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Home Sweet Home

Earth Day is on Monday, April 22. This is a day of learning, community activities, and celebrations that has been acknowledged now for over 50 years. The United Church of Canada actively participates in Earth Day celebrations with resources and ideas for worship and events for this Sunday and the following week.

Earth Sunday will be the focus of our worship this week, including a Minute for Mother Earth organized by our Environment and Climate Change Working Group. If you are looking for more information about Earth Day, I encourage you to go online and check it out. There is a lot of information available, along with resources for kids of all ages to learn more about the environment and inspire action toward climate justice.


For starters, I invite you to consider the question I offered to our study groups this week. As you think of the elements of the earth – land, air, water, which element do you feel most connected to, and why? Often, but not always, this question takes us back to our roots. What elements have been connections for you in the places you grew up, or the places you have lived over the years? What feelings or emotions come to the surface when you stand by an ocean, or hike in mountains, or breathe deeply as the wind blows across a prairie on a sunny day?


When we are reminded of our connections to the earth, we remember how all things are connected. Our love of this planet as home encourages us to touch the earth lightly (Shirley Erena Murray, 1991), and embrace ways of being and doing that are sustainable for all life.

Peace and joy,
Nancy