Anyone following closely will notice that the 350.org blog is now cruising at a speed that almost no one can keep up with. There are just too many great things to report!
Well, here are 5 updates from 5 faiths — packed into one post (though really each of these deserves it’s own separate spotlight, if we had the time)…
1) The photo on the left is from a recent meditation gathering focused on 350 at the Zen meditation center in San Francisco, USA. It is the latest of the Buddhist communities worldwide taking action for 350, we will be seeing more Buddhist action on Saturday in Dharamsala, Kathmandu, and beyond.
2) We were honored to receive a great piece called "Noah" written by Ellen Bernstein, founder of the first national Jewish environmental organization, Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, discussing the great coincidence of October 24th landing on the Shabbat when Jewish communities read the story of Noah. We recently had another guest blog post about the same theme, and click here to read Ellen’s full piece.
3) The Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ here in the US overwhelmingly passed an official resolution to "Reverse Climate Change and Protect God’s Creation" which very explicitly sites below 350 as the necessary target for global CO2 levels. You can click here to read the full resolution.
4) While the underwater cabinet meeting held by the Maldives President is gaining most the media attention, there are actually more than 20 actions registered there for the 24th across the country, including a group who will be reciting portions of the Qur’an. The organizer’s goal was to have 350 people recite the Qur’an during the day, and to pray for the safety of the world and the Maldives. But it turns out there was more interest than expected so there will be 600+ people joining in the prayers, not to mention the many other activities taking place on the islands (and beneath the waves) that day.
5) In the remote foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, India, girls from the Lakshmi Ashram near the village of Kausani will head into town on the 24th to discuss 350 with everyone they can find in the village and connecting it with their Hindu faith.
So there you have it — just a taste of the amazing diversity of communities taking action for 350 from a faith perspective — Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Hindus. Beautiful.