APRIL 22, 2023 IS EARTH DAY in our world, the 53rd one being observed by at least a billion of us on this planet. The theme this year is Invest in Our Planet.
Check out the EarthDay.org website to see what you can do to help carry out the mission of saving the planet right where you are and become aware of the need for governments, institutions, and individuals to put their money where their mouth is and work together to save our planet. I’m a firm believer in the power of the individual to make a difference in the world in which we live. Yes, take a bag with you on your walk and pick up the garbage you see on the way like Brother David suggests. I would suggest that you may want to clean up your personal living space too. It may be the living room, the garage, your yard, all of which may have become cluttered over the years. Just think of all the people in your area who may need the stuff you have collected and how it could be put to good use right now!
I’m a firm believer in the power of the individual to make a difference in the world in which we live. Yes, take a bag with you on your walk and pick up the garbage you see on the way like Brother David suggests. I would suggest that you may want to clean up your personal living space too. It may be the living room, the garage, your yard, all of which may have become cluttered over the years. Just think of all the people in your area who may need the stuff you have collected and how it could be put to good use right now!
How about going to the market or the mall to just enjoy seeing all the things you can do without like Socrates reportedly did in his day? Can you refrain from purchasing everything you see that seems to be calling your name and influencing your decision even though you just wanted to get out for some exercise and now you find yourself being tempted to spend money on things you don’t need? In these times of local disasters, immigration challenges, wars, people all over the world need help in so many ways. Can you really justify one more purchase that will hang in the closet or stay in the garage because you forgot that dress or lawn chair was even there?
Sounds like an examination of conscience, doesn’t it? Well, it is sort of.
When you live in a country as rich as ours, it may be difficult to identify with the needs of others right in this country let alone in places in other regions of the world. I like to think that my awareness of Earth Day brings me a consciousness that opens my mind, heart, and soul in such a way that I do something every day, not just on April 22, to make the world a better place for many people. I also hope that whatever I do, or don’t do, as Lin Yutang suggests, teaches me that I have learned how to live.
This Earth Day, 2023, let’s invest in our planet individually and communally as we vote for leaders and legislation that will ensure that the youth of the world will live on a safe, healthy, peaceful planet Earth. This beautiful blue and green orb is a gift from the Creator, and I hope and pray that it can be shared for many millennia to come.
When I go on my morning walk,
I take along a bag and pick up the garbage,
just as I would in my living room,
for this world is my living room.
I’m at home here.
+Brother David Steindl-Rast
If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon
in a perfectly useless manner,
you have learned how to live.
+Lin Yutang
Even Socrates, who lived a very frugal and simple life,
loved to go to the market.
When his students asked about this, he replied,
“I love to go and see all the things
I am happy without.”
+Jack Kornfield
Sister Mary Thill is a Sylvania Franciscan Sister. She can be reached at mthill@sistersosf.org.
