This post is written by Pat Bergen, CSJ.
The Amazon is burning, storms are raging, islands are drowning, Jakarta is sinking, aquifers are going dry, species are going extinct, land is changing to desert, places throughout the globe have experienced one of the hottest summers in history; meanwhile laws meant to protect our planet are being lifted – and we have reason to HOPE? Yes, we do have reason to HOPE!
In August of 2015, Pope Francis joined in echoing the plea for Prayer for the Care of Creation expressed by Patriarch Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had long celebrated September 1 as the Day of Prayer for Creation. Pope Francis expanded his call for prayer by calling for a Season of Creation. Today Leaders of all Christian Churches, realizing the interconnection of all creation, are calling for participation in the Season of Creation through prayer, action and advocacy. The crisis of the planet has united Christians around a greater cause than all that separates them! This is reason to HOPE!
Not only Christians, but also people of diverse faith traditions have risen with one voice in prayer, action and advocacy on behalf of the planet that is home to all creatures. People of all faiths and those who claim no faith are realizing their interdependence with one another and every creature that lives. In sharing their belief and grief over the plight of the planet and its creatures, people are discovering a oneness in their core that is far more powerful than any idea that seems to divide them. This is reason to HOPE!
As more and more people suffer the pain of the desertification of the planet, the lack of food and clean water, the sinking of their cities, the suffering and desperation of migrants as well as the challenge to every structure that welcomes them, the pain of grief and lamentation escalates. Who could ever believe that this pain could be a blessing, and yet it is. When pain sears the core of the heart, when lamentation fills the earth and outrage cries out from the deep soul of humanity, this can be the fertile ground from which powerful visions emerge. Pain, lamentation and tears can be a blessing, for these reveal the end of being blind and deaf, the end of denial – and this is reason to HOPE!
When I am with someone in spiritual direction, I get excited when I notice resistance for I sense that a breakthrough of grace is on the way. Through years of experience with my own unfolding and that of others, I realize that the greater the resistance, the greater the grace that is trying to be born into one’s life. I believe the same holds for the world. A new consciousness began to emerge after the holocaust and the explosion of the atomic bomb of World War II. The consciousness of separation and duality that had seemingly served the western world so well revealed itself as Horrifyingly Destructive. A new consciousness began to emerge. This consciousness of Oneness, Interconnectedness, Inter-being slowly etched its way into every system.
As this consciousness grew, the force of resistance grew stronger. We are now experiencing the power of resistance at every turn and yet there is more to the story. As the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Accord, as the executive branch of our government overturns laws and policies meant to protect the environment, as migrants move across the planet in search of food, water and safety, as the Amazon (our lungs) are set ablaze, something astounding happens. Individuals make brave choices in favor of ecology, and corporations shift from policies that damage to policies that heal the environment. Places of worship install solar, demolition changes to deconstruction, and the poor become owners of bricks, doors and materials needed for homes. Roof gardens appear on skyscrapers, architects and contractors design and build for LEED, car manufacturers develop electric cars, municipalities go to zero waste, single-use plastic begins to disappear, people begin planting milkweed to attract butterflies and bees to protect our precious pollinators from extinction . . .and the Paris Accord gets support from the grassroots. This is reason to HOPE!
In 2015, 21 young people sued the federal government over energy policies that contribute to climate change which deny them the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They claim the right to a climate system capable of supporting life. Thousands of supporters (young people under 25, scientists, health workers, Congresspeople, etc.) have added their voices. After years of set-backs by the Executive branch of the US government, the Supreme Court granted them a hearing. In June 2019, the court of appeals voted to give this case (Juliana vs.U.S.) a hearing. Young Children have found their voice, have stood firm in the face of resistance from the highest power in our land and are courageously speaking their wisdom on behalf of the future. Is this reason to HOPE?
In 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl (Greta Thunberg) raised her voice to speak at the U.N. and to Pope Francis about her outrage at the older generation’s lack of urgency to save the planet. The voice of one small girl ushered in a global multi-generational outrage on behalf of the planet all call home!! This is reason to HOPE!
On September 20, 2019, the children of the planet are sponsoring a Climate Strike, calling for the voices, the prayer, the action and advocacy of every human being on behalf of our Common Home before it is too late. Is this reason to Hope? Absolutely!
Hope is infinite. It never runs dry. Hope is grounded in God the Source, the Breath of all that is. No matter how dark the night, dip deep into Hope. Hope gives the power to dream dreams, to raise one’s little humble voice with wisdom to the powerful. Hope is the wellspring of visions that can change the world. We must “Hold on to Hope.”*
Enter into the Season of Hope. Support the children of the planet who are giving their time, talent and voice in hope of a future for their children. Join the movement of prayer, action and advocacy for our common home and discover your hope being set ablaze to insure a future full of hope for those who come after us!