Because I am usually two months behind in my magazine reading, I happened upon Greg Jackson’s essay “Prayer for a Just War: Finding meaning in the climate fight.” In last June’s issue of Harper’s. Though he doesn’t refer directly to Chris Hedges’ remarkable book, War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, the theme of his essay is about how we can create meaning in our lives.
Jackson writes, “What If the challenge confronting us isn’t our greatest threat but our greatest opportunity, not a moment of self-denial and self-destruction but of self-creation and self-discovery!” Noting how we as a people have come together over challenges, he focuses on the possibilities of creating community in this challenge.
Saving our planet is something we can all rally around. We’re not just talking about tree huggers (I am one, I admit) but people who have children for whom they want a future better than what we face now. We don’t see many rainbows in the stories we read of fires in California, or the terrible flooding right here in New Jersey, but perhaps we just need to look in the right direction.
Prayer for the Day
Peering into the sky as did our ancestors, we look for possibilities,
But often we just find our own isolation and self-centeredness;
Searching for answers to the questions of our children,
We feel inadequate to respond as we should.
Render, O Lord, a new vision for our time,
One that will enable us to cherish your creation as one.
In the name of the One who touches us with your Spirit,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Individually we are one drop; together we are an ocean
Ryunosuke Satoro aka Akutagawa, Japanese writer (1892-1927)
Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change.
Barbara Mikulski, U.S. Senator 1987-2017
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will life up the other but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. And if two lie together to keep warm, how can one keep warm alone? And although one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not easily broken.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12