At a recent meeting, Sister Mary Corbett, CND, guest presenter, using Laudato Sí’ as a framework, explored some critical issues around climate change. While exploring the contamination and evaporation of water, Mary strongly emphasized that access to life-giving water is an essential right for all life forms. She stated that the hydrological cycle (water cycle) of the planet is a closed cycle. There is not a limitless supply of water. “Our present levels of water pollution, stated Mary,” “harm the hydrological system, are unsustainable and put all life forms on the planet in peril.” Several times throughout her presentation, Mary asked: “What are we leaving for the next generations to come and for all life forms?” Moving from this painful reality into a more contemplative mode, Mary presented some magnificent pictures of the Earth taken from Space. She also shared the Astronauts’ profound statements about their experience of viewing Earth from Space. The following statements invite much reflection:
“My view of our planet was a glimpse of divinity.” – Edgar Mitchell
“Before I flew, I was already aware of how small and vulnerable our planet is; but only when I saw it from space, in all its ineffable beauty and fragility, did I realize that humankind’s most urgent task is to cherish and preserve it for future generations.” – Sigmund Jahn
“This is us, Earth. We realize it sooner or later, but there is no getting around it. If we do not learn to live in harmony with the food chains, with the ecosystems, then gradually they will come out of balance and then they will die. It is all a circle/cycle and we are in it; we cannot escape.” – Baden Powell
The Home Planet, edited by Kevin W. Kelly
Earth Spirit, by Michael Dowd
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