Earth Day is Coming Soon!
Mindful of our call to care for one another and for each of us to do our part as good stewards for the sake of Mother Earth, what steps will I take this year for the health of our planet now and for generations to come?
A poem from Called to be Alive!:
Earth Day
Earth and humanity appear sometimes
Like two ships passing in the dark,
Both destined for extinction.
Be it an impending shipwreck on an island of plastic
Or countless hearts crushed by relentless carbon heal stomps,
Most continue to mindlessly sail on suffering waters,
Killing fields, swamps, and rain forests,
While mountains of earth’s ice melt faster than
The ever-expanding sea of cold human hearts.
So, imagine my surprise that night
At the Liberty Theatre in downtown Astoria when,
By a call to life in honor of Earth Day,
Truth and imagination set to music
Spirited me beyond visions of loss and destruction
To imagine what I can do
To stop the death and dying.
If it’s true what I’ve been told about faith—
That it’s not first of all for escaping obstacles
But for experiencing them all the way through—
Then an earnest observance of Earth Day will
Set the sail for a new faith journey,
Not for quick fixes but for these lingering, heartfelt questions:
What can I do to stop the killing, protect what’s left, and
Imagine new ways to live in harmony with Mother Earth?
Questions can serve as answers for the long run
On Earth Day and throughout the year.
There are things I can do now—
Pick up litter in the neighborhood and
Bits of debris on the beaches,
Buy more local, naturally grown produce,
Amp up efforts to use less plastic,
Use my voice to vote eco-friendly,
Challenge myself and others to love the earth as we are to
Love each other, not in words and speech but
In truth and action.
Let your Earth Day observance reveal to you this inescapable mutuality:
Injustice for Mother Earth means injustice for us all and
From the life of Mother Earth comes life for us all.
My intention:
I will hear Earth Day’s mandate: “Love Mother Earth as she has loved you,” and I will enter the crisis of climate change and plastic pollution beginning with the simple act of marking the Earth Day on my calendar [April 22]. Then I will jot down the names of one or more people whom I will ask to come forth and join me in a care-for-the-earth service project.
