Reflection
As we hear of raging wild fires and record breaking temperatures across our planet it is deeply disturbing. If we are not disturbed, we are not paying serious attention. We have not summoned the will as a species to preserve our own habitat. We have not shown the gratitude as a thinking race for God’s abundant and beautiful gift. The concept of a deeply spiritual earth may seem strange to our western culture. We are used to identifying the sacred with our places of worship. The rest of the earth is often considered a resource or simply real estate. Yet, deep within us there is an awe and a sense of mystery in response to the natural world. Our imagination and our sense of the divine reflect our experience of earth’s extravagant beauty. No matter where we are we can find the spiritual source in the revelation of nature. Yet, our own lack of reality in light of the profound effects of our own lifestyles is increasingly destroying what is most essential to the life we cherish.
Prayer
How magnificent are your works, O God.
Psalm 95:2
Action
Allow yourself time to be in touch with the natural world. Reflect on the amazing creation of which we are a part. Let this awareness shape your actions. Become aware of the signs that Earth is giving in response to human destructive actions. Pay attention to climate disruptions across this planet. Consider that human beings may be an invasive species being violently rejected by Earth’s system s.Be willing to change and support changes.
Suggested Reading
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matt 6:28-29
The time for seeking global solutions is running out. We can find suitable solutions only if we act together and in agreement.
Pope Francis
The divine communicates to us primarily through the language of the natural world. Not to hear the natural world is not to hear the divine.
Thomas Berry
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
Albert Einstein
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
Eleonora Duse
The earth has a rising fever and it will not heal by itself. Something basic is wrong. We are what is wrong, and we must make it right.
Al Gore
Nature is the one song of praise that never stops singing.
Richard Rohr
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.
John Muir
The world is reaching the tipping point beyond which climate change may become irreversible. If this happens, we risk denying present and future generations the right to a healthy and sustainable planet – the whole of humanity stands to lose.”
Kofi Annan
“One can see from space how the human race has changed the Earth. Nearly all of the available land has been cleared of forest and is now used for agriculture or urban development. The polar icecaps are shrinking and the desert areas are increasing. At night, the Earth is no longer dark, but large areas are lit up. All of this is evidence that human exploitation of the planet is reaching a critical limit. But human demands and expectations are ever-increasing. We cannot continue to pollute the atmosphere, poison the ocean and exhaust the land. There isn’t any more available.
Stephen Hawking