“If Chance can dance the dust afar
In myriad motions to a star,
If Chance can mould,
With pollen gold,
The silken seeds where lilies are,
If Chance one daisy can unfold
Then God the hand of Chance must hold.”
(Ronald McFie)

Reverence For Nature
Pope Francis writes “God has written a precious book whose letters are the multitude of created things present in the universe…. (Laudato Si: 85.)

“The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face. (LS: 233)

“John Philip Newell reminds us that our intimate connection with Earth is not simply a consoling practice. Rather it is an essential way through which God speaks to us”. (Elizabeth Davis, MGP October Resources).

Land, The World’s Food Basket And A Limited Resource
We live on terra firma and from the day we first opened our eyes our experience of life is greatly influenced by this fact.  Only 20.6% of earth’s surface is habitable land. Half of this is suitable for agriculture and one third of this is forest – our main oxygen source and absorber of carbon dioxide. The rest is glacier or barren. (UNfood and Agriculture Organisation 2019.)

While the latter may provide stunning scenery we need agriculture and forest for survival.

Good earth is precious. Nature develops slowly and surely and soil, plants and animals evolved together in a balanced harmony.  “Each inch of good earth took 10,000 years to evolve. The land is our bread basket as it was for our ancestors for millions of years. Apart from the dwindling supply of food we get from the seas/oceans etc. most of our food and oxygen come from the land.

Protecting The Land Is A Justice Issue
The poor are always the first to suffer when resources become scarce. Since there is no realistic possibility of increasing the habitable area on the planet, land needs to be safeguarded if we are to be fed physically, spiritually and emotionally.

Major Justice Issues

Land: Threat From The Chemical Industry 
Over the centuries we have, to our shame, lost the reverence of our forebears and early Christians for nature.

The use of biocide chemicals on soils or plants is not only dangerous for human, animal and plant life but also for the soil itself. When one is damaged the other suffers. This can, in time, lead to sterility of large tracts of land and consequent hunger.

Chemical companies are using every means in their power to disprove claims of damage to people and the environment. This serious chemical pollution and the products of the petrochemical industries in the form of plastic etc. randomly disposed of are serious sins against present and future generations.

Threat from Mining: Mining is sometimes described as the rape of the land. Mining results in erosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and/or the contamination of ground and surface water and soil by the chemicals emitted from mining processes.

Powerful individuals or companies, often with the backing of corrupt governments or inadequate laws can lay claim to large tracts of land with potential mineral deposits. This may result in whole communities becoming homeless without redress. Mining transforms fertile agricultural regions to sterile landscapes with polluted rivers and wells.

“The local population should have a special place at the table; they are concerned about their own future and that of their children….” (LS 183).

Threat From Fracking
The search by oil companies, with the consent of governments apparently, for deposits of oil by means of fracking is an additional threat to the environment and to the health and fertility of the land and its inhabitants in Europe as well as the US and elsewhere. The effects of fracking are similar to that of mining though perhaps not as drastic. Laudato Si:183 applies here also.

Threat From Deforestation: The Poor Are The First To Pay
According to science and the UN forests are the most cost-effective way to fight climate change. Yet the destruction of the rain forests for timber, fuel and especially to increase agricultural land is continuing.

 Rainforests Are The ‘Lungs’ Of The Earth
The one third of the land covered by forest is rapidly dwindling and this  is significantly reducing the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere and at the same time is increasing carbon dioxide levels. This in turn is one of the main contributors to global warming which will in a few short years, cause catastrophic conditions on our planet leading to mass migration of climate refugees from uninhabitable areas on both sides of the equator.

Other Problems Stemming From Deforestation
The destruction of rainforests not only contributes to a reduction in oxygen and increase in carbon dioxide. It has other serious consequences including global warming, bush fires, and storms of various kinds. The rising temperatures are reducing millions of acres of topsoil and their flora and fauna to ashes. These alarming facts have a greater impact on poorer populations who have fewer choices when searching for a place to live.   Since ‘each creature has its own purpose and none is superfluous’ (LS 84) the loss of these is not only a crime against the children of the future it is also a crime against creation.

Melting Polar Ice
The various media carry stories, almost weekly, with additional evidence that the polar ice is melting. This is due mainly to the reduced cooling effect of lost transpiration following deforestation.  Melting ice in turn is causing ocean levels to rise which will result, in time, in the submersion of many major low-lying coastal cities and inhabited islands in the South Pacific and elsewhere.  The threat is already evident and the residents of endangered areas are wondering what will happen when they become homeless and/or stateless. This calls for massive  tree planting programmes , everywhere.

Respect For The Land/Ecological Conversion
The beauty of nature is as essential for our psychological and spiritual wellbeing as its generosity and abundance are for our physical sustenance and wellbeing.

No other plant, animal or microorganism has damaged the planet in the way we humans have done. “Unless the nature of the State is harmonised with the state of Nature, our greed and ignorance will eventually take us beyond the capacity of the ecosystems to support human existence”. (Tom Hayden: op cit)

Diarmuid O’Murchu in his poem “Grounded in the Land” (2009) expresses a similar sentiment.

Let us protect our land/soil/earth in every way we can,
for our brothers and sisters worldwide for future generations.
We hold a sacred trust,
a Land where God lives.

“… Look on the rising sun: there God does live
And gives [God’s] light, and gives [God’s] heat away.
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning joy in the noonday.
And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love”.
(William Blake, 1757-1827)   

Prayer
Lord open our eyes wide in wonder.
Touch our hearts so that they swell with gratitude                    
as we respond with love to the manifestation of your beauty and generosity.
May we care for the earth and use every means in our power 
to educate and encourage others to do likewise.

 

To see more reflections for the Season of Creation, please click here

Elizabeth McNamee rsm