On Thursday, November 30, COP28 (2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference ) opened in Dubai. This is an international meeting with all the big names and players present. King Charles III gave the opening address.
What will be discussed is not only political and scientific issues but it also presses hard as a spiritual issue that affects all of the world religions. Religious faith touches the very center and meaning of all human life. There can be no such thing as religion over here and science over there. We are confronted with the question: will the atmosphere heat up so much that life will become extinct? How well will humans being able to survive in a world that might warm up by three degrees?
Even if you have many members of your own family and friendship group who will not deal with this issue, do not step back in fear. Do not allow anyone who claims to believe in God or a higher power off the hook. What does their religious faith and religious
interpretation contribute toward the survival of the earth?
Christianity is rediscovering a part of our spirituality that has laid dormant for almost a thousand years. The Christiaan spiritual quest narrowed more and more over the centuries to focus only on the salvation of the human being. We are now waking up to our belief in creation (the natural world) as the first revelation of the life, love and work of God.
When I was doing my theological studies the question of justice for the future generations never came up. Now, after sixty years of serious study of the warming of the earth’s atmosphere, we are warned that if humanity continues to burn the same amount of fossil fuel, we will bring catastrophe to all our great-grandchildren. Justice for the children who will be born seven generations from now is a pressing issue. What kind of world will we hand on to them?
Christianity has been blest by the publication of the encyclical (official church teaching) ‘Laudato si’ by Pope Francis in 2015. He did not address only Catholics but people of all and no religious faith. He first challenged us to once again come to love the earth, all creatures, clouds, every rain drop and all the insects of the earth. Everything is kin to us.
The first message is to rediscover a love for the earth. We must not see the human being as over and beside all creation. Human beings are part of creation. We are all connected. The survival of the human beings is closely tied to the survival of the bacteria, the hawk flying about us and the little chickadees foraging for food during this winter season.
You will never try to preserve and nourish what you do not love. The challenge in front of us, as Pope Francis has taught, is to see all parts of creation as our kin. We are cousins to the sun, the wind, the soil and every bird that flies. We are being challenged to grow into a spirituality that overflows in love for every part of creation.
What will be discussed at COP28 is vitally important to our faith.
As you grow in your concern for the earth watch your faith and joy grow. There is a new awareness in your spirit waiting to burst forth into flower!
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