Earth Day – Article for parish magazine
A Parish Magazine article on the United Nations Earth Day by Barbara Echlin. Do adapt and use for your local magazine.
The United Nations (UN) website points out that faith-based communities play a crucial role in Earth Day. We are all a part of this planet and we need to protect it, by embodying the principles of educate, advocate, and mobilize in our care for the Earth. Pope Francis rightly calls the Earth our common home. Currently our common home faces a multitude of crises: species declining, temperatures rising and wars raging.
In a recent newsletter from the World Council of Churches connections were made between a plague of locusts devastating food crops (ref Joel 1:4; 2.25) and the capacity of humans at war to destroy ecosystems. The World Council of Churches also made a comparison with the acute environmental challenges facing Indigenous peoples today. They are often the first to suffer the ravages of the exploitation of their “bounties” which they recognize as gifts from the Earth. In much of the world, these “bounties” are seen as resources or as commodities. Indigenous people have an integral connection with nature. They understand the connections between what they call mother earth and human beings caring for each other. This is in sharp contrast to the insatiable desire of many humans to exploit, commodify and consume nature for its resources – to act and make decisions from a transactional world view point.
The World Council of Churches goes on to explain how the wisdom of Indigenous peoples enriches their search for solutions to the climate and nature crisis. Sustainable practices, like crop diversification, strengthen their bond with the Earth and act as shields against extreme weather events. This approach allows communities to be resilient, preserving biodiversity and honouring the deep connection they have with every corner of their home. The traditions of Indigenous peoples offer an invaluable legacy that we would do well to recognise and value.
International Mother Earth Day is observed every year on April 22nd. This date was chosen to coincide with the UN Earth Day, which has been celebrated each year since 1970. The theme for Earth Day 2025 is “Our Power, Our Planet” shining a spotlight on renewable energy: for our power, our people, and our planet. We already possess the solutions we need to create clean, inexpensive, and unlimited energy for the entire planet through renewable solar, wind and other technologies. This Earth Day 2025, let us commit to harnessing renewable energy to build a healthy, sustainable, equitable and prosperous future for us all, let us commit to Renewable Energy Now.
Barbara Echlin is Vice Chair of Green Christian and lives on the South Coast
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