Our Responsibility to the Earth

By Rev. Doc Lowrey

If the "First and Great Commandment" is "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul and with all thy mind." Matthew 22: 37-39 [KJV] there should be a lot of wonder about just what that means and how we accomplish it.

Jesus understood this complication and rightly followed with an extrapolation on this command in verse 39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

From this and other similar teachings from Jesus, we understand that this is pretty much the whole of his religion, but we often fail to see how this applies in our various life situations.

Jesus pointed out in the parable of the Good Samaritan that we apply this principle by caring for whomever (and I would add whatever) is placed in our path.  Luke 10:25-37 [KJV]
 ²⁵And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
 ²⁶He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
 ²⁷And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
 ²⁸And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
 ²⁹But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
 ³⁰And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
 ³¹And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
 ³²And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
 ³³But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
 ³⁴And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
 ³⁵And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
 ³⁶Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
 ³⁷And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

It only makes sense that if we truly love god, that we can only give expression to that love by showing consideration and attention to that which god has created.  Interacting with the creations of god are the only way we can directly interact with god and this is what Jesus here points out; that if we love god, we love that which god loves and show it by our behavior.

I believe that this injunction extends not only to other humans but to ALL of god's creation and that the parable of the good Samaritan is an example of how we should treat all things.

As Americans especially (citizens of the USA) is the fallout from not practicing this principle overwhelmingly self-evident.  Our Imperialist behavior has destroyed or debilitated life for millions of our "neighbors", both human and animal and it has rightly earned us the hatred of the whole world.

But our collective disrespect for this dictum of god applies equally to the earth, the air, the water that we all require to survive and reach the potentials for which we were created.

This whole last week saw a climate accord meeting held in Durban, South Africa where the destruction of our habitat was mostly ignored by the two countries who together contribute at least half of the spoilation of god's creation on which we depend.  One of those two countries was the USA, where we purport to be the protectors and preservers of all that is good and right in the world.

How sad it is that as all our "leaders" pound their chests and proclaim their fidelity to "GOD" and "THE PEOPLE" that their actual behavior shows nothing but profound and overwhelming disrespect and disregard for everyone and everything, except the lining of their own pockets.

It is hard for me to focus where I would like - on the earth - when our crimes against humanity and the animal world have been so horrendous but I do want to make that point; that our disrespect for the earth and our unwillingness to take bold steps to heal the damage we have done shows a distinct lack of love for god and our fellowman. (as well as everything else)

We must take our "leaders" to task on environmental issues, demanding immediate action to restore (if that can be done) what has been destroyed and initiate actions that will prevent future damage to earth.  Our total failure of World Leadership on this issue is disheartening.

I don't know that we should expect much different when the value of even human life is shown to be...essentially non-existant - and it would seem that our exercises in world aid is essentially a lifeless show, a shallow public relations stunt that makes good press at home, but is seen for what it is where it is received - and like in the story of the Widow's Mite in Luke 21:2-4 where Christ praised a poor widow who gave just a tiny amount as an offering--but it was all she had. What is important is not the amount of time or money you give in service; but how selfless and generous you are with the resources you've been given, great or small.

What is more genuine--a rich man who gives a small portion of his vast wealth to charity, or a poor person who gives all that they own? Jesus challenges us to reconsider what true love and charity means. It is a matter of the spirit in which you give. 


So, what spirit do we express when we pollute the earth and deprive ourselves and our neighbors of life and the means of living?


Can we claim to be a "Christian" nation or a "God fearing" (respecting) people when we murder and destroy god's creations?

[ I must add as an aside that to me the term "Christian Nation" means only that we conduct ourselves according to what Jesus claimed was the foundation of his religion - the Golden Rule and that to "Fear God", does not mean to be afraid but to respect god by loving, respecting and caring for all that god created. ]


Certainly, none of us can live this law perfectly, but we can make the attempt and learn to feel genuinely about love, gratitude and neighborliness.


If we in the USA consider ourselves the leaders of the "Free World" we certainly must reverse the current situation where we stand last to make sacrifices to save the world and it's inhabitants and learn to love and respect the earth and treat our neighbor as we would be treated.


Each of us as individuals can do all that we can do and eradicate our bad and un-neighborly habits, while we adjure and hold accountable those to whom we give power to take action on the world stage for us.

If we fail again to show a little resolve now, we will certainly experience tremendous, and likely irreversible suffering later.

Church News - June Update...ummmm......in September!

by Doc
Well, we're still trying to get settled in Michigan.  I damaged a nerve (pruning trees) about a week after we moved (two years ago) and it is still not better.  Pretty much put me out of commission for most of the first year here.  I had to re-learn to do everything and dropped (and broke) several items because my sense of touch was all messed up.  It also has made my healing work very difficult, but thankfully I am still able to heal people.  Unfortunately, few seem interested in healing that is not medical or magic!  I don't get it.

Since January 2008 (Happy Valley Massacre') I have had to devote most of my time to fighting Utah Government on the city, county and state levels in separate actions where they have violated our personal and organizational religious and civil rights.  This has finally been resolved as the Utah Court of Appeals has refused to review our case with the state.  So the last 3 years have been exhausting and sadly unproductive.

I resigned as CEO and head pastor of the Utah church May 1, 2010 because the govt. business required so much time.  Our previous plans to open a 2nd church in Michigan had also been put on hold, but we were able eventually to save enough to make that move. 

Unfortunately, the new Utah CEO was not able to meet the financial needs of keeping the ministry open and all that we had saved to get established in Michigan had to be sent back to Utah.  The new Utah UBU Board had committed to reimburse that fund and make regular donations to get us started in Michigan, but they decided to renege on that offer and so we were left high and dry in a place where no-one seemed to remember us.  I was very surprised as I had expected a large and immediate surge of local support here.

The other ministers who had committed to either stay and work in Utah or come with Kita and I to Michigan also crapped out on us, so it left just Kita and myself to get established here. 

Then after about three months, the Utah Board decided to dissolve the Utah Ministry completely and donate all the church property to itself, reorganizing as a non-religious organization. 

So what was a full service church that practiced tattooing and piercing as spiritual services, became a tattoo shop only.  I feel that we were scammed, but I also recognized after 11 years of effort that there was not much support for our church in Utah except for tattoos and piercings, which was the least part of what we were about.

So the Mormons pretty much got their way and squashed another non-Mormon church - but only in Utah.
They had to do it by lying and violating our Constitutional Rights and using deception to refuse to hear our case, but this is what everyone in Utah knows as the "Utah Way".

We organized as an independent church here in Michigan but have not been able to get a building or do much promotional work as that is primarily my job and I've been even more disabled than before. 

We tried having live church internet broadcasts, but that suffered from (mostly no experience or expertise) and I was incredibly boring without prepared remarks and no production assistance. 

We do want to try this again though. 

Our Board of Trustees has only 3 members so far and we have found that because of the Utah attacks on our religious exercise, some potential trustees here in Michigan are afraid to be involved in an administrative capacity. Rev. Kita, though a trustee has opted to take a more supportive than active role.  So, basically we have been down - but not out.

We have been flooded, had our finances scammed away, been set back by physical injuries and taken up with answering the illegal actions of Utah government.  I also had to take several months to go to Ohio to care for my dying mother and conduct her funeral services in three separate states.  It has been a rocky beginning to be sure.

We have been enjoying the company of some of our children and grandchildren who live here and due to my mother's death had the unexpected opportunity to have all of our 6 children and 11 grandchildren here at the same time.  It will probably never happen again.

While my health has not really improved, my relearning to function physically has been making some progress and it looks like I will be able to re-take an active position in the ministry here, probably beginning in October, 2011.

I will be writing, perhaps taking up the music portion of the ministry again - though I thought I would never be able to play guitar again, it seems that ability is gradually returning with retraining, and we will also be looking for a building for public meetings, healing and counseling services and trying again at live streaming internet meetings which will be on this website. 

We have not quite figured out how to offer tattoo and piercing services and still have people recognize that we are a church and not a tattoo shop, although when we were previously in Michigan (before Utah) we had no trouble with the government recognizing us as a church in spite of us seeing tattoos as spiritual.  So we will primarily be focusing on the other services of the ministry at least for the present.

While I am still living and breathing, I will be actively offering spiritual service and keeping my commitment to God (whatever God is) and myself to serve others and promote the genuine teachings of Jesus and other like-minded teachers of a higher path.

I am very anxious to be fully engaged again in this work and hope that my next church news report will be full of good and positive news and not as negative as this has seemed to be to me.  You can see why it has taken me so long to get around to it. 

I am anxious for the joy to return.  I hope there will be many of you to share it with us.

It is overcoming obstacles that makes us strong and develops our spiritual understanding.  It is true that the exercise of faith precedes the miracle and I am grateful that my life struggles have only strengthened my beliefs - now I am ready for the miracles to continue on a much larger scale.

Especially in these desperate times do people need to be aware of their personal value and the opportunities that await them as they put into practice the principles of respect for God's creation and creatures.

The foundation of my spiritual practice is found in the New Testament, Matthew 7:12, but this same teaching exists in all major religions and it does so because it is true.  It is true for us all and is the only path that elevates us above our basic destructive animal instincts.  This is the challenge for us all.  The road may occasionally be painful and rocky, but the promised rewards for "trying it out" are real and available to anyone who will make the experiment.  Truth never fails - only we can fail to cling to it.  Hang in there and don't stop believing.  Be a good neighbor.

UBU Church Update Due Next Week!