The Cry of the Earth
Irish people love talking about the weather and with Irish weather
there is normally a conversation to be had, with many days offering
four seasons over the course of a matter of hours. Those who
think about the weather more deeply will notice that things seem to be
changing. Ireland has experienced its coldest winter in a good
number of years, with parts of the country brought to a standstill due
to freezing temperatures and snow, while the UK has just recorded the
driest six month period in ninety-six years.
It may be difficult to see climate change and global warming as a
factor in bringing about the coldest winter in fifty years.
However, the increasingly regular freak weather occurrences and the
average annual global temperatures give cause for concern.
Reports from NASA and the United Nations Weather Agency, the World
Meteorological Association, indicate that the last decade was the
warmest since records began, building on increases in the 1980s and
1990s. It is the rising average temperature and freak weather
events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes and flash floods, which give
climate change scientists most concern. This concern was noted in the
Irish Bishops’ Pastoral Letter Cry of the Earth, which was
launched in November of last year.
As Christians we have a responsibility to care for the earth, which
is God’s creation. The two creation stories in Genesis, which
approach the matter from different perspectives, have complementary
things to say on the matter. Chapter 1 of Genesis, which breaks
the story of creation into six days, highlights the order God places
on primeval chaos and places a continual emphasis on the goodness of
creation: ‘and God saw everything that God had made, and
behold, it was very good’ (Gen 1:31). The story of the Garden
of Eden and the creation of Adam and Eve build upon this account and
the inbuilt order of the world asking Adam and Eve to ‘to till it
and keep it’. This is not to say that humankind have the run
of the earth to do with it as they will, rather we are the guardians
of God’s creation – a creation which is inherently
good.
As the Cry of the Earth states, ‘God has given us
the gift of this beautiful earth to live on. God’s earth
provides for us by giving us every material thing we need for our
well-being. God also gave us the intelligence and skill to care
for the earth.’ Creation is both a gift and a responsibility.
We need to care for God’s creation to do our best to maintain the
planet, both for ourselves and for future generations. It is well
worth taking a close look at the Cry of the Earth and taking
on board some of the ideas to see what we can do as individuals and as
parishes to help the environment and hear the cry of the earth.
