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Call for Californians to conserve waning water

20 Jul 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus uses parables of seeds and harvests to teach his followers about the Kingdom. California faces its worst drought in decades, and agriculture is by far the greatest water user, accounting for 75 percent of consumption in the state, a study released Tuesday revealed. Farmers could see their wells and their harvests run dry next year unless the state sees a wet winter.Despite pleas from their governor to conserve, Californians overall increased water consumption during this year of severe drought. The new figures surfaced as state water regulators prepared to vote on fines up to $500 a day for people who waste water on landscaping, fountains, washing vehicles, and other outdoor uses.The numbers underscore the need for action, State Water Resources Control Board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus said. "Not everybody in California understands how bad this drought is ... and how bad it could be," she said. "There are communities in danger of running out of water all over the state."The report says overall consumption jumped 1 percent, even as Gov. Jerry Brown has called for a 20 percent cutback. If fines don't work, Marcus said the board would consider other steps such as requiring water districts to stop leaks in their pipes, which account for an estimated 10 percent of water use, stricter landscape restrictions, and encouraging water agencies to boost rates for consumers who use more than their share of water.California’s dilemma is shared to one extent or another by many southern and western states, and indeed, nations worldwide. Water scarcity, the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region, already affects every continent and around 2.8 billion people around the world at least one month out of every year. More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water, says the United Nations.Homily hint: Water is necessary for life, yet a surprising percentage of the world’s population struggle to access it. Civilizations in the past have fallen because of poor management of natural resources. Today, as never before, the human community needs to exercise careful stewardship of this most precious of resources. Learn more here: United Nations Water for Life Decade Source: Articles by Don Thompson for Associated Press and Wikipedia

water scarcity

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An abundant gospel in a time of institutional scarcity

Short essays about observed trends in Roman Catholic life - Pastoral trends

The single greatest trend in parish life today is scarcity: fewer personnel available, fewer parishioners attending, and, above all, fewer resources. Everything is relative of course in this regard: Some new parishes are being established and some parishes are growing, even dramatically. But those individual cases do not overall trends make. The most common organizational response to such trends is fear, but it does not need to be so. The challenge for our time is to proclaim a gospel of abundance within an organizational context of scarcity. This gospel—of hope, faith, and love—should win out before suspicion, distrust, and disconnection. It will not do, however, to deny real trends of scarcity and real declining numbers with happy talk that refuses to see things as they are. It is quite clear in the gospels that Jesus is not about happy talk. What Jesus offers instead is a focus on fundamentals. Gospel fundamentals come down to witnessing and living the Reign of God, not maintaining old structures for just a few years longer so someone else might close them down later. It is not for nothing that Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:60). Today’s trends of scarcity and diminishment are a clear message that the cultural and social ground around us is quaking. To struggle to keep structures functioning which are barely prepared for survival is foolish. It is time for a proper Christian burial: to let dead and dying things go and creatively build new possibilities even while selectively retrieving and retrofitting critical ways and structures of the past. In the words of church historian Jaroslav Pelikan: “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are and when we are and that it is we who have to decide. Traditionalism supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time, so all that is needed to solve any problem is to arrive at the supposedly unanimous testimony of this homogenized tradition.” Parish trends of scarcity might just be nudging us to do creative new things for the first time, in conversation with the past but looking fearlessly to the future strengthened by Christ’s witness and the life of the Spirit. © 2012, Bryan Froehle.

Authors Bryan Froehle

scarcity tradition traditionalism

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Homily stories

28 Jul 2024 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I got suckered by an online scam and it cost me $500. It was a convincing ruse, but the reason I was duped is because I was stressed out, in a rush, and not paying close attention. It got me thinking—both the thief and I were operating out of a scarcity mindset. The thief for obvious reasons, and me for believing I was lacking time and headspace. We both thought we were stuck with an inadequate basket of a few loaves and fishes, and it caused us both to stumble—the thief into committing crime and me into falling for it. I’m not blaming myself for being a victim, but considering reactions to scarcity is food for thought. In fact, every bad experience is fodder that can be turned into something greater—a lesson learned, a story shared, a point of connection with others. Suffering has inspired countless works of art that have transformed countless lives. Lack can be our downfall or it can drive us to produce amazing things: meals, gardens, homes, businesses, relationships, communities. We often find in our unique wounds our unique way of healing the world. The creativity that humans are capable of, especially out of scraps, is a miracle of abundance as stunning as feeding 5,000.

Authors Jennifer Tomshack

scarcity mindset lesson learned

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