EARTH DAY 2007

EARTH DAY 2007 Just one day in the year? Or one week? All year long, are we just passive voyeurs of planet earth? Do we act as though this planet will just manage to go on rotating, sustaining, living? From time to time we hear of animals that are on the threatened list or have already suffered extinction. Since we as individuals cannot do anything about this, we shrug our shoulders or allow some kind of exasperation escape from our nervous reaction, but mostly to no avail. We have to wonder which is more demoralizing: enjoying the present comfort the earth offers us or taking this comfort for granted. Are we like the man in the gospel story? Building bigger and better barns to h0ard our earth-giving sustenance, pleasures, refreshments, beauty in while ignoring the rest of earth which lies like a beggar at our doorsteps? How long can we ignore what is going on, what is going wrong, what we are letting go wrong with our mother planet? Is one day enough? Or should this one day be prelude and preparation for a year-long, a lifelong care of what we so easily take for granted, our planet earth? Pope Benedict XVI in his inaugural Mass in 2005 made this incisive observation: “The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore the earth's treasures no longer serve to build God's garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction.” What a vital insight! A treasure to be shared! Our internal deserts are our responsibility. Our internal deserts are the result of the lack of scriptural values in our lives, Our internal emptiness is reflected in the empty deserts of our earth. For example, What does the commandment "Thou shall not kill" mean when 20% of the world's population consumes resources at a rate that robs poorer nations and future generations of what they need to survive? What does it mean to respect life when 30,000 people die each day from poverty? What does it mean to be stewards of the earth when up to half of all living species are expected to become extinct in the next 200 years? To react by saying we won’t be around 200 years from now is a calloused disregard for our God-given mandate to care for our planet earth. For example, Science and technology have brought many blessings to human existence. Over the last 50 years those blessings have included a greater capacity to meet basic human needs. But the benefits of these advances have been spread unjustly, often with an adverse effect upon the world's most vulnerable populations. The existence of extreme poverty and environmental destruction in our world are not natural forces, nor acts of God, but result from human behavior. That behavior is driven by values, priorities and decisions which do not see human life as a paramount concern. Our world is facing an ecological crisis, which could equally be called an economic crisis, or a poverty crisis. Its public face is the suffering of the poor and the degradation of our environment, at a time when the accumulation of wealth and material goods has never occupied our attention and greed more. That is why we must see these crises primarily as spiritual and moral challenges. As always we the question comes down to, But what can I do? One work you can get involved in is helping our children, especially our little ones, come to a greater appreciation of all the wonders and sources of life our planet earth offers and asks us to preserve. For example, take the children into the yard and help them plant seeds. Help them to feel the dirt of earth pour through their fingers. Help them to watch and care for what they planted grow. Instill an enthusiasm in children emanating from your own dedication to the preservation of our planet earth. Allow your interior deserts to become oases of plush gospel values. Most of all, counteract taking for granted with a deep and dynamic attitude of gratitude.