Circle pipe
Photo by Erlend Ekseth/Unsplash
This month we celebrate a new year, 2023! This celestial action is measured, as the years of Jesus’s life were themselves measured, by our moving, spinning Earth. The revolutions and natural workings of this good planet are a gift of the Creator, who has brought us around our star yet again. We arrive at 2023 with a fresh spirit of hope for tomorrow.
Between the orbit of all things Christmas and the whirl of New Year’s parties, there is truly not enough time to reflect on just how momentous circling around again is. After all, the kids must be ready for school on January 3rd, calendars need updating, and many of us also juggle work on top of all of that. Even volunteers enter January a little glassy-eyed and out of breath.
We are all busy. And rotating. All the time. Stopping to take a breath is harder than it seems. Yet at the turning of the year, I want to invite us to “circle up” for a little reflection.
John Wesley, one of the key founders of Methodism, kept a detailed journal. He wrote a few entries for January in 1743. On January 1st Wesley related that he was traveling to Epworth when an unruly man rode up and heckled him. Exasperated but always the teacher, Wesley told the man, “Are you aware that we are on a longer journey? that we are traveling toward eternity?” The man answered, “’Tis pity! ’Tis great pity! Why could not your father’s religion serve you? Why must you have a new religion?”
The very next day, on January 2nd, Sunday brought yet more drama. John Wesley had arrived at Epworth and was preaching there and in the towns thereabouts. A number of folks wanted to take Communion at the local church, but they and Wesley were denounced: “Pray tell Mr. Wesley,” said the curate, “he is not fit.” Wesley, however, did not take bitterness into his heart at this rebuke. Instead, he saw the wisdom of God at work. It was in Epworth that Wesley had grown up in faith. At Epworth as a clergyman, he himself had served Eucharist from the altar. The breaking of bread gained extra meaning for him that day. In breaking with the past, he began an essential ministry for the future—one that centered on love.
God blessed that new ministry with gathering crowds, and Wesley noted on January 22nd the success of his work, writing in his journal that “The spot where I stood was just at the bottom of a semicircular hill, on the rising sides of which many hundreds stood; but far more were on the plain beneath. I cried to them in the words of the prophet, ‘O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!’”
Wesley’s January ministry was timely. The celestial orbits and rotations had brought him a new year and new ministry, a ministry to hundreds who would hear a new word for a new time.
We are in a new time, also. We live in an era of rapid, human-caused climate change.
For 2023 and beyond, we face some steep challenges. Despite the efforts of people for decades, carbon emissions are still increasing every year. Plastics are in our babies, in our bloodstreams, even in fresh arctic snow. Forever-chemicals contaminate our rain. Drought, heat, flooding, and worsening storms blot our future and the future of our children. The UN estimates that one in 23 people will require humanitarian relief in 2023 because of the extremes of this last year—which included climate and climate-related food crises.
If you are reading this, likely you already have a basic understanding of climate change. You are probably at times sad, anxious, and/or determined to do something that will matter for life on Earth in 2023. Our “new religion” needs to take some very big steps, and United Methodists have tools to do exactly that. As a denomination, we have skills—some that are essential to address the holy work of planetary restoration. Here are two:
First, United Methodists worship in community. Our churches are planted in local communities across the world. We can address climate change right in the places where we live and worship.
Second, United Methodists know how to “circle up” for the work of salvation. Wesley brought people together in groups, teaching them to care for themselves, one another, their communities, and Creation.
Already, United Methodists are learning, acting, and speaking out. (A special shout out to the United Women in Faith!)
For Wesley, the work of salvation was personal, it was about how each of us can have a right spirit within us. The big question he worked to address for himself and the crowds he reached was, “How do I get saved?” For us today, we must recognize that, while salvation may grow from within, its fruits are visible in community. A spirit of holiness leads us to understand ourselves not as removed from life, but fully part of it as Jesus himself was—the garden, the planet, our neighbor, and ourselves. Salvation is about life, both everlasting and right here, right now.
You are invited. The lightest yoke imaginable is the work of the faithful to preserve and serve life itself. The greatest delight is to hold fast to God’s love, knowing that we on planet Earth are right smack at the center of that love, that we are fit for this challenge, and that God is with us all the way. After all, as Wesley would say, we are aware that we are on a longer journey—we are traveling toward eternity.
What can you do for 2023 in the midst of your busy orbit? We United Methodists are a people of communities. Your church is planted right where things—good and bad—are happening. Climate changes may already be apparent in your town. Start or join a creation care or green team at your church. Connect to others. Drop into the Movement Café and find likeminded kindred spirits. Reach out for Earthkeeper training and to the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement to help you along the way.
John Wesley knew how to bring people together. The small groups and classes he formed jumpstarted a movement. That is the spirit we need—renewed and transformed for the new challenges we face. And who better than Methodists to get it done! Together, we have tremendous reach for a faithful, life-filled future. We can make a difference in 2023. Circle up! There is work to do.
Rev. Richenda Fairhurst is here for the friendship and conversations about climate, community, and connection. She organizes the Climate Cafe Multifaith as a co-leader of Faiths4Future. Find her in real life in Southern Oregon, working as Steward of Climate with the nonprofit Circle Faith Future.
https://umcreationjustice.org/circle-up-for-2023/