Recent voices from both UN leaders and environmental scientists call for us to focus on the urgency of addressing climate change issues.
A healthy humanity depends on a healthy planet. The need is great to recognize the indivisibility of nature and human well-being. It is critical to understand how human behavior impacts on the health of the earth and how an unhealthy earth impacts on human health.
The relationship between environmental health and individual’s health is often indirect, complex, long term, and not easily quantifiable and also relates to risks and vulnerabilities which may affect physical and mental health.
Many diseases of our time are attributable to environmental factor, e. g. new pathogens, such as Covid 19, the resurgence of malaria and dengue. Many illnesses are attributable to environmental damage from pesticides, deforestation; use of fossil fuels; air pollution, etc. Such risks may be simultaneous and overlapping, e. g. deforestation and flooding and drought.
Living as we are in a world of technical distractions, the prevalence of social media which amplifies disinformation, with news coming to us in brief sound bites, it is hard to live in an awareness of our unity and act out of the attentiveness of this reality – that of a sacred interconnected universe.
The need for a new integrated consciousness is urgent…with a need to first integrate our own inner being and see with contemplative eyes.
Fr. Laurence Freeman has said: „contemplative prayer awakens our sense of connection and responsibility for and to the wondrous creation we are part of. Because meditation heals the excessive individualism of our culture and restrains its inherent self-centeredness, we can truly see the relevance of a deep spirituality to the healing of our wounded environment”
It is common to see a news item of yet another catastrophic weather event in part of our world. Generally, we don’t fully take in the interconnected nature of what is unfolding from changes, already locked in by our misuse of the planet. We have become exploiters rather than caretakers of our common home.
A recent resource, “Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops,” is a series of five short films featuring 12 world-renowned climate scientists. It has a sharp focus on the accelerating changes happening in the underlying climate and gives a valuable insight into the feedback loops already occurring and locking in changes into the future, which will affect the balance which maintains all life supporting systems.
These films are freely available for viewing now (narrated by Richard Gere) and are subtitled in 20 languages at https://feedbackloopsclimate.com/
Fr Laurence suggested it might be of interest to some meditators in our community to view this as a forum for discussion in the context of a contemplative approach to the health of the planet, in the light of this year as the WCCM Year of Health.
What is a contemplative view on environment? Based on experience which meditation gives of a deeper, interconnected sense of self it helps transform our relationship with all of creation and to live with more responsibility and attentiveness to our actions to live more sustainably and to preserve the beauty and wonder of creation.
We, humanity, are part of the evolving planet. This disruption, due to our unsustainable footprint, is the cause of the changing conditions and feedback loops and we face an urgent need to take a contemplative view – one which can encompass the many interlocking changes and our role in the disruption as well the challenges we face in our actions towards healing the earth. How are we to change? We are called to be, and do, more. The series awakens us to the invisible energies impacting our lives and reminds us of the fundamental spiritual energy asked us – that of love of each other, of the creator and creation.
By Janet O’Sullivan, Meditatio International Coordinator for the Environment
