15 DEC.’09
Dear People….
The end of my fast had left me in something of a spiritual quandary, and—to be perfectly honest—with considerable pessimism as I consider the ongoing abuses of Creation that no amount of effort on our part seems able to stop. As for assuaging my grief, I realize now that this is something that no amount of fasting can accomplish. From a PR point of view, perhaps, I may have scored points for “our side,” whatever that means, but as I have tried to emphasize, that was secondary to the real motive, and all told, has not left me a happy camper.
I have had something of an epiphany, which I would like to share with you. I spent most of a gloomy, overcast, and rainy Sunday morning on the laptop following the news from Copenhagen, which included statements of concern from the peoples of Micronesia and other island nations that are being swallowed by the Pacific. This pushed many guilt buttons and did little to boost my morale.
I desperately needed a break, and as the rain had temporarily abated, I sauntered down to Wendy’s for my time honored antidote for the blahs—some coffee, the company of live people, and more light than was available to me in the apartment cubicle where I’d been with the laptop.
As I sat there with my caffeine fix, I wanted to say:
“What’s with it, God?? Why is the world in such a miserable state of affairs when most of us are basically good people and try to do the right thing? Why do so many have to suffer for the greed and avarice of a few?”
I didn’t get any direct answers, but developments in my personal life have given the concept of redemption a whole new meaning—especially at this time of year. Through no fault of my own, I’ve been born into a society built on the repression of minorities, the confiscation of their land, and the over-exploitation of our natural resources. Our culture is grounded on myths that threaten to destroy us—unless with the help and forbearance of The Almighty—we recognize the errors of our ways and take measures to correct them. You don’t have to be the prophet Isaiah to understand that we have some Big Time repenting to do. I’ve reached the stage where I feel twinges of remorse for nearly every bite of food I take, every creature comfort I allow myself, in fact for everything I do that entails sending fossilized carbon into the wild blue yonder (including typing this letter). When I turn on a space heater, I see beaches eroding in Micronesia and ice floes melting in the Arctic. When I bite into something from the industrial food chain, I see a miasma of methane ascending from a livestock feeding lot in Nebraska.
Perhaps God is sending messages to underscore our connectedness to others on the planet. Perhaps She/He is pointing out that luxury corrupts, and that we—as pointed out by a sign on a friend’s kitchen wall—should “live simply so that others may simply live.” The very basis of the Christian credo is that the weak and powerless are as entitled to a place at the table as the high and the mighty, and Christians cannot rest on their laurels until this ideal is attained for every person in every corner of the globe. And toward this end, we must now deal with the fact that we are part of that 5% of the world’s population responsible for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
This epistle is for me a catharsis of the soul, and has pointed the way for the redemptive acts in which America needs to engage as it seeks God’s forgiveness. As for the Christian community, we realize that Creation itself is threatened. We have little time for emails and conference calls. We must go to the seats of power—to the White House, the halls of Congress, the streets of the Capital, and by nonviolent means–both legal and illegal—serve as a reminder that the lives of our marginalized brothers and sisters are in great peril as a direct result of the excesses and greed of our own civilization, and that eventually, if we do nothing, we too will fall before the ravages of climate change.
As Christians, we are in a position to speak and act in a way that carries some moral authority, despite the justifiable disenchantment that many committed activists have with mainstream religion.
My personal plans are slowly taking shape. With God’s help, I hope to join others in a prolonged fast in D.C., sometime after Jan. 21, when I have a court date for an action in September. I’ll spend most of the time till then at my home in upstate New York.
As we acknowledge the birth of Our Redeemer, so we must pray for our own redemption, and commit ourselves to His Kingdom on this earth. And may the Star of Bethlehem once more bring Hope to our hearts..
In Christ….
Roland
rtmicklem@gmail.com
Will Wickham and Glen Collins use U-Locks around their necks to lock down to big yellow machinery on Kayford Mountain, May 23, 2009. photograph by antrim caskey 10. Climate Ground Zero staff increases from four people to over forty full time volunteers, then Ivan shows up and our food budget doubles. 9. We kicked Marcel’s horse out of dilapidated Number Four House and did a complete makeover. Then Guin moved in and now we miss the horse. 8. We get a goat to eat all of the poison ivy. Goat eats everything but the poison ivy. 7. We get a new sign for the Ford Addition Road on Route Three. Charleston newspaper publishes detailed directions to our houses. House and new sign get paintballed. 6. Seeds of Peace kitchen is replaced by Everybody’s Kitchen’s famous kitchen bus. Food stays just as good but there is no coffee in the morning. We miss Grumbles. 5. Of the forty people living here on Rock Creek, Dr. Bob is the only one who hasn’t been arrested yet. He is our cook, carpenter, accountant and dentist. We don’t have a dental plan, but we do have a dentist. 4. Sergeant Smith and Lt. Bowers crash big party on the Ford Addition and order us, then beg us to tell Nick and Laura, two tree sitters in their second day of shutting down blasting on the Edwhite mountain top removal mine, to come down. Support crew delivered the sitters warm squash soup in their trees, but forgot to mention it. They came down voluntarily on the seventh day, suffering from sleep deprivation due to constant harassment by Massey employees. 3. Ford Addition’s Rock Creek grill chosen to cook the half of pig donated by a neighbor to Larry Gibson’s annual Fourth of July Celebration of the Mountains. The other half was donated to the Massey coal miners who live just down the road. Their BBQ must not have been as good as ours because a different miner came over to Larry’s for a hot dog, and is now a You Tube celebrity. 2. Two young women bump into some strip miners as they make their way up and out onto the three hundred foot boom where they shut the dragline down for half a day. Lt. Bowers had to go up and arrest them. Then they get charged with battery. Isn’t this a crazy town?
