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Faith leaders tie climate change to their scriptures at Rothko Chapel prayer service

By Nicole Hensley Updated 7:27 pm CST, Saturday, November 17, 2018

Members of different faith traditions listen during the 34th Annual Houston Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018. Leaders and members from myriad faith traditions including Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Zoroastrian were invited to share prayer or reflection on the theme “care for creation.” Photo: Mark Mulligan, Staff Photographer / © 2018 Mark Mulligan / Houston Chronicle

Photo: Mark Mulligan, Staff Photographer Image 1 of 4 Members of different faith traditions listen during the 34th Annual Houston Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018. Leaders and members from myriad faith ... more

Many of the faiths represented at the Rothko Chapel Thursday evening in one way or another agree that the world and all its creatures depend on healthy oceans, forests and plains to thrive.

But the Earth is in trouble. That was the warning that opened the annual Thanksgiving Service in the quiet Montrose area refuge. Nine of the major religions in the Houston area were asked to look through their ancient texts for the theme “Caring for Creation” and explain how each faith — Hindu, Baha’i, Islam, Christian, Jewish, Buddhism, Sikh, Jain and Zoroastrian — interprets environmental stewardship. Recommended Video

“Rising temperatures, increasing levels of CO2, communities literally in peril due to rising sea levels, super storms and wildfires. All of this creates an uncertain future,” said David Leslie, executive director of the Rothko Chapel.

Representing the Hindu faith, Kavita Vachaknavee chanted that to survive, humans require food, water and air. All of those elements were created before “we appeared on the earth,” she recited.

Rong Tong chanted a sutra asking Buddha how to awake the mind. In Chinese, Tong then read that leading all living beings to Nirvana is essential. That includes caring for the environment, explained Charlene Chuang, a member of the Texas Buddhist Association.

While more millions adhere to the Baha’i faith worldwide, Shapour Masrour is one the thousand or so worshippers in the Houston area. He hailed the religion, founded in the mid-19th century in Iran, for its harmony with science.

“Science has been teaching us, undoubtedly, that there is proof that a lot of human activity is detrimental to the health of the planet,” Masrour said, citing polluted oceans, air and climate change.

“We need to heed what science is teaching us in order to improve the health of the planet,” he said.

The theme was a sobering reflection of our warming planet, where more than a thousand miles to the west of Houston, one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history is responsible for killing more than 50 people in northern California. An abundance of dryer vegetation and warmer conditions is kindling for fires, such as the Camp Fire, to rage out of control. The massive blaze has left at least 56 people dead, destroyed more than 10,300 structures and burned 140,000 acres.

In her opening remarks, one of the event’s founding organizers, Garland Pohl, cited the wildfires as one of the trademark attributes of the dire straits many believe the warming planet is faces.

“To all of us who are religious and believe there is a creator, we also believe in the continuation of that creation,” Pohl said. “That it is a God-given mandate that we continue what has been given to us.”

It was the 34th time Pohl helped organize the prayer service, following its inception after the 1985 bombing of the Masjid Daar US Salaam mosque in southwest Houston. The bombing was especially shocking, Pohl said, because Houston’s Muslim community feared it was a hate crime. It took place as Shiite terrorists hijacked TWA Flight 847 and held several American passengers hostage in Lebanon.

“It was sort of a wake-up call that not everybody is friendly,” Pohl recalled.

The two men responsible for the bombing were depicted as vandals, rather than holding political or racial grudge at the time of their conviction, according to news reports at the time. The duo planted similar devices in a car, portable toilet and a telephone booth.

The bombing, regardless of its motivation, set in motion the start of the annual service, which takes place a week before the unrelated Thanksgiving holiday. The committee she serves tapped the Rothko Chapel to host the event because of its lack of religious affiliation.

Unlike this year, the committee typically selects a theme and asks religious leaders to find relevant sermons. Past themes have included “Healing the Human Family” in 1993, “Visions for a Harmonious Millennium” in 1999 and “Prayer and Meditation” in 2001. There was no theme the first year of the service.