Dear Friends,
“We
are not separate from the earth, nor anything in it or on it. We need to uplift everyone and everything… uplift
from meaninglessness.” I wish I had
said that. A man named Louis Savary did, expanding on the thought of the
Jesuit mystic Teilhard de Chardin. Chardin, Savary, Pope Francis along with
convinced pioneers from many nations and academic disciplines urge people to renew
the face of the Earth. We must do all we can to promote sustainable
development, human ecology and a slowing of climate change. Pope Francis,
speaking to an audience earlier this year, made an important connection for
believers in our creative God: "A Christian who does not protect creation, who
does not let it grow, is a Christian who does not care about the work of God.”
It is not enough to buy environmentally friendly products and recycle, although
these help. We need to dig deep, as it were, into the profound aspects of
change and collective human discipline and harness our collective efforts so as
hand over to future generations a treasured earth.
2015 will be a year of
information, affirmation and action by many individuals and groups spurring on a common
effort on behalf of our earth. Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment is due out this
summer. He will also address the UN in September on this compelling
issue in its multiple dimensions. The Milan Expo on Sustainability will
focus world attention on the work before us. A Vatican Summit
of the World’s Religions will add weight to the discussion, because, as
the Earth Day Network holds, “faith leaders have been a driving force behind
the most important and successful social movements.” Google The
Earth Charter and see the work that has been I progress since the 1992 Rio
Summit to develop a cohesive, clear set of goals to undergird efforts to
treasure the earth. Here is a sampling of it’s core elements. Use them to guide your own thinking as we
celebrate the 45th annual
EARTH DAY on April 22nd:
1.
Respect Earth
and life in all its diversity.
2.
Care for the community with understanding
compassion and love.
3.
Protect and restore the integrity of Earth’s
ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the
natural processes that sustain life.
4.
Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and
reproduction that safeguard Earth’s regenerative capacities, human rights, and
community well –being.
5.
Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and
environmental imperative.
6.
Strengthen democratic institutions at all
levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive
participation in decision making, and access to justice.
7.
Treat all living beings with respect and
consideration.
8.
Promote a culture of tolerance, non-violence and
peace.
There are eight more points of this breadth and scope. Each
sets forth objectives to make these
goals reachable.
Gasp! You can’t. I can’t.
But together we can move in this direction which is, if we think about
it an outline of what the Kingdom of God will be like in its completion.
~Sister Joan Sobala
