Presence: Experiencing the Nearness of God

India, home of more than 1.4 billion people, wants to increase its overall prosperity. Presently, its citizens consume, per person, one tenth of what is consumed by Americans. If India were to take an intense fossil-fuel burning, CO2 producing path to prosperity, the effect on the planet would be catastrophic. So leapfrogging to a higher, more sustainable level of technology is a sane and sustainable way forward for India. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

It is astounding how much energy Americans use - especially compared to people elsewhere. The per capita consumption of each person in the U.S. is roughly 11,000 watts every moment of every day. And yet, we today have technology - like the 24 solar panels on my roof that can begin to change the carbon emissions which come from the burning of fuel to make those 11K of power I and every other American consume each day. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Today it's about the same, important word repeated three times. We are reminded that with the shift to a renewable energy focused economy, there are new jobs which will grow from the need for labor to build the new infrastructure. And, as followers of Christ, we are also called to build a just, inclusive world in which all of the creatures within Christ's creation are respected. Any so-called "Christian" who wants to build an authoritarian nation founded on demonizing or scapegoating others, restricting freedom or racial supremacy is sorely misguided and not a follower of the goodnews - the gospel - of Christ. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

We begin with the ending quote from the text for letter "I" - "The I.R.A. was called 'historic,' 'transformational,' and 'the best news anyone who cares about the fate of the planet had heard in a long time'" In contrast, just today, Politico reported that an influential oil & gas industry lobbist group 'has drafted detailed plans for dismantling landmark Biden administration climate rules after the presidential election." So much hangs in this election - continued progress with addressing climate change or regression that will continue to dangerously move us backwards. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Just three letters ago we had "D is for Dispair." Now it's "H is for Hope." Which of these two seemingly opposite postures/attitudes is it? Recall the bluntness of "Despair is a sin." Along with faith and love, hope is a core virtue of the Christian tradition. And there's evidence - if we are awake to it, that there's reason to be hopeful that change - with the climate and, well hopefully, with our politics too can come. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Of the many human-made things we take for granted, concrete may be near the top of the list. As it's the building block of nearly every structure we construct - it's always nearby - yet often overlooked. Did you know though that the way traditional concrete is made today accounts for nearly 8% of the global total of carbon emissions in 2023 -which is more than what aviation and shipping combined produced! So, we must make concrete differently. Fortunately, there are scientists working on precisely this urgent task. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

It's Indigenous People's (as it's officially named where I live in Columbus, OH) Day. Or perhaps, as an Atlantic article today suggests, we should celebrate this day as Explorer's Day to honor those of all cultures who boldly set out for new frontiers. In this spirit, it's a good day for "F is for Flight." Check out the Alia electric aircraft featured today - at www.beta.team - and prepare to have your mind blown by the versatility plus sheer coolness. It will take hard work to make passenger planes that are electrical. Yet, the Alia shows it is possible. Climate change shows it is necessary. And in the bold spirit of Explorer's Day, let's set out and try to make this new way of carbon-free flying possible. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Today's letter, our second vowel, is so great it gets a double letter. The cost of capturing renewable energy has dropped in price -especially from the sun - even since 2010 - such that generating carbon-free electricity is almost the same price as the cost of what is made from burning fossil fuels - that also make CO2. Wind power - especially - off shore - uses blades so big that one sweep of the blade can power a home for a day! Christ, when he walked among us, had no idea about turbines or electricity. He did care about the birds & the lilies. Thus he'd surely encourage us to burn less and care for creation more! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Today is stark - "D is for Despair" The text we are pondering in the book "H is for Hope" is brief, pointed & the opposite of the title. It brings to mind a related "D" - doom. It's on my mind as I was feeling a sense of doom about this election before Biden stepped down. And I've been pondering it as I read the 2024 book by Brian D. McLaren "Life After Doom: Wisdom & Courage for a World Falling Apart." How do we navigate a sense of doom? Christ's own words give us a pathway within this current countdown and intensifying climate change. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Letter "C" is a tough one for most of us to hear as it's for Capitalism. In the foundational text we're using for this series, this sums it up: "Climate change can't be solved with the tools of capitalism, because it is a product of capitalism." And don't forget that in the U.S. corporations have been granted the same rights as people. The followers of Christ have a different model though - and one which could guide us as we look beyond this laye-stage capitalism. All four gospels share one illustrative miracle - the sharing of the loaves & fishes. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

If yesterday's "A" was for someone you didn't know, today's "B" comes from someone you likely do - Greta Thunberg. In late 2021, she spoke in Italy and used a refrain of "Blah. Blah. Blah" to point out the hypocrisy of political leaders thus far on true reduction of carbon and other climate changing gases. Jesus the Christ, also a truth-teller, had pointed words for the hypocrites of his time. I imagine, he - like Greta would have similarly strong words for political leaders and candidates today who are not acting with urgency - even as natural disasters continue to illustrate a changed climate. NOTE: I misspoke Greta's age - her Bday is Jan 3, 2003 - and thus 21 years old. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

A is for Arrhenius - Who? What? We start our trip through the alphabet as we have 28 days (and change) to the U.S. election. Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenius, starting in 1894, constructed the first climate model which showed the effects that CO2 has on the atmosphere. It's a good place to start as everything on and enveloping earth connects to carbon. And Christ, "through who all things were made" is there in the midst of the "building blocks" that are carbon connected molecules. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

With just 29 days until Election Day, I'm keeping my mind off of polls, horse races and general catastrophizing by pivoting this podcast to the climate crisis. The centerpiece is the 26 letters of "Climate Change A to Z" written by Elizabeth Kolbert and illustrated by Wesley Allsbrook - "H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z" https://a.co/d/bREBnLb . I give a snapshot of the letter - and interpret it through the emerging experience of the Cosmic Christ. Let's vote early and encourage others to vote. And let's be in faith - not fear - as these next 29 days unfold. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Are you, right now, facing a time of change and uncertainty? I was, exactly two years ago. Please listen as I share how I wrote and prayed during June 2021. And how my life has unfolded in amazing ways from then until now. God - The MORE - moved & worked in my story. I believe that The MORE is moving & working in your own story right now too. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Do you know how to use Microsoft One Drive? I kind of do. On Memorial Day I Zoomed with my 83 year old dad and showed him how to use this often confusing computer tool. I was surprised to experience The MORE (how I am growing to know God) in this mundane act of service. It got me wondering about the deeper more in a child teaching and/or supporting their aging parent - especially as the child does so in far more expansive ways than how I served my dad and helped him to figure out (at least a bit) the confounding One Drive platform. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

I listen to Peter Gabriel - an artist who has inspired me for 35 years now - sing as I walk my pooch on a beautiful Saturday AM. In his new song "I/O" he declares a truth "I'm just a part of everything." So much of the world around us shows this to be true. Listen as I ponder how even one H2O molecule in the saliva in your mouth reveals this truth. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

I finish listening to the outstanding 24 hour long audiobook of King's newest novel "Fairytale". The simple, yet engaging telling of a familiar tale allows me to go deep into the more it holds. Like the 'Fairy Stories" about which Tolkien spoke this fairytale illuminates the light and dark in our world. The MORE ultimately dispels the darkness, yet in this not yet time, the shadows within each of us remain. Learn more at https://presenceexperiencingthenearnessofgod.wordpress.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

I return to a theme which is at the center of hundreds of prior episodes - experiencing God - The MORE. Today I reflect on how my dog Lucy, with her intense focus on a patch of grass as we walked in the rain, reminded me of how I can use my senses to ponder any sliver of the world I encounter as a go about my day. By finding the deep more to everything, I experience The MORE who creates and sustains it all. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Screwtape celebrates how The Enemy's own self-identified followers are facilitating his Dark Father's cause as these Reds claim that they and their boy Prince Chaos are the actual victims. ST21 is pleased that dark history was again made on April 4th like it was made on January 6th (Epiphany.) Yet, he relishes the irony of how it might have taken place a day later on Spy Wed. - the day Judas' betrayal is remember during Screwtape's "Profane Week." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support

Screwtape is excited that the first ever indictment of a former US president will take place as a spectacle and thus distraction for the faithful during what he calls "Profane Week". --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/presence/support