Ash Wednesday: Walking Through Lent with Our Creator Scriptural Reflections

Read: Joel 2:12-18 and pray or journal: what word or phrase speaks to your emotion or intellect?

Read: the provided reflection (below) and pray or journal: what speaks to your emotion or intellect and what might you do?

Rend your hearts… “This is a true and dire health emergency… huge levels of [a carcinogen] have just been found on top of the years of already unacceptable pollution we have been breathing,” Few people realize that single use plastics is not just about recycling and landfills. It’s not just about fossil fuels. It’s also about the real toll that pollution from plastic production takes on people like Robert Taylor in communities like The Mississippi River Chemical Corridor in Louisiana - a community commonly known as “Cancer Alley.”

Sometimes it’s a joy for me to avoid single use plastics: I don’t lug heavy water bottles home from the store, my trash can doesn’t overflow, and my laundry strips are far less messy than liquid detergent. But sometimes it’s inconvenient: when I forget my shopping bags and unload groceries one by one, when people give me and my reusable to-go containers funny glances, or when I bring my own plate and silverware to church events. Instead of viewing it as a hassle, I connect my faith with my actions and view it as a small sacrifice offered in prayer and thanksgiving. I’m not doing it alone either; I’m doing it for Robert Taylor. And maybe along the way, I’m rending my heart.

I invite you to join me in reducing your (single use) plastics. Check this out for ideas, and while you’re at it, spread the word!

Blessings, Kate