Choose Life this Earth Day
“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.” — Deuteronomy 30:19
There are communities across the earth living in conditions that feel like hell on earth, and truth-telling is part of our discipleship. We have chosen energy that is cheap but costly to life, drawing from what poisons rather than what sustains. And the burden has not been shared equally. Those already pushed to the margins breathe the dirtiest air, drink contaminated water, and face the harshest edges of a warming world.
Even now, creation bears witness. In Iran, fires from oil have darkened the sky, and rain has fallen carrying toxins back to the ground. Land, water, and bodies absorb what we have released. Farmers and fishing communities are being displaced, their ways of life unraveling.
Yet God has not left us without a path. The sun still rises. The wind still moves. These are gifts that give life without taking it.
Earth justice is a sacred calling. To choose life is to invest in what heals, to protect the vulnerable, and to honor creation as God’s beloved. Today, we are invited again: choose life, for the sake of all who dwell on this earth, and for generations yet to come.
Come and join the following activities in observance of Earth Day this weekend:
Saturday, April 18
Beloved Earth Community screening of The Milagro Beanfield War followed by talkback.
Find more information here: https://www.trcnyc.org/event/the-milagro-beanfield-war-film-by-robert-redford/
Sunday, April 19
Earth Sunday Sermon and Sermon talkback on Race and Climate Justice by Rev Derrick Weston from Creation Justice Ministries.
Beloved Earth Community’s Annual Cosmic Walk in South Hall joined by Sharing Fund recipient Women’s Press Collective
This year’s annual Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony, organized by Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle-Families Forum will be streamed worldwide.
A special evening in-person viewing of this ceremony will take place on April 20 at B’nai Jeshurun, 257 West 88th Street, at 5:45 p.m. so that working people can attend. Join this moving event, in a room filled with people from different faiths and backgrounds or view remotely at 1:30pm. Register here for in-person or remote viewing: We Are the Day After: 21st Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony – B’nai Jeshurun
Close Rikers
First 100 Days Recommendations for the Mamdani Administration
To help get the City back on track toward closing Rikers, Close Rikers has released an updated report tracking progress on the administration’s implementation of these recommendations. Overall, we’re encouraged by the important steps Mayor Mamdani has taken so far. However, significant work remains—especially in reducing the jail population and ensuring the City budget fully supports this goal.
Join our next campaign meeting
Tuesday, April 21 at 2:00 PM
We’ll review the Progress Report together and discuss key updates and next steps.
Register Here
Email Gov.Hochul: Tax The Rich!
You pay your taxes. So do millions of working-class New Yorkers. But the rich? Wealthy corporations? They do not pay what they owe. Sign the letter to Governor Hochul, Senate Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie calling on them to tax the rich: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-legislator-fund-universal-child-care-and-tax-the-rich?link_id=8&can_id=ea9f5f091affe92574fb7981036acb62&source=email-its-time-for-the-rich-to-pay-what-they-owe&email_referrer=email_3196080&email_subject=its-time-for-the-rich-to-pay-what-they-owe-__&&