Dear friends: Happy Earth Day! Take a moment to feel the ground beneath your feet. It's what's holding you up.

At "The Witness," we're proud to observe Earth Day in a very special way this year, by launching a brand-new project today. This edition of our email newsletter offers a large, diverse collection of articles on environmental & development issues in the context of faith and spirituality. Our long-time readers will recognize that this initiative reflects a favorite aspect of our currently-suspended print magazine: a thematic focus. And indeed, each month from here forward, we plan to dedicate one week's web content to a particular theme: providing new international voices together with renowned progressive writers and activists. [Please skip down three paragraphs for this week's Table of Contents.]

Today, here in the U.S., candidates Bush and Kerry jabbed from afar at each other over conservation issues. Our writers in this week's newsletter, in contrast, go beyond sound bites. They dive into the details of active stewardship, heeding writer Ellen Meloy's prophetic words that "failure to pay attention will make orphans of us all" (see the review of Meloy's Pulitzer-nominated book The Anthropology of Turqoise in this issue). We are honored to share an extraordinary breadth of original articles in this debut edition of the thematic Witness online: famed prophetic theologians like Matthew Fox and Steven Charleston; international perspectives from India to Canada to Australia to the U.K.; indigenous voices and varied understandings of Creation spirituality; practical things individuals can do and clarion calls for justice and advocacy. In sum, our contributors confront painful realities, yet remain, as one writer says, "Easter facing." We are also pleased to note that so many articles were submitted for this project that we now plan to publish more online during the coming week (which will be publicized in next week's newsletter), including a Caribbean reflection on creation theology. So keep coming back to The Witness online!

This wonderful project would not have been possible without the efforts of several sources. First, we extend deep appreciation to all of the writers across the world who contributed essays. Second, we wish to thank the Episcopal Ecological Network, the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, and the Episcopal Church's Peace & Justice Ministries office. Those groups'
support for this idea made it possible. Finally, and most of all, we are indebted to the tireless efforts of our new staff member, Jonathan Callard.
Jonathan began working with The Witness in early March, and despite being here just part-time (while also staffing the Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership and coordinating the Every Voice Network's Blogging
community) he has spearheaded this great effort. We are privileged to have him in our midst, and especially commend to you his fine book review in the following collection. Send him a note of welcome!

Since 1917, The Witness has served as a voice of gospel justice in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, and as a communications and organizing vehicle for the progressive movement within the church. Our email newsletter continues our award-winning legacy of independent, progressive publishing. Without your support, this work cannot continue, and we gratefully accept donations for continuing this publishing ministry. Peace, Ethan Flad, editor

PROCLAIMING GOSPEL JUSTICE: LECTIONARY REFLECTIONS
* April 25, 2004: "Divine Confrontation and Conversion" by Mark Harris

NEW ARTICLES
* "Kyoto and Beyond" by Eric Beresford
* "The Energy Dilemma" by Sally Bingham
* "Facing Easter and the Sun" by George Browning
* "Eyes Wide Open" by Jonathan Callard
* "Changing Strategy for Economic and Environmental Justice" by Steven Charleston
* "The Allure of Alaska" by Wanda Copeland
* "Christianity's Covenant with Creation" by Claire Foster and David Shreeve
* "The Environment's Role in Deconstructing and Reconstructing Theology and Religion" by Matthew Fox
* "A Planetary Crisis: Water and Sustainable Development" by Jeff Golliher
* "The One Commandment" by Peter Kreitler
* "AIDS and Environmental Health in India" by Karuna Roy
* "Indigenous Spirituality and the Creation" by Tom Trimmer
* "Noah Revisited" by Roger Wharton
* "Practical Ways to Care for God's Creation" by Joyce Wilding

EDITORIAL NOTES
* "Blind Obedience" by Ethan Flad 

EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR JUSTICE-SEEKERS

PROCLAIMING GOSPEL JUSTICE: LECTIONARY REFLECTIONS

* April 25, 2004: "Divine Confrontation and Conversion" 
True conversion is enabled by visceral, even sensual experience, according to Mark Harris. In this Sunday's gospel story (April 25), the risen Christ appears to his disciples as they are fishing. His beloved friend John's knowledge of Jesus - body and soul - should serve as a lesson for our own reconciliation efforts.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/harris042104.html

NEW ARTICLES

* "Kyoto and Beyond"
Some people believe "acid rain" was a problem solved years ago. Eric Beresford, writing from Canada, knows that's false. Although he admits that the Kyoto climate change guidelines aren't perfect, he says the church should use them to face the urgency of global warming, as well as acid rain.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/beresford042204.html

* "The Energy Dilemma"
Consumption of fossil fuels, particularly in the U.S., continues to rise unabated, despite dire scientific warnings. Sally Bingham is ashamed of the general lack of concern about global warming, yet finds small measures of hope in some faith communities.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/bingham042204.html

* "Facing Easter and the Sun"
In Australia, all new houses have strict environmental standards, so many are built facing north for maximum solar exposure. George Browning compares this practice to the Christian spirit of Easter: looking hopefully ahead despite the tragic mistakes of our past.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/browning042204.html

* "Eyes Wide Open"
Ellen Meloy's book The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky is "one long prayer of the senses, celebrating and mourning humanity through nature's mirror," according to reviewer Jonathan Callard.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/callardreview042204.html

* "Changing Strategy for Economic and Environmental Justice"
Steven Charleston, widely considered a prophetic church leader, feels fellow justice activists should abandon the "prophetic" advocacy style. People in the wider church are not apathetic, he says, but victims of information overload. Instead, liturgy can help them connect the justice dots.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/charleston042204.html

* "The Allure of Alaska"
At Earth Day 2004, Wanda Copeland feels disillusioned about the prospects for God's Creation. In Alaska, she recently saw one of the last vestiges of pristine wilderness. As Alaska undergoes rapid changes due to development, she says the state represents the environmental challenges facing the world.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/copeland042204.html

* "Christianity's Covenant with Creation"
While some consider ecological concerns to be side issues for the church, Claire Foster and David Shreeve argue they are rooted at the very core of Christian tradition. Their work in the U.K. cites four principles as evidence of the centrality of this mission for the faith.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/fostershreeve042204.html

* "The Environment's Role in Deconstructing and Reconstructing Theology and Religion"
Matthew Fox, renowned leader of the creation spirituality movement, names and analyzes errors in modern theological thought. He finds the loss of the Creator and Spirit images of God to be heretical, and calls for a renewed understanding of the Cosmic Christ.
"http://www.thewitness.org/agw/fox042204.html

* "A Planetary Crisis: Water and Sustainable Development"
Many people argue that water is the most basic human right - the source of life itself - yet around the globe, water is being privatized at the expense of the world's poorest. Jeff Golliher says water is not just a right: it is the "primordial manifestation of the sacred on earth."
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/golliher042204.html

* "The One Commandment"
Peter Kreitler despairs at the state of the environment, and wants the Ten Commandments to be reduced to just one: to preserve God's garden. He says "Earth Day is every day," and that we need to speak truth to power, starting with the Bush administration.

http://www.thewitness.org/agw/kreitler042104.html

* "AIDS and Environmental Health in India" 
Health workers in India are struggling against mighty odds: HIV/AIDS is spiraling out of control, with tens of thousands more cases reported every month. Karuna Roy reports on the efforts of the Church of North India to face this crisis head-on, through care, prevention, education, and advocacy.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/roy042204.html

* "Indigenous Spirituality and the Creation"
We must choose between profit and life, argues Tom Trimmer. Offering a Native American perspective on environmental issues, he believes that the church bears great responsibility for the problems we face today.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/trimmer042104.html

* "Noah Revisited"
The story of Noah provides an early scriptural context for our understanding of humanity's interconnections with the fullness of God's Creation. Roger Wharton provides a short theological reflection on this classic biblical tale.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/wharton042204.html

* "Practical Ways to Care for God's Creation"
We know that environmental degradation is a critical challenge, but what can we actually do about it? Joyce Wilding suggests a list of ways that individuals and congregations can help serve as stewards of the earth.
http://www.thewitness.org/agw/wilding042204.html

EDITORIAL NOTES

"Blind Obedience"

I recently finished Terry Tempest Williams' masterful book, "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place." Written a decade ago, it tells of Tempest Williams' love for nature, her family, and her Mormon faith. Each chapter is titled after one of the hundreds of species of birds that migrate through Utah each year around Great Salt Lake: I had visions of the wonderful documentary film "Winged Migration" passing through my head as I turned the pages.

But the beauty of that part of God's majestic Creation - the creatures of the earth, and the red rock and marshlands and fresh & salt waters that they visit - belies the hidden story that emerges deeper into the text. It's ultimately a devastating tale about cancer, primarily her beloved mother's long battle against it. Sadly, her mother was not the only victim.

"I belong to a Clan of One-Breasted Women," writes the author in an epilogue. "My mother, my grandmothers, and six aunts have all had mastectomies. Seven are dead. The two who survive have just completed rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. I've had my own problems: two biopsies for breast cancer and a small tumor. . ."

She goes on to write about the atomic bomb tests that were a ritualized part of life in the U.S. Southwest in the 1950s and 60s. I was immediately reminded of my friend Janet Chisholm, the national chair of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, who often shares her story of growing up in Las Vegas just after World War II. Chisholm's family used to go to the outskirts of the city, closer to the Nuclear Test Site, to watch the clouds emerge from the government's bomb tests. "They told us it was SAFE!" Chisholm exclaims (read about her experience online at http://www.thewitness.org/agw/agw/chisholm.html).

Tempest Williams acknowledges that she cannot prove that these otherwise-healthy women in her life who have died from cancer contracted it due to nuclear fallout. But, she says, there are too many questions and connections. "I must question everything, even if it means losing my faith, even if it means becoming a member of a border tribe among my own people.
Tolerating blind obedience in the name of patriotism or religion ultimately takes our lives."

Blind obedience in the name of patriotism: that seems a remarkably apt description for what is happening these days. On Good Friday I stood with other people of faith in front of the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratories, nonviolently protesting the death-inducing practices of that section of our military machine. We were ignored by the company's workers, who avoided our vigil by taking another route into the huge campus.
Yesterday, I joined a small group of people to vigil in support of the release from prison of Israeli scientist Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed to the world his country's nuclear efforts. Despite standing as a visible group in the middle of a main downtown San Francisco intersection, hardly anyone paid attention. Is it worth it?

Yes, of course, in the end it is worth it. To honor the earth, we can do no less. Whether our work is to oppose hazardous waste incinerators being built in poor, disenfranchised urban communities - as I have seen happen in my native NYC as well as my adopted Bay Area - or to call for a complete end to nuclear weapons production and testing - a lesson we should learn from the "Clan of One-Breasted Women" - it is our responsibility. Mark Harris reminds us in this week's lectionary reflection that Saul's sight was recovered and led to his conversion: so let us take hope, and seek to help bring sight to the blind in our time.

Peace, Ethan Flad

CALENDAR AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR JUSTICE-SEEKERS

* April 25, 2004: "March for Women's Lives," a national demonstration in support of reproductive freedom and justice for all women in Washington, DC.
Visit http://www.marchforwomen.org/.

* April 25-27, 2004: "Tikkun Teach-In to Congress," a national lobbying effort to challenge American politics and media to take a new path beyond militarism to personal and global security, hosted by the Tikkun Community, Washington DC. Visit http://www.tikkun.org/.

* April 30 - May 1, 2004: "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex," national conference hosted by "INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence," Santa Barbara, California. Visit http://www.incite-national.org/conf/.

* May 2-4, 2004: "Naming Evil," Trinity Institute's 35th National Conference at Trinity Church Wall Street, keynoted by Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General.
Representatives of the three Abrahamic faiths will also discuss how their traditions explain the origins and persistence of evil in creation. Visit http://www.ectn.org/.

* May 16, 2004: "21st International AIDS Candlelight Memorial," a worldwide observance coordinated by the Global Health Council, http://www.globalhealth.org/.

* June 12-19, 2004: "Word and World: Gender and Sexuality: the Struggle for Inclusion and Justice" in Rochester, N.Y. Contact 626.791.2352 or visit http://www.wordandworld.org/.

ARE YOU HAVING PROBLEMS CLICKING ON OUR LINKS?
Some readers' email software won't permit them to click on the hyperlinks we set in our email newsletter. So instead, we suggest that you (1) read the newsletter, and then (2) go to our website home page - http://www.thewitness.org/ - where you may access every article that interests you.

SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE HERE
Pass on this newsletter! Our simple online form at http://www.thewitness.org/addemail.html will sign you up for future editions. If you do not wish to be on our email list and have received this, we apologize. We intend that only people who want this newsletter will get it. To be removed from our email list, go to the same link above or reply to this message. Thank you.