A Lent Lament For Planet Earth

On Ash Wednesday I meditated on whether I am meant to have a leit motif for this Lent: e.g. reparation for violating the Trinity's image in our society.  

Then the Columban Ecological Institute sent this reflection by  Nellie Mc Laughlin:

'Deep within Earth’s sacred cradle of wisdom I sense rumblings:

We-humanity- may eventually control the virus and with vaccines overcome it

BUT

What if only then - and too late -

We realise that we have silenced the messenger

But missed the message?

 Earth, our Common Home, is undoubtedly trying to communicate with us

but our collective amnesia is alive and well. 

Covid-19 may be gone this year or next but there will undoubtedly be others.

We don’t have to look far with the twin viruses of climate emergency and biodiversity depletion breathing too close for comfort. We ARE in crisis!

  Science, which is guiding us through this darkness, tells us that our planet is a living organism, a sentient being, with 4.5 billion years of evolutionary experience.   Among others, our young people, have intuited this as they caution us in our global climate emergency – there is no Planet B. There is no time for delay: unwavering political will and concerted action by all of us is more urgent than ever before. We need to wake up to this fact and listen to Earth before we destroy our common home and all therein. There is NO vaccine for this crisis.

The corona virus is surely challenging our provocative intrusion into the habitats of others in the community of creation for monetary gain and will continue to do so until we change our ways. The challenge is to collectively wake up to the mystery that we are part of the awesome community of life, interdependent and kin with all.  There is room for all, our early ancestors respected this as do indigenous peoples and a growing nucleus of others today.What if we were to dream of a hitherto unattained planetary awakening and feel that visceral excitement that it is possible?

What if we were to acknowledge our vulnerability and need for companionship within the community of all creation?

What if we collectively were to put our hands up and admit that we have strayed from our kin-consciousness and commit to living more sustainably within the earth economy of abundant but finite resources to be shared with all?

What if we could cherish the mysterious gift of togetherness creating that resilience needed to courageously weave enduring tapestries of healing, hope, equality, justice, love, peace and wellbeing for all in our Common Home? ...'

I would add this: this is a lost cause unless we take Jesus, the Life-Forvce of creation, the Second Adam, into our heartsm brains and work.