Three New Blue Theology Preachers
These three women preached last Sunday at the
Pacific Grove Christian Church about our Blue Theology Ministry, and they
rocked! Each shared how her faith calls
her to be part this ministry of ocean stewardship and spirituality. Please read to the end, all three are
profound. Thanks, sisters!
Kate
Spencer:
I am a
whale watching boat captain and naturalist. I originally came to the Monterey
Peninsula as a professional artist, drawing tunas for the researchers at
Hopkins Marine Station and the Aquarium. Twelve years ago I was Poet in
Residence of Pacific Grove. I studied biology, studio art, and comparative
religion in college. I grew up in a UCC church near Washington, D.C.
With Blue
Theology I’ve walked with youth groups to the Aquarium, done beach cleanups,
and accompanied them on whale watching boats. For me this is a chance to share
the spiritual side of my work, because I usually stick to the science.
Here are
a few things I believe:
-Science
and art and religion and poetry are all ways of experiencing wonder.
-Evolution
is a miracle.
-Animals
have their own experience of life that has nothing to do with us.
-And
sometimes we must let go of what we think we know, in order to truly perceive
the marvels of life all around us.
I do Blue
Theology to have these conversations.
When I
take people whale watching, I see their wonder — and I still feel it too — yet
I’m careful to talk only about what we can confidently conclude from
observation. I talk about migrations, reproduction, what animals eat, how big
they are. I explain that a breaching whale might be knocking off excess
barnacles, or responding to an underwater call, or being aggressive. And yes,
it may be jumping for joy. We just can’t know for sure unless we get evidence.
On my
tours I try to gently challenge assumptions and anthropomorphizing. Wild
dolphins, sea lions, and whales sometimes come to interact with boats. It’s
common for people to say “they’re showing off for us”, and people ask me if the
animals can tell how much we enjoy it.
The thing
is, how could the animal possibly know how we feel? And why would it care? It’s
a shorter logical step to see that it’s satisfying its own needs: it’s curious,
or it’s having fun with its pod-mates. Or maybe there’s a school of fish under
the boat.
But we
want animals to want a relationship with us. We’re accustomed to our pets, and
we have emotional relationships with them. Anyone who has a pet knows that it’s
a relationship. Scientists now agree that animals have feelings.
What does
it say about us that we want a relationship with wild animals? Is there something that’s missing from a culture
that’s so centered on human beings?
I was
part of a panel discussion this week about the economic value of a healthy
ocean ecosystem. One panelist said that in capitalism, anything that doesn’t
have an actual dollar value assigned to it has a default value of Zero.
But
within a spiritual framework, everything can have value. Indigenous people
worldwide have always seen the living world around them as sentient, spiritual,
and intrinsically valuable, and they are still fighting to protect their
beloved world against capitalism’s Zeroes.
Is there
something missing from a culture that sees humans as the only living things
that matter?
I believe
this is a spiritual question, one that I’m rarely able to go into on whale
watching tours. With Blue Theology groups, the whole purpose is to go deeper.
Here is
an opportunity for us as spiritual thinkers, and thinking Christians: to
explore and share the true value of this beautiful, marvelous natural world
with as many people as possible, using our miraculous minds to perceive the
wonders of Creation, and find our place in it.
Patricia Hoffman:
Deborah has asked us to talk about how Blue
Theology has changed our lives.
As you all know, my husband Ron died almost
four years ago. I was looking for some
kind of service, a way to give back to this church, as all of you were so kind
to me in my time of need.
We had a Blue Theology Sunday just like today
where Pastor Dan and the Blue Theology Task Force showed what it would be like
to be a part of this mission.
As you all know I’m not shy. I believe Pastor Dan saw the gift God gave me
– hospitality.
So my role in this great work is to be the
Greeter. The one who welcomes the Blue
Theology groups. They have traveled a
great distance to be here. They are
tired and hungry. The groups on the
first night sometimes arrive at a late hour.
I show them where the blow-up beds are located and figure out where they
all will be sleeping - we use the bride’s room, the nursery and the Swann
Building. After we get them settled I
escort one of the leaders to our local grocery store to buy their food for the
week.
A greeter is so important because is the
first person the group sees.
I can remember when I walked into this church
for the first time, Mike Dremel made me feel so welcome. That is how I try to make the groups feel as
they arrive.
Thank you for letting me be part of this
mission work.
Kimberly
Brown:
Why
do I do what I do for Blue Theology?
In
Dec. 2013 Keith and I traveled to Kauai. On a snorkeling trip I
learned that sonar testing was being planned for the area. Sonar
testing was to be used by the Navy for training purposes to help locate enemy
submarines. It is also a tool for oil
exploration. It produces sound waves that can travel across hundreds of
kilometers of ocean. It disrupts the
communication and feeding of marine mammals, so they get confused and also can
become deaf and disoriented, which leaves them stranded. I knew that the result would bring income to
the island and harm to the humpback whales and dolphins.
I
was grief stricken. Returning home, I was in such despair that I sought
counsel with my Spiritual Director and from Pastor Dan. I also shared my
grief with one of my mentors, April. The answers I received were to “sit
with the feelings” and to research the subject. I did everything that was
suggested. With April’s help I made contact with a scientist in
Monterey. My search for resolution with myself gave way to making
connections with Oceana.org. and with Deborah Streeter. My final action
was in 2014 when I became a chaperone to Blue Theology Groups.
I
was embarrassed by the raw emotion because it had to do with animals and not
human life. I am not an environmentalist or a political activist.
Something was being stirred up deep within my inner being. Was God
calling me to be a voice for one of His creations that had no voice?
Or
was I to make restitution on behalf of my grandfather’s profession? He
was a whaler in the Azores prior to coming to the United States in 1914.
I
had no answers and no peace.
On one of the Blue Theology group outings to Asilomar State Beach, I was raking up kelp into piles. The Blue Theologians were gathering the piles onto wheelbarrows and pushing them up a sand dune while others unloaded the kelp to be scattered to reinforce the sand dune from erosion.
As
I looked out at the sea, a peace beyond my understanding came over me, swelled
up into my heart and with tears in my eyes, I felt God speaking to me.
My
work in Blue Theology is my living amends on behalf of my grandfather’s actions
in which whales were hunted beyond measure. God forgave my
grandfather and my grief was transformed into service.
Blue
Theology is my place where I can help plant seeds to a generation of folks to
take care of God’s Creation and all of its inhabitants. I was finally at
Peace. Today, I pray for the health of the ocean and I do what I can to
help be an answer to the prayer that I pray.
________________
In
the picture we are standing (same order as sermons above, left to right) in
front of one of the banners our Blue Theology groups make, with Kimberly. This one was by the Foothills UCC folks last
summer. Visit www.bluetheology.com for
more info about youth and adult service trips and pilgrimages. Still room for this summer. I post a Blue Theology devotional every
Wednesday.
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