Play by pasting in your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSF89swJ9IU
Likewise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s_yumYPFm4
Pete passed on this week.
.......
Another old friend
Rev. John Helt of Colgate WI
sent this letter into the Journal-
Sentinel this week:
Opinion
Doing our part on climate change
By John Helt
President
Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night offered a renewed
call to action on climate change. The president put it bluntly: "Climate
change is a fact." As he did in last year's message, Obama framed the
issue in the context of a moral responsibility: This generation owes it to the
next to reduce carbon pollution.
As
a person of faith, I was gratified to hear this. I am very concerned about the
effect of climate change on God's Creation, and on our most vulnerable brothers
and sisters. I believe that as people of faith called to be stewards of
Creation, we are obliged to act to protect our children's future.
The
latest United Nations report on climate change issues a stark warning of
"severe economic disruption" in addition to environmental
catastrophes if we fail to reduce emissions for another 15 years. The next
generation will have to resort to drastic measures to maintain the livability
of the planet if we do not act now.
The
recent holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a reminder of the
power of a moral calling and how faith leaders can mobilize our country with
spiritual and nonviolent tactics to address social injustice. That's why
Interfaith Power & Light is organizing 1,500 congregations and 500,000
people of faith in a National Preach-In on Climate Change this Valentine's Day
Weekend.
The
theme of the Preach-In is "Doing our Part," and congregations all
over the country are doing their part by using energy more efficiently,
greening their facilities to help curb climate change and speaking out in favor
of Environmental Protection Agency action to safeguard our climate.
Our
church, for instance, installed an array of solar panels three years ago, which
has reduced our utility cost for indoor electrical power to less than zero most
months. (Yes, we get a credit rather than a bill!)
It
is good news that the president seems to understand the urgency of the climate
change issue, and that he is communicating it on a national stage. It is good
news that the EPA is releasing first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power
plants. It is good news that the United States
recently brokered a side deal with China
But
this will not be enough. We need action from every sector: federal, state and
local governments, as well as the private sector. We need a galvanization of
the country, along the lines of the civil rights movement, and we all must do
our part.
We
often look for leadership from our government but fail to recognize that our
leaders are looking back at us to inform their decisions. No president forces
major social advancements by himself. Franklin D. Roosevelt understood that
when he responded to entreaties from the labor leader A. Philip Randolph by
agreeing and then saying, "Now go out and make me do it."
That's
exactly what congregations all over America
Rev. John Helt is
vice president of the board of WisconsinInterfaith Power & Light (WisconsinIPL.org).
.......
We three kings of orient are
bearing gifts we traverse afar
field and fountain
moor and mountain
following yonder star
THE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS ARE OVER
and the remnants and next-year memorabilia
are being packed away
carried upstairs to the storeroom
Debi's manger scene is packed in its crate
and the Haitian Three Kings
that make an annual brief trip to the 1st Congregational
church altar are nested together and ready
for storage till next year.
This year, history department chair at Carroll
Prof. Kimberly Redding
incorporated Xeroxed copies of our Kings
bearing their gifts
in one of her stellar bulletin boards
in concert with Joan Kiser
and the raccoon failed to get a picture of that
and the raccoon failed to get a picture of that
So these old Plowshares-purchased
objets d'art
made from oil drumheads in Haiti
saw extra duty during the 2013 yuletide season
(http://raccoonnews.blogspot.com/2013/01/astronomers-3-kd-contd-yet-another-plug.html)
It is Kimberly's son William
who often sits next to me
in the Peanut Gallery at 9:30 AM
Sunday, 100 E. Broadway, downtown Waukesha
Come and see
Come and see
We anticipate the next church pancake supper
in April this year.
William and I will be there.
FOR TICKETS CALL RACCOON HDQTRS
262-547-1427
.......
... just a pinch of salt...
.......
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HOIyqXIc8Q)
