It’s Earth Day 50 +1 and the question for all of us is whether we are any closer to protecting our earth, our environment, and ourselves. It’s all interrelated. One major question for all of us is not just plastic in our lives, protecting pollinators, or maintaining open spaces – though all of that is important – but how our lifestyle affects the Artic and Antarctic commons.
The poles and their ice keeps our planet cool and the retreat of sea ice threatens our very existence. The ice reflects the sun’s rays back but a dark ocean absorbs the sun’s heat and makes the planet warmer.
On this Earth Day, commit yourself to less plastic, planting flowers for pollinators, and urging your members of Congress and the State Legislature to maintain open spaces. In addition, support efforts to protect both the Arctic and Antarctic from deep seabed mining, dumping radioactive waste, and shipping. Remember, you can’t plant ice.
Prayer for the Day
Looking about us, O God, we see what we are doing to your creation,
And we know we must step back from our headlong rush to destruction;
But then we consider our current comfort, selfish as it is,
And think that real change can just wait until next year.
Forgive us, Holy Creator, for we are weak and short-sighted,
And transform us into a people who truly reflect your life.
In the name of the One who walked among the lilies,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The greatest threat to our Planet is the belief that someone else will save it.
Robert Swan, OBE, first person to walk both North and South Poles
It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.
Rachel Carson, Environmentalist (1907-1964)
You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken,
You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight …
You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
Giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst.
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation and sing among the branches
Psalm 104: 5-7, 10-12