From what I understand Good Friday and Earth Day fall on the same day this year. Hooray! I, however, will not be giving Earth Day a moment’s thought after I write this post (unless I think of something demeaning and funny to say about it later.) On Good Friday I will likely pray and watch “The Passion of the Christ” on DVD, not meditate and watch “An Inconvenient Truth.”

But it seems that an office of the Episcopalian Church sees great significance in the confluence of the calendar and want everyone to remember that it’s Earth Day. They even go so far as to compare littering with a crucifixion. Yup.

The Daily Caller reports:

The Episcopal Church’s office of Economic and Environmental Affairs released a statement urging followers to stay mindful of global warming, recycling and reducing carbon dioxide emissions while celebrating the ancient Christian holiday in 2011.

“This year Earth Day falls within Holy Week, specifically on Good Friday, a profound coincidence,” said Mike Schut, a church spokesman. “To fully honor Earth Day, we need to reclaim the theology that knows Earth is ‘very good,’ is holy. When we fully recognize that, our actions just may begin to create a more sustainable, compassionate economy and way of life.”…

Schut continued: “On Good Friday, the day we mark the crucifixion of Christ, God in the flesh, might we suggest that when Earth is degraded, when species go extinct, that another part of God’s body experiences yet another sort of crucifixion — that another way of seeing and experiencing God is diminished?”

The church set up a website for the celebration of Earth Day, complete with links to resources on how to best get involved on the extra special day.

Seriously? So littering is like a crucifixion? I think it’s about time someone took away the fax machine from the Episcopal Church’s office of Economic and Environmental Affairs.

Or maybe we could all spend Good Friday journaling about how the Risen Lord is just really a great step in recycling?

This message from the Episcopalians does change my plans a bit for Good Friday. Now I’ve got to watch “The Passion” and pray while also running the dryer, the dishwasher, taking unnecessary trips in the minivan, and spraying aerosol cans, and …