fat, as in meat or dairy, substantially days may be, bound each increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, and to each by natural piety.” other life-threatening illnesses. Avoiding satu- When I was teaching at the University of Chica- rated fat is good stewardship of this body. go, where no topic was taboo, except God, there What I eat afects not only myself, but was secular humanism and social action. Many many other people, animals, plants, and the envi- Sunday mornings now, I share Ecstatic Dance at ronment generally. Animal agriculture, accord- Sweet’s Ballroom in downtown Oakland with two ing to a 2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organi- or three hundred other souls, moving freely as zation study, contributes 18% of greenhouse gas the spirit beckons. Still, I am undeniably Chris- emissions–more than all forms of transportation tian. How and why, God only knows, but it is combined. A 2010 UN Environmental Program Jesus and Christianity that touch me most deeply. study concludes that the present level of meat and I love this life God has given me, all of it, all the dairy consumption is not sustainable. Being veg- people in it, all the natural world. an is a contribution to a livable planet. It is a way So how do my Christianity and my veg- for me to love and help anism relate? I was led into vegetarianism more sustain God’s creation. than forty years ago, in a previous stay at Harvard, Being vegan also as a visiting scholar, ofcially exploring social sci- means not contribut- ence and social responsibility (and so publishing ing to the deaths each Men and Masculinity, documenting how men year of ten billion mam- seek achievement and suppress emotion). More mals and birds (mainly important and more transformative, though, was chickens) in this coun- not the academic, but taking up meditation, yoga, try. Tat’s about three each month per person. communal living, and (coincidentally) vegetar- Over 99% of these animals live and sufer short ian eating. (Not all in our communal house were and miserable lives on factory farms. Showing vegetarian, but some were, and it was simpler to kindness, and trying to avoid causing harm and cook that way.) I tried eating vegetarian. It felt sufering to others, human and nonhuman, helps good. I felt lighter, clearer. I never gave up eating me to experience the world as a place that is sa- meat, it fell away. As years went on, I continued cred, to be cherished and enjoyed. comfortably eating fruits and vegetables, grains, Tanks be to God for this life, and to you nuts, seeds, and legumes, dropping dairy about for letting me share some of it with you. X 2 top vestry actions by Bruce Alexander Getting to know you ince this was the frst meeting of the new Committee examined the economic impact of Vestry, we spent time getting to know various possible scenarios for rate increases by each other in this context. Te Vestry PG&E, and found the alternative of entering into members shared something about why a 20-year lease with American Solar the most they felt called to be on the Vestry, and attractive of their options. At the end of the 20- about what they hoped to accomplish. I would year lease, the solar panels would belong to St. Slike to take this opportunity to thank both the Mark's. Te only way that St. Mark’s might lose new members (Bryan Garcia, Donn Morgan, Ju- money during the lease would be if the church lia Shaver, and Margo Wesley) and the continuing installed a system that generated more electricity members (Jef Ambruster, Betsy Hada, Lisa Key, than needed. Since the electricity consumption Patrick Mitten, Jef Pace, Wayne Ritchie, and Dev- over the past couple of years has been afected by on Tromston) for taking on this important min- a number of factors, including the replacement of istry. the electrical heating and the construction proj- ect, the Vestry decided that it would be wise to monitor the electricity consumption for a few more months before deciding how large a system to install. X Solar Panels At the previous meeting, the Vestry asked the Finance Committee to look at the fne print in American Solar’s proposal for installing solar panels on the upper roof of St.Mark's. Under the proposal American Solar would install the panels at no cost to us, and sell the electricity to us at sav- ings over what we would pay PG&E. Te Finance 3 lent TRANSFORMING 3 days by the Rev. Coryl Lassen he three days at the end of Holy one another, and the beginning of Holy Commu- Week each have their own name, nion. We are joined together in love through the proper liturgy and theme, but to- Eucharist, which also makes ordinary food holy gether they represent all of Christ’s with the presence of Christ. Jesus was arrested work among us. Tey are called the that night, questioned and judged. He was turned Triduum, the Tree Days. over to Pilate and the Roman system the next T Maundy Tursday is when we remember day. Another hearing, a brutal beating, a parade and celebrate the Last Supper of Jesus and his through the streets, crucifxion, death, and burial disciples. Tese events are written about in some followed. detail by each of the four gospel writers. Unfor- We remember Jesus’ death day as Good tunately, the details they ofer are not always the Friday, not because its events are positive, but be- same. Te synoptic gospels focus on the Passover cause this is the day the Son of God participated meal and Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist. Te in the extremes of human sufering and death for words, “Tis is my Body…Tis is my Blood…” are love of us. Many Christians through the years central to those gospels.