Earth Hour Is Almost Here

News from the Earth Hour team

MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO BUILD: With just a few days to go, Earth Hour continues to gain support in cities, with government leaders and celebrities, in the media, and on social networking sites.

MORE ICONS ANNOUNCE THEY’LL GO DARK: The Pyramids in Egypt, the Acropolis in Athens, the Broadway Theater District, the Space Needle in Seattle, and the Chrysler Building in New York have come on board over the past few days.

TUNE IN TO LARRY KING LIVE: Actor and Earth Hour USA Ambassador Edward Norton will talk with Larry King about Earth Hour this Wednesday, March 25th at 9 pm ET on CNN. Don’t miss it!

YOKO ONO PLEDGES TO TURN OUT AND TWEETS FOR EARTH HOUR: “Dear Friends, Join EARTH HOUR and turn off your lights at 8.30pm local time for one hour this Sat 28th March. I will be thinking of all of you when I do it here in my apartment. Lots of love, yoko” Read more here.

READ ALL ABOUT IT: Earth Hour coverage breaks nationally this week, with articles in People Magazine and The New York Times.

RANDOM EARTH HOUR STAT: The official Earth Hour video is viewed online every 3.3 seconds…

TURNING OUT THE LIGHTS IS JUST THE BEGINNING: Let Congress know you care about the future of our planet and are looking to them to take action in support of climate legislation. Send a letter to your Member of Congress and Senators with a few mouse clicks at the Earth Hour website!

Swag… Limited edition t-shirts, hats and bags are still available for sale in both adult and child sizes. A portion of the proceeds benefits WWF’s global conservation work.

DOING SOMETHING COOL FOR EARTH HOUR? Tell us about it! Drop us an email atEarthHourPR@wwfus.org and let us know how you plan to celebrate the largest climate shout-out in history.

SPREAD THE WORD! Tell your friends, colleagues, and family members to sign up on the Earth Hour website so we can count their Vote for our Earth! Details for taking part in this historic call for global action on climate change can be found at www.EarthHourUS.org.

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Reflections for the Fourth Week of Lent

We are now well into the Fourth week of Lent though from my perspective the concern for creation and the pollution of our environment that we are focusing on this week is just beginning.  If you have not done it yet take time to check out your eco footprint.  and think about what you could do to reduce it to a sustainable level.  You might also like to check out Earth Hour and participate in an hour without power.  We are planning a game night by candlelight. 

Here is Seattle the Fairmont Olympic hotel will host a candlelit dinner in its luxury Georgian restaurant. In Melbourne, the Australian city will host a people-pedal-powered concert. In Athens, a conductor will lead a percussion circle as the Acropolis dims its lights.  read more

OK so enough of my ramblings.  Here are some additional posts for the Lenten synchroblog that you might like to check out.

Tom Grosh reflects on poverty and hunger

My apologies for missing out on this excellent reflection that Carol Collins posted at the beginning of Lent too.  read here

For those of you that want to look ahead to the next week of lenten reflections focusing on the brokenness within the church, today is Oscar Romero Day – a great opportunity to reflect on those who have lost their lives for the principles of the gospel.  Read Eliacin Rosario Cruz’s excellent reflection here

“Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, ‘Thou shalt not kill’. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders. The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. …In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression”

What’s New At the Lenten Synchroblog

Its Friday and I feel as though the week has gotten away with me.  Lent is meant to be a time of reflection and retreat but this week has certainly not been like that.  Fortunately next week should be different as Tom and I are heading away for one of our 3 monthly retreats Wednesday through Friday.  I am looking forward to this time of refocusing to round off my own Lenten journey this year.

So what’s new from our synchroblog participants?

From Theresa Grosh: Recapping the Second Week of Lent

JR Woodward:Reflects on Homelessness in  Observing Lent Week Three

For those of you who are reflecting on the Brokenness of Creation this next week and are looking for ways to observe this you might like to consider Earth Hour March 28th

T’S OFFICIAL: With more than 1,800 cities already on board, Earth Hour is set to be the biggest public event of its kind in history. In the U.S., 140 cities, towns and communities have now pledged to “turn out” for the largest climate event ever, with more signing up each day. A complete list of U.S. cities can be found at: www.EarthHourUS.org/map.php. Time is running out, but it’s not too late to sign up your community or school. Visit www.EarthHourUS.org for all the details.

U.N. TURNS OUT FOR EARTH HOUR: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling upon the citizens of the world to participate in Earth Hour. Click here to see his video statement.

STARS SHINE BRIGHT IN HOLLYWOOD: The sets for the television shows CSI, Dancing with the Stars, The Price is Right and Entertainment Tonight will go dark for Earth Hour. Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Dancing‘s Tom Bergeron, ET‘s Mary Hart, George Lopez, Will. I. Am, Edward James Olmos, Isabella Rossellini, Donny & Marie Osmond, Ashley Judd, Backstreet Boys, and Linkin Park are among the growing list of celebrities pledging to turn out for Earth Hour.

VOTE EARTH! Turning out the lights is just the beginning! Let Congress know you care about the future of our planet and are looking to them to take action in support of climate legislation. You can send a letter to your Member of Congress and Senators with a few mouse clicks at the Earth Hour website!

The lights are on

Saturday night for Earth Hour we held a community game night during Earth Hour.  Have you ever tried playing Balderdash by candlelight?  It was not always easy to read the cards but we had a great time and are considering shutting off the lights once a month for a similar evening.  We realized that this was a wonderful way to slow down and enjoy community and would highly recommend it not just to save energy but because of how it can foster relationship.  Maybe we should all invite our friends over for a candle lit games night and see what happens.

Unfortunately looking out over Seattle it did not look as though many others joined us in this venture.  However even a few lights turned off can make a difference.

Sydney switches off the lights

Here is a great video of the Sydney skyline last night – with the harbour bridge and opera house lights going dark.

Earth Hour Prayer

Saturday evening at 8pm is the time that we are asked to turn off our lights for an hour for Earth Hour. We are thinking of hold a games evening by candlelight & firelight. I think that this would also be a good time for some quiet meditation. Here is a great Celtic prayer that is very powerful to use by candlelight.

Christ as a light, illumine and guide us.
Christ as a shield, overshadow and cover us,
Christ be under us, Christ be over us,
Christ be before us, Christ be behind us,
Christ be within us, Christ be without us,
Christ as a light illumine and guide us