April 2020 Newsletter
I hope and trust that this monthly newsletter finds you all safe and healthy. My heart goes out to each of you who have lost loved ones. I hope that you are dealing as well as possible with the physical isolation the current crisis is imposing and I hope that you are remaining socially connected in myriad ways. Indeed, from what many of you have shared with me, I am well aware and very impressed by all you are doing. But I also recognize just how difficult it is to carry on amidst the death and suffering we see on our television screens daily.
Additionally, some of us are facing an added burden due to ignorance and bigotry arising from the coronavirus crisis. We’ve seen growing numbers of hate crimes perpetuated against individuals of Chinese descent and, as Dana Milbank wrote is a recent Washington Post column, anti-Semitic attacks are becoming increasingly common as well. He mentions one such example experienced by Clergy Letter Project member Rabbi Jeremy Kridel and his congregation during a Zoom service and quotes Jeremy as saying, “This is just another indication of the fact that the current crisis isn’t the only one we face.”
If you’re like me, so much of “normal” life seems trivial at this trying time. It is important, however, to work past our despair, as hard as that might be. Although I’ve shared this with you last month, here again is an essay I recently wrote on this topic.
With all of this in mind, what follows are items heavily focused on both the Coronavirus crisis and Earth Day.
In this Clergy Letter Project update, you’ll find the following seven items:
- American Religious Sounds Project;
- Astrobiology News for April 2020: Caring for the Earth and All its Inhabitants while #AloneTogether;
- Earth Day, Covid-19 and the Climate Crisis at Riverside Church, NYC;
- Moving Through Fear in the Climate and Ecological Emergency;
- The Climate Crisis Letter;
- A Vindication of Evolution in these Times of Coronavirus; and
- Francis Collins on Science and Faith During Covid-19.
1. American Religious Sounds Project
I thought many of you might be interested in participating in the American Religious Sounds Project jointly run by The Ohio State University and Michigan State University. Their website has issued a “call for sounds.” “Are you part of a religious or spiritual community that has changed its practices due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Are you now participating in worship services online, meeting in small groups, or observing alone at home? What does your religious or spiritual practice sound like during this difficult time? The American Religious Sounds Project wants to hear from you!” Hope you find this useful.
2. Astrobiology News for April 2020: Caring for the Earth and All its Inhabitants while #AloneTogether
In this month’s Astrobiology News, Clergy Letter Project consultant and Adler Planetarium astronomer Grace Wolf-Chase shares a host of fascinating resources and opportunities associated with Earth Day. You might also want to check out this interview that Grace did with our good friends at Sinai and Synapses.
Seven years ago, during April 2013, I started writing monthly Clergy Letter Project columns on astrobiology, the multidisciplinary field that evolved from what was called “exobiology” when NASA began efforts to detect extraterrestrial life in the 1950s. NASA’s exobiology program laid the groundwork for the broader approach of astrobiology, which includes a focus on how our planet fits into the study of the origin, evolution, and future of life in the Universe.(1) With Earth Day approaching on April 22nd, and with the multitude of crises our planet presently faces, it seems appropriate to focus this month’s attention on the only currently-known abode of life in the Universe. To quote from the CLP’s Climate Crisis Letter, “Scientific understandings and religious teachings alike teach us that we are connected as one human family and, further, we are connected to all life. Thus, our own survival is inextricably connected to the responsible stewardship of the Earth and all its creatures.”
Although the Adler Planetarium remains closed this month, we’ve been developing many remote programs, as well as allocating resources for assisting COVID-19 first responders and researchers who are constructing models to help develop a vaccine.(2) Like all of you, we’ve been exploring different ways we can make a meaningful difference during this unprecedented mode of operation! How can we all help planet Earth while #AloneTogether? On Friday, April 24th, the Adler’s Vice President for Citizen Science, Laura Trouille, will speak with Ira Flatow on the NPR program Science Friday(3)about how Zooniverse(4) has been helping people feel connected and part of something bigger during these challenging times.
During a single week of isolation, 25,000 new people registered with Zooniverse and 216,000 participants made 5.2 million classifications across 100 active projects! Participation hours amounted to 48 full-time employees working for a year or 1 person working for 48 years! Comments from researchers leading projects and participants alike have been equally gratifying: A researcher from the Rainfall Rescue project exclaimed, “Never imagined we would complete a whole decade in 1 day!”, while one Texas participant emailed, “Doing what y’all are doing gives all of us a healthy distraction from the rough situation we find ourselves in at the moment. God bless all of you, keep calm, and keep on keeping on.” Meanwhile a Gravity Spy participant posted in the discussion forum, “My thoughts and prayers will be with you and all the team and your families too, wishing you all good health, and good progress with everything. And thank you all again, on behalf of the whole community, for keeping these marvelous science machines running and honing them to their quantum limits, and for the opportunity to contribute to this exciting effort!”
Want to join the fun and experience a unique kind of fellowship? During her Science Friday interview on April 24th, Laura will supply details of a classification challenge that will take place the following week during a special Science Friday Facebook and Zoom Live interactive event. I encourage everyone to tune in, and I encourage you to use this special Zooniverse Projects link(5) whenever you participate in any Zooniverse project – this link is provided just for CLP members, family and friends, so we can track how we’re reaching new audiences.
Stay healthy #AloneTogether!
Until next month,
Grace Wolf-Chase, Ph.D. (gwolfchase@adlerplanetarium.org)
1. https://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/astrobiology.html
2. https://wbbm780.radio.com/articles/adler-cranks-out-face-shields-for-first-respondersv
3. https://www.sciencefriday.com/
4. https://www.zooniverse.org/
5. https://zooniverse.org/projects?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=projects-CLP
3. Earth Day, Covid-19 and the Climate Crisis at Riverside Church, NYC
Clergy Letter Project member Rev. Jim Antal, special advisor on climate justice to the General Minister of the United Church of Christ, will be preaching on-line at Riverside Church, NYC on Sunday, 19 April. He’ll be focusing on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Covid-19 and the climate crisis. Riverside's website is: https://www.trcnyc.org/. The service begins at 10:45 am, but the service will be available on-line after that time as well. Additionally, around noon, Riverside will host a Zoom conversation on the same topic in which Jim will participate.
4. Moving Through Fear in the Climate and Ecological Emergency
The Rev. Jeff Golliher, Clergy Letter Project member and Assisting Minister Provincial for Sacred Ecology, TSSF, Province of the Americas and Sullivan-Rondout Episcopal Missioner in the Episcopal Diocese of New York, has written a striking letter about the fear we might feel from the existential threat posed by climate change. (And I might add that his point is readily adaptable to the Covid-19 crisis as well.)
He argues that “we are called to facilitate the miracle that we all need – to work through our fear faithfully, finding the courage to love…. Survival depends on whether we're willing to do that: to move out of our comfort zones, take up our crosses, and fall in love again with God and God's Creation.” Take a look at his full letter; I’m confident that you won’t be disappointed.
5. The Climate Crisis Letter
If you haven’t yet done so, the approach of Earth Day would be a wonderful time to add your signature to our Climate Crisis Letter. I’ve written enough about this Letter since its inception that I don’t need to say more now – but, please, if your signature is not yet on it, let me know and I’ll add it immediately. The crisis is real and our collective voice is important.
6. A Vindication of Evolution in these Times of Coronavirus
I thought you might find this short essay discussing the evolution of the coronavirus interesting. It was written by Dr. Jorge Crisci, an emeritus professor of biology at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Argentina, and its content is accessible to non-specialists.
7. Francis Collins on Science and Faith During Covid-19
Dr. Francis Collins, a member of our list of scientific consultants, the director of the NIH and the founder of BioLogos, recently answered questions about Covid-19 and discussed how the church and Christian faith might respond during this challenging time in a podcast produced by BioLogos. I suspect you’ll find his remarks valuable.
Concluding Thoughts
I’ll end this newsletter the same way I began it: I hope all of you, your relatives and friends are healthy. I also hope you found some information in this month’s newsletter that was both useful and engaging. Be well and practice effective physical distancing.
Finally, as always, I want to thank you for your continued support and as I do every month, I urge you to take one simple action. Please share this month’s Newsletter with a colleague or two (or post a link via any social media platform you use) and ask them to add their voices to those promoting a deep and meaningful understanding between religion and science. They can add their signatures to one of our Clergy Letters simply by dropping me a note at mz@theclergyletterproject.org. Together we are making a difference.
Michael
Michael Zimmerman
Founder and Executive Director
The Clergy Letter Project
www.theclergyletterproject.org
mz@theclergyletterproject.org