It has been a good week for planet Earth. Monday was Ocean’s Day. Also on Monday the G7 gathering made a commitment to reduce their countries dependence on fossil fuels. Okay, they gave themselves decades to do it but it was a positive step. Yesterday, it was announced that Pope Francis will release, on June 19th, his encyclical on Climate Change. Hallelujah – perhaps Earth can breath again.
In 2008 the UN declared June 8th as World Ocean’s Day. The ocean is the heart of our planet. It regulates climate, connects people across the earth, feeds millions of people every year, produces oxygen, is the home to an incredible array of wildlife and provides us with medicine and so much more. On Monday morning I heard their spokesperson, Ted Danson, yes, the actor who played Sam on Cheers, speak on Canada AM. He was both eloquent and humorous and I learned a lot in just a few minutes. He was here to open that Canadian Office for the organization he is affiliated with, Oceana. He said his work with Oceana is to remind people that it is “not about us but our stewardship of what we have been given”. He told the listeners that because of the current fishing practices using bottom trawlers, 1/3 of the fish that is caught each day is thrown back into the ocean because it is not the desired fish. The fish thrown away are either dead or dying. The bottom trawlers, along with over-fishing, destroy the bottom of the ocean, damaging the sea bed which comprise the nurseries and habitat for the fish. He said if we restore the oceans, and do it correctly, we can provide 1 billion fish meals a day. WOW! Current fishing practices are not sustainable and we are squeezing the life out of our fisheries. Saving the oceans is also about feeding the world.
The Pope’s encyclical, which will be read by the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, is promising to offer a strong call for action on Climate Change. Filipino environmentalist, Yeb Sano predicts the Pope will be “strong on stewardship, on economic justice, and the moral responsibility for all of us to be a part of caring for creation”. Pope Francis has a passion for the poor. No doubt his writing will stress that climate change is having a profound effect on the livelihood and living conditions of the poor.
Last night on the news they mentioned that environmentalist and faith groups are finding support from one another. As people of faith work to protect the earth because of their convictions they are finding great commonality with those who have a passion to protect the environment. Each group might come from a different base of understanding but, in the end, the passion is the same … to protect this precious resource we have been given, this ark, this home, this globe of wonder.
Take a moment today to step outside. Feel the good resilient earth beneath your feet, soak in the warmth of sunshine and admire the heavens above. Remember the words from Psalm 8, “O God, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”
