Non nobis solum nati sumus: St Francis Day

As I had mentioned last night, a group of us got up before dawn and drove into the city for a service in Presdio park. I wasn't sure what to expect because all I knew was there was a bird watching piece from 7:30 - 8:30 and then a service at 8:30.

We arrived at the park around 7:30 and walked to the location where we thought we were to meet. Luckily someone was already there. The gentleman started off by telling us a little bit about the location and then started pointing out all the different birds that we were seeing. Not being from California, it was pretty amazing to hear about a bird that was there today but summers in the Arctic Circle and was on its way to South America. What a long way to migrate. We probably saw 12 - 15 different types of birds. Some of them are pictured below.

After birding, we walked over the the grove of Cedar trees where the Rev Canon Sally Bingham had set up the service. Sally is the President and Founder of Interfaith Power and Light. According to their website:

The mission of Interfaith Power & Light is to be faithful stewards of Creation by responding to global warming through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. This campaign intends to protect the earth’s ecosystems, safeguard the health of all Creation, and ensure sufficient, sustainable energy for all.

Global warming is one of the biggest threats facing humanity today. The very existence of life — life that religious people are called to protect — is jeopardized by our continued dependency on fossil fuels for energy. Every major religion has a mandate to care for Creation. We were given natural resources to sustain us, but we were also given the responsibility to act as good stewards and preserve life for future generations.

IPL has over a decade of experience helping congregations address global warming by being better stewards of energy. The campaign has a track record of tangible results: shrinking carbon footprints and educating hundreds of thousands of people in the pews about the important role of people of faith in addressing this most challenging issue.

In addition to practicing energy stewardship in our facilities, IPL brings the voice of the faith community into the policy-making arena. We know that our actions alone cannot stem the tide of climate change – we need to enact public policies to advance clean energy and to limit carbon pollution. IPL is working to support policy change at the local, state, and national levels.

As people of faith, our mission includes being advocates for vulnerable people and communities that are the most heavily impacted by climate change. From air pollution to droughts to rising seas, it is poor people who are being hit first and worst by global warming. Our goal is to ensure that climate policies provide adaptation and mitigation support for communities domestically and internationally whose health and survival is at stake. We also aim to make sure that all people can participate in and benefit from the growing clean energy economy.

IPL is a field education site for seminarians that don't want to work in a typical parish setting. According to a former seminarian, working with Sally allows seminarians to see how the church can interact outside the normal religious circles. From just the short time I witnessed Sally today, she is an impressive woman and a faithful servant of the environment.

We started the service on the beach of San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bride as the backdrop. When it came time for the homily, Sally said, I am not going to speak this morning but will allow nature and all of God's creation to speak for itself. Let's just listen and observe. What a powerful time it was, as we all just watched the bay as the fog floated past the Golden Gate bridge, listened to the waves lapping at the beach, and the dogs barking in the distance. And in the midst of all that, a lone seal pops its head out of the water directly in front of us, looks up towards us and then turns and swims away.

After the silence we began with "A Creedal Declaration" printed below:

We believe in one God, Creater of land and sea and sky.
Through God all things were made, and from God and god alone they have their being.
Wherever there is life, God is its sole sustainer, and all forms of life on Earth derive from God.
We believe in the sanctity of life, and the inherent value of each of God's creatures.
We revere the majesty of creation in all its richness and diversity, and all of God's wondrous Kingdoms on Earth.
We recognize the interdependence of the human family, and the families of animals, plants, sea creatures and ever family that is.
We value God's command to be stewards of creation, and regard it as a privilege to be given power to be its stewards, and to keep and serve creation with glad devotion.
We believe in the God of History, who through time has loved all in creation, and who thus sanctifies and redeems the keeper's of God's Garden, the Earth.
Amen

We then shared the Eucharist together before closing with the Prayer of St. Francis. A prayer that I need to remember more often as I go through my daily life. The prayer is:

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

In the end, the service was a very powerful service not for what was said but what was left unsaid. To have a service celebrating St Francis Day on the beach in the presence of all of God's creatures, is truly an amazing experience that I will not forget for a long time to come.