THE EARTH IS OUR COMMON HOME

 

 

At this very moment, every human being ( all eight billion of us) are being challenged by the reality of global warming. It is very possible that the earth could warm up that human life, and all forms of life, would find it very difficult to live and thrive. This issue can appear so overwhelming  that many people will just turn away: There is nothing I can do about it! They might just give up!

 

Our Christiaan faith and the way we must live it is not a recipe all worked out for us. We must deal with the unplanned movements of God. We now live in crisis times: we humans are doing all kinds of harms to the earth. What does out Christian faith have to say about this?

 

In many concerned and committed C Christian communities there has been a recovery of our place and responsibility towards the earth ( including all its inhabitants).  Pope Francis gave us the encyclical (official policy for the Church), Laudato si in 2015. He beings from the pain of the earth. “This sister [i.e, the earth] now cries out because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods which God has endowed her.” (#2)

 

All humanity must recover and take ownership that the earth is our common home. It belongs to everyone and everyone must work to nourish and preserve our common home.  This is where our Christiaan faith can give us so much energy and love for the earth: every  single human, leaf and gopher! Set out on the journey to discover how God actually feels about creation.

 

Now, consider your own home and try to picture that your family will live in this house to your great-great grandchildren’s generation. You will not do anything like dump garbage or chemicals into the soil that will destroy life in the future. You will care for your house and yard with maintenance, upkeep and you will beautify it. You will take great pride in your house/yard because it is a living part of your own family. This is not something to use, abuse and then throw away. This is my legacy that I want all the members of my family to benefit and enjoy. 

 

Now, we must take ownership of this same attitude. The earth is our common home, for countless generations in front of us; and we want to care for it, love it and help it to thrive. We are challenged to change from dumping  tons of CO2 into the atmosphere or polluting any water-ways and to ensure that all living species can continue to live and thrive. 

 

At this point in time, we are challenged to return to our Biblical roots and once again discover that God has made all parts of the earth to be good. God takes great pride and joy in all aspects of creation. We humans have been placed on this earth to care for, to steward, all parts of creation. A warming climate challenges us to make some drastic changes in our means of production. But we can make these changes if we are motivated by our Christiaan faith. If we open ourselves to reality that this is our common home. Not only do we want to preserve it, but we want to earth to thrive and be joyful.

 

Good things will come with this new awareness of the part we can play in nourishing and supporting our common home. 

 

What a great day to be alive!

 

 

THE POOR ARE VERY CLOSE

 

What we see is determined very much by who we are. Your mother (no matter how old she night be) will always see if your collar is straight on the photo. No one else will even notice; but you mother will!

 

What you see is determined by where you stand!

 

When you move around Canada, different people will see (or not see) the people who are poor. Many times, the poor are actually invisible to many of our citizens. 

 

We want to teach people that the poor are very close. We need to use the expression (originally arriving out of Italy), ‘the poor with their many faces.’

 

Poverty is not only economic poverty. We have a very polite way of describing this poverty as “they have a very weak cash flow.” The absence of financial resources is a definite form of poverty. Th\ink about the situation when you were a student in Calgary: nineteen years old and flat broke! Now that is a painful memory of poverty.

 

One of the most common forms of poverty is your aged mother in the nursing home. She may be secure, kept neat and clean, properly nourished – but hardly anyone ever comes to visit her. Her basic physical needs are well taken care of, but there is a hunger in her heart for the love and friendship she knew from her family. Many times ,the only person that ever visits is her one sister (who is just a year older than Mom). Poverty is a longing in the heart of your aged mother!

 

Poverty is the man discharged from jail. As soon as people know he has a prison record, no one will employ him. It is almost impossible to find a good job and become self-reliant. This man suffers from social poverty: the absence of trust from the society at large.

 

Poverty is the man or woman struggling with drug addiction. Only the persons trapped in this addiction to drugs can understand that their life is capture in a bear trap. Many people are not aware that hunters used to use this very strong steel trap of capture bears. 

A bear is a very strong animal and can break almost any sort of trap but the older bear trap (now illegal) snapped on the bear’s leg and the animal could not break the trap or the chain that held the trap. Drug addiction is an unforgiving, unrelenting trap. The cornered addict cannot shake the addiction. Their life is a living hell until they can turn into recovery. Anyone who uses drugs can innocently fall into this horrendous trap. Drug addiction is poverty with deep, deep pain.

 

Poverty is your aged great-grandfather, who can manage well on his own, but all his siblings and friends have all died. In the true sense of the word, he is all alone. The people, with whom he associates with, are all thirty years younger than he is. They are all sixty-five. Poverty is being alone, the last one, in old age. 

 

When we look around at who is poor, we discover that they are very close. We just have to adjust our vision: they are right in front of us.

 

And now we are challenged to see the face of Christ in each one of the poor, with their many faces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEALING WITH EVIl IN DAILY LIFE

 

 

Noon lunch was very sobering and hurtful!

 

Last week I stopped for noon lunch at the highway Tim Hortons. Almost all the customers were picking up their orders and moving on. A gray-haired biker (he wore the correct leather jacket with emblems) rudely passed in front of me; without any ‘excuse me.’

 

I took my sandwich and sat one table removed from this gentleman and his correctly dressed woman. He started berating her! He was angry and mean. He told her that if he got his socks wet (it was raining on the highway) he would leave her here! It was hurtful; painful and very degrading towards this cowering woman.

 

I did offer a very brief prayer for the man. I walked to my own vehicle feeling very conflicted by this very evil conversation. The entire episode made me consider the reality of evil and destruction.

 

First, we must acknowledge that  evil is very real and at times, very close! We live in a culture that is very reluctant to identify evil in daily life; especially in the lives of the people who can be very close to us. The culture is slow to name the evils of domination and destroying the other with hateful words. We allow key political figures to utter the most outrageous and hurtful things about others. 

 

We need to be alert that we are not drawn into the hateful remarks of others. The angry words of this middle-aged man on a motor- bike was very painful. It lessened my pride in being human.

 

There are two movements going at this same time: rejecting evil and planting goodness. Not only must we not be drawn into the cesspool of evil, but we are challenged to take personal responsibility to plant goodness and justice in the world. 

 

This is where God’s Spirit is working in every  humans; whether we are aware of it or not. We ae being moved and challenged to treat every human being (no matter what their social status) with respect and dignity. We may not listen or respond to these movements of the Spirit but they are very real. Just the fact that a human being may have guilt feelings over some deliberate, hurtful remark is the left-over of the Spirit moving us toward goodness. 

 

To use a garden image: we are to pull up the dandelions and plant potatoes. Turn the moments of evil into moments of growth and human thriving. 

 

The remainer of the trip was sobering. May we never be pulled into the cesspool of evil and destructive remarks but bring goodness to others; even when it is raining on your highway trip!

 

 

 

CHALLENGE IS A VITAL PART OF LIFE

Walk outside. Look at the first large tree in front of you. That tree is healthy and vigorous because it is living a very challenging life. That tree has battled droughts one year and flood rains the next year. It is in a daily battle with squirrels, woodpeckers and all kinds of aggressive insects. We do not know how strong it must be in its battles with bacteria and other diseases.

 

But it is thriving!

 

It lives and grows in a very challenging world. But it is the challenges that make it strong and beautiful.

 

As soon as your baby is born it is sweet; but oh so challenging! Some days when that baby turns  two it may seem very difficult – but then they will become teenagers!

 

A healthy life a very challenged life.

 

May we be challenged by the unbelievers and the not-sure type people;  “Can we recognize in you that the Gospel of Jesus actually makes a difference? Can we see in you that you are not to any degree racist, but actually trying to see the image of God in everyone who is different from you?” 

 

How open is your local church community towards new people from different countries and languages? 

 

Are you challenged by a lack of concern for the poor and the forgotten who live right around you? Is the concern for others a vital part of your conversation or do you only talk about yourself and your daily concerns? Does your conversation manifest that the compassionate  heart of Jesus actually lives in your heart?

 

Do you help your children grow up to be generous with sharing  the goods of the earth? Are you encouraging them to buy a jar of peanut butter to be donate to the food bank to help those who are having a very difficult time caring for their children?

 

Do your friends observe from your conversations that you are concerned about the well-being of the earth? Are you working to preserve a world where future generations can live and thrive? Does your religious faith have any impact on your love and care of our common home, the earth?

 

When healthy parents are dealing with a super-active little guy, they respond appropriately ; and sometimes get tired in the process. When healthy Christians are challenged, they respond to the prodding (the movement ) of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives. 

 

And when did Jesus challenge you? When did you become upset by the way his teaching in the Gospel touched a  raw nerve? How has Jesus challenged you?

 

Challenge is essential to growth in our Christian lives. May you be just like the tree you were studying a moment ago: you have grown strong because you were challenged.