Last year, Pope Francis came to the U.S. with an urgent and powerful message of hope on the need to care for Mother Earth, our common home, and the people in dire need. He spoke to the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, and anyone willing to listen. “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.”
Last week, deeply saddened by the slaying of an elderly priest in the French countryside, Pope Francis warned the world that we are at war. Father Jacques Hamel, an 86-year-old Roman Catholic priest, was killed by two attackers during a morning Mass service. During his visit to Poland, Pope Francis encouraged Europe to welcome refugees from war, hunger, and religious persecution, and called for “courage” and “compassion.”
Looking back at 2015 global warming and lack of clean water, two of the main threats to the survival of all living creatures, are rapidly getting worse without plans and actions to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. It seems we don’t care.
Caring is not easy
How do we learn to care, and why would we care for people far away?
We have military programs to train people to kill, business schools, engineering, science, and many other programs where people learn how to make money. Public health, medical, nursing, and other social services programs train professionals to heal and prevent diseases.
But caring is more like the bond and love that mothers feel for their babies, or the special connection we have with family and close friends. Care is about being with others, and helping others with hunger and thirst for justice.
What is a common home?
For people wanting to build walls and “looking into ways to get rid of all Muslims in the U.S.,” it is impossible to care for anyone who is not a white American. Do you know any white people? People come in many colors and very few are white; persons born with a medical condition that results in very pale skin, white hair, and pink eyes are called Albinos. Are the Lakota and other First Nations’ people the only Americans? What about the people from Uruguay, Argentina, or other American nations?
The temperature in Kuwait is 122°, Baghdad 118°, and Riyadh 113°, while the local temperature last weekwas 75°. Unless you know someone living in Kuwait you may not care how hard living in a 122° world is, but you should.
How do we care for our common home?
Pope Francis said in Poland that we need “a spirit of readiness to welcome those fleeing from wars and hunger, and solidarity with those deprived of their fundamental rights, including the right to profess one’s faith in freedom and safety.”
We learn to pledge allegiance to the Flag “… one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” To survive, we need to expand our worldview: one planet and all living creatures, our loving Mother Earth deserving our care and protection, and being one with the Earth.
Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Our name, humans, comes from the Latin humus: earth, ground, soil. We are of the Earth and one with Earth. Should we not care for our Mother? Do we have the right to extract resources for coal and minerals, sell forests at stumpage prices, frack the ground for shale gas and oil, and pollute the air burning fuels?
To be blunt, we have two choices: one is to care for Mother Earth and each other hoping it’s not too late; the other is to continue polluting and using nature as an infinite resource. The second choice would guarantee the extinction of most life on Earth. Humans would be one of the first to go. The Earth does not need us; it would be better without us. The Earth is fighting back; we do not stand a chance.
Dr. Luis Contreras
I agree. As a retired university business professor (and part-time Eureka Springs resident), I can tell you that the long-term effective businesses are those who DO care. There are lots of examples. It will take the citizens of the United States standing up and voting for those who promise to protect the environment to make this change….and it must happen now…this 2016 election…if it is to happen. Another 4 years, and I fear it will be too late. Thank you for your letter.
Susan, thank you very much for your kind comments
Leonardo Boff says caring is “loving others more than ourselves” – a very high standard.
We need to choose as President someone who cares for the world and get Congress in support of climate change.
People, as individuals, have a great deal of power. We need courage and hope, we know what to do.
It will be up to us, many grass root efforts already underway.
Peace