Sunday, February 22, 2009

Commentary: Upcoming Chances to Discuss Earth Stewardship in Sunday School

Important first thought: I don't want to promote any kind of "activism" at church...except of course Christian activism.

With that out of the way, I want to remind everyone of some great opportunities to discuss Earth Stewardship in upcoming Sunday School classes. Lesson 22 The Word of Wisdom "A Principle with a Promise", and lesson 38 "In Mine Own Way" both include some material regarding with Earth Stewardship.

Lesson 22 includes D&C 59:17-20 as source material. This lesson will probably be taught sometime in May.

Lesson 38 includes D&C 104:13-18 as source material. This lesson will probably be taught sometime in October. BTW, The late Elder Maxwell had some interesting words regarding these scriptures.

If you find it appropriate,
and if it fits into the content of your class discussions,
and if it adds to the spirit of your class,
and if it brings glory to God,
then please consider sharing your feelings about Earth Stewardship during one or both of these lessons.

Final thought: Please don't abuse this as a chance to prove a point or advance a political agenda. Nobody likes it when people abuse church meetings for their own purposes.

2 comments:

Jesse said...

Hey, thanks for the heads up. And, by the way, for the wonderful blog. I have considered doing something similar, but haven't gotten around to it. So, about this post. I have often wondered about how to successfully bring environmental issues in church, and sometimes I feel like I am being so careful, the only ones who notice are my friends who agree with me. On this flip side, I feel like a lot of people with right-wing political beliefs don't feel like they need to be careful, since they assume everyone agrees and are shocked to learn otherwise. I completely agree that church is not the place to forward a specific political agenda, but I believe we have a spiritual obligation to take care of the earth and we are failing in this obligation. For egs, praying for our soldiers is considered completely appropriate, even for highly controversial wars. Fine, no one should have to die in war. But would we be considered rabble-rousers if we also prayed for Iraqi soldiers? Can we pray that we will all be better stewards of the earth? I think we can, but don't, for purely cultural reasons. I think that we need to change this culture. Although I think you could probably get away with the prayer above, since it is sufficiently general. But what about if we prayed that people would come to their senses so we can avert the catastrophe of global warming before it is too late. I kind of don't think that would fly. I know different wards are different. I felt ok giving a fairly environmentally themed talk in my home ward in Hawaii and got a lot of positive feedback. My brother was actually assigned such a talk in his ward on the east coast. But, in my current ward, either of the above would be difficult to imagine. Anyway, you may have a back post about this I haven't read, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

L-D Sus said...

Jesse. Thanks for your comment.

I always error on the side of being a peacemaker (not rabble rousing). But that is just me. I'm not an in-your-face kind of person. Church is a place for peace. I don't like political rants from others, so I spare them my environmental rant. I think that ranting just entrenches people further into there current opinions.

We did a survey a few months ago about Mormons and the environment. It appears that most LDS have a healthy attitude towards the environment. That was a pleasant surprise.

My 2 cents: Praying for peace is always appropriate. So is thanking God for the Earth.

I think of spreading the good word about the environment the same way I think about spreading the good word of the gospel...don't judge or guilt-trip others, be open about my views, let others see me living my views. -Not that I do well in either kind of "missionary" work.