Praying for Peace and Justice on May 26, 2024
My heart sank when I read some news this week about the impacts of climate change wrought upon Earth. To name and face the suffering in our world is an act of courage says Buddhist Thich Nhat Hahn, an act expressed by those dedicated to the healing of the world, as we are.
- 5/15 – New CO2 finding from ice core samples from Antarctica: – “CO2 Rising 10 Times Faster Than Any Time in Recorded History of 50,000 years.” The rate of this unprecedented increase is because capacity of the Southern oceans cto absorb CO2 is weakening as a result of global warming. (“Unprecedented” – CO2 Rising 10 Times Faster Than Any Time in Recorded History (scitechdaily.com))
[Pause and take a breath.]
- 5/23 – Rivers of Orange in Alaska
In a process called weathering, melting permafrost exposed to oxygen is releasing mineral deposits, turning rivers and streams bright orange and rendering them undrinkable and unhealthy for wildlife. (Alaska’s rivers are turning bright orange and as acidic as vinegar as toxic metal escapes from melting permafrost | Live Science)
[Pause and take a breath.]
And lastly, but certainly not all there is:
- Pope Francis, who is also been bravely speaking for the healing of the world, said during a new CBS special “Pope Francis: The First,”: “Climate at this moment is the road to death.” [Pause a take a breath.] Wow. Francis pointed clearly to the source, the wealthy countries dependent upon fossil fuels. “They are the countries that can make the most difference, given their industry and all, aren’t they?” And his Earth Day message last month expressed this admonition. “We are called to become artisans and caretakers of our common home, the Earth which is ‘falling into ruin.'”(Watch CBS News Specials Season 2024 Episode 3: POPE FRANCIS: THE FIRST with Norah O’Donnell – Full show on CBS)
Indeed we are called to become artisans and caretakers. As if the Holy One, Source of Life heard my lament, I was also offered some balm for my soul and prayer for us all. I learned this week that Brian McLaren has written a new book: Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart, in which he calls for a new way of being and thinking to address these turbulent times. “We feel arising within us this sustained declaration: We will live as beautifully, bravely, and kindly as we can as long as we can, no matter how ugly, scary, and mean the world becomes, even if failure and death seem inevitable. … even if hope fails, something bigger can replace it, and that is love.”
And one of these new, but very old ways of thinking is indigeneity, embracing the places wherever we live.
Through McLaren, I’ve learned about Cherokee theologian, Randy Woodley who suggests a vision for the future of “harmony ways” in his book of 100 meditations called Becoming Rooted: (from his Introduction, pg. 7, 3 & 6)
We are all indigenous to some place. We all from somewhere. We can all become rooted in the land that sustains us.
“Planting yourselves on the land wherever you live is the only w to restore harmony and balance on Earth.”
And so I offer these words from Wendell Berry’s poem “A Vision” that appeared to me as a grace this week and that sounded so much like Woodley’s vision. With Creator’s guidance and the Spirit of Life to inspire and sustain us, may it be so. Amen.
