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Today is Earth Day!
I am always reminded of the first Earth Day in 1970 when, as a 12-year-old, several friends and I decided to clean up a mess behind a building across from the field where we played baseball. It was an Auto Parts store, and the mess was greasy and oily with run off into the stream beside the building. There was trash all around it and really was not the best place for 12-year old’s to be digging their hands into piles of trash.
After about an hour of working, hauling trash to dumpsters, the owner of the parts store came out and asked what we were doing. We told him it was Earth Day, and we were cleaning up! He disappeared and a few minutes later, 4 of his workers came out and joined us and then the Owner himself. He bought us all lunch and thanked us, an unexpected but thrilling response for anyone to receive, but especially 12 year old’s.
In the report “LET’S TALK FAITH & CLIMATE: COMMUNICATION GUIDANCE FOR FAITH LEADERS (ecoAmerica: 2016. Let’s Talk Faith and Climate: Communication. Guidance for Faith Leaders. Blessed Tomorrow. Washington, D.C.), the authors wrote
“People of faith are inspired to act on climate issues for a multitude of reasons. If your religious experience is strongly connected to the sanctity of God’s creation, you will likely feel compelled to defend the natural world from the destruction that results from climate damage. If peacemaking is a primary expression of your faith, you may be alarmed at the various ways in which climate change is sowing conflict over scarce resources. If the alleviation of poverty is central to your faith, you may be concerned about how the poor are being hit the hardest by pollution and severe weather yet have the fewest resources to cope with such obstacles. If overcoming racism is a core aspect of your faith journey, you need not look far to witness climate injustice, such as racial disparities in childhood asthma rates or the inequitable response to disaster that often occurs when communities of color are the primary victims. If your faith is driven by a passion to care for the next generation, nothing threatens our children’s wellbeing more than an unstable climate.
Whatever your faith journey and motivation, climate change intensifies our shared responsibility as people of faith to provide sanctuary and guidance for communities in times of need.”
Do something for the Earth today and show respect for the world in which we live. And maybe a 12 year old will remember you 56 years from today!
RB
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