The following meditation written by Ferrella March (St. Paul's Cathedral-OKC) was posted the week of January 6, 2012 on the Whole Creation Community Facebook page.  Please continue to join Whole Creation Community in daily devotion  http://stpaulsokc.org/whole-creation. 

I still have my Christmas tree up which illuminates the room in hues of blue. I still have my lights in the yard and on the wreath that hangs above the window sill. Although Christmas has come and gone, the star still shines bright in the night sky. As gifts of the season become a thought of the past, the future of creation depends on how we choose to act. We have waited with anticipation. We have followed the star to a destination. We have come to realize our purpose in this life as stewards of creation. What will our actions be as we enter into 2013? Ferrella

Focus Story

This week's focus story is submitted by Everett McPhail who is a parishioner at St. Paul's Cathedral in OKC. Over the years, he has created reusable items from plastic shopping bags. Some of these items include shopping bags, purses, hats, belts, and sleeping mats for homeless individuals. It all begins with "plarn" which is a sort of plastic yarn ball. The "plarn" is used to crochet wonderful items that can be reused instead of ending up in a landfill.  Below is Everett's story.  Maybe this is an activity your congregation would be interested in doing this year.

A Little "Plarn" Goes a Long Way Toward Caring for God's Creation

Submitted by:  Everett McPhail-St. Paul's Cathedral, OKC

I have been scuba diving since the age of 13 and have had the opportunity to dive many different places throughout my life. I feel that one of the finest examples of God's most beautiful work can be found in the depths of our oceans and lakes. There are many places that I like to return to whenever I have the opportunity. Over the decades of diving, I have personally observed the destruction and aftermath that we as a society have done to our oceans and environment. Seeing first -hand the large areas of reef structures destroyed, animals laid to waist and pollution going into our ecosystem saddens me. This brought me to the point where I felt we as a society had an obligation to make a change. One of the largest pollutants that we as a society contribute on a daily basis is the disposal of single use plastics. These are the plastics that we use throughout our daily lives that have been made for our convenience; unfortunately that convenience comes with a heavy price. The plastic bottles and bags are not only filling up our land fills, but our oceans too.

I knew I wanted to make a change, and what better place than to start with myself and teach others along the way.  A small group of friends and I started to educate others while reinventing the use of plastic items and utilizing these items to the betterment of others.  We encourage a group of people to bring all of their plastic shopping bags and have a great day of fun and fellowship. At the same time we teach people how to take their plastic sacks and turn them into "plarn" a plastic yarn. We then utilize the plarn to crochet various items that can be reused in daily life. We often make shopping bags, coozies, hats, belts, cinctures, purses the sky is the limit. All the money raised from items sold is then given to local food banks, shelters, or environmental causes. One of our favorite items to make is a full length sleeping mat which can be donated to shelters for distribution to those in need. 

We find that these events are not only fun and helps a great cause, but it is a good opportunity to educate others on the many things we as individuals can do to help. This instantly has a multifaceted benefit to our society. We educate, fellowship, reinvent the use of an item, all while helping others in need while helping the environment.