An oil-covered pelican stretches its wings like Christ crucified. The photo was taken along the Louisiana coast on June 3, 2010. (Associated Press photo/Charlie Riedel. Used by permission.)
I’ve posted many queer and female images of Jesus on the cross on this blog. Today I decided it was important to post a photo of a Christ-like bird facing a kind of crucifixion.
I felt grief-stricken and powerless about the oil spill until I got an invitation to join “Bloggers Unite for the Gulf.” They reminded me, “Bloggers can use their medium to affect real change” I decided to join and tell people how to help.
But first -- why write about the BP Gulf oil spill on a blog devoted to LGBT spirituality?
1) Because the abuse of LGBT people is linked to the abuse of nature -- both come from a system of domination and control.
2) Because spirituality is linked to nature -- nature is created by God, nature leads to God, and our God-given task is to take good care of nature.
You can take action by clicking on these headlines to:
Write to President Obama (Sierra Club)
Write to your Senators (Natural Resources Defense Council)
Ask the EPA to stop BP’s government contracts (Change.org)
Tell your friends to join you in taking action. Here's a button you can use.
OK, you may stop clicking and start praying. I especially like “Life Chant” by Diane Di Prima, which reads in part:
deep silence of great rainforests
may it continue
fine austerity of jungle peoples
may it continue
rolling f--k of great whales in turquoise ocean
may it continue
clumsy splash of pelican in smooth bays
may it continue
Click here for the whole chant
In Luke 12:6, Jesus said, “What is the price of five sparrows--two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them.” Watching so many birds suffer and die in this human-made disaster must be a great sorrow to God.
Finally, please leave a comment of support for me in my personal faith journey during this oil spill. I keep having nightmares that I am a bird covered with oil. I’m finding it hard to get through each day knowing that the oil is still gushing, wildlife is still dying, and that I am still a member of the human species that is responsible for the disaster.
Psalm 137 plays through my mind: “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” Zion is the promised land. In this case it is the lost past and longed-for future time when the Gulf waters were clean and full of life.
I’m not sure how many of my blog readers share my shock/despair/outrage/horror over the oil spill. I would greatly appreciate your comments of support. Even a few words will mean a lot.
