Erasmus+ – project
by Dr Rachel Mash, environmental Coordinator of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa
Lectionary: 1st reading Acts 16:16-34 (Anglican), Acts 7:55-60 (Roman Catholic); 2nd reading Rev 22:12-14,16-17,20-21 (both); gospel John 17:20-26 (both)
Yearly United Nations’ World Environment Day is June, 5th.
Paul and Silas heal a slave girl who is doubly oppressed (Acts 16). Firstly she is a slave and secondly she is possessed by an evil spirit that controls her. When she is healed, her owners are furious because they have lost their source of income. Paul and Silas are beaten and thrown into jail. Their response is to sing hymns and praise God. When given the chance to escape, they do not take it. Their sacrifice and attitude leads to the jailer and his whole household being saved.
There are people who are now being willing to face being imprisoned to protest against environmental degradation. It is a reality that climate change is impacting on those most vulnerable to drought and flooding. It is also a reality that the transition that is so urgent from fossil fuels to renewable energy will impact on the stocks and shares of some of the wealthiest people on the planet. The status quo is being challenged.
But the damage being done to God’s people and to God’s Earth is unconscionable. Just like Paul and Silas, we must protest and advocate for change. This may place us against the political and economic elites.
This week is World Environment Day (June 5th) and the theme for this year is Air Pollution “Greening the Blue”. Here are some facts on air pollution.
- Globally more people die prematurely from air pollution than from HIV and Malaria put together.
- 92 percent of the world’s population does not breathe clean air. This leads to huge health care costs for governments.
- about air pollution in China: https://youtu.be/MhIZ50HKIp0
South Africa – the country I live – has one of the dirtiest electricity supplies in the world, as most of our electricity comes from coal. When I waste electricity in Cape Town at the Southern end of the country I am adding to air pollution in Mpumalanga, 1700 km away.
So what can we do to speed up the rapid transition away from fossil fuels? The young people are rising up – School strikes involving 1.3 million young people have taken place in 128 countries. The extinction rebellion is calling for non violent protest to get the governments to listen. In the UK after blockading roads in central London and causing traffic chaos, they received a lot of publicity and the UK government responded by declaring a Climate Emergency.
One of the people arrested in those protests was Rev Sue Parfitt – aged 77. The reason that she joined the protests she said was “I cannot bear to leave a bleak and barren world for my beautiful grandchildren”.
Throughout history there have been those who have been willing to face imprisonment like Paul and Silas for standing up for what is right.
The African-American abolitionist Sojourner Truth, the suffrage campaigner Susan B Anthony, the Indian independence activist Mahatma Gandhi and the US civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King have all convincingly argued for the power of peaceful protest.
- In 1986, millions of Filipinos took to the streets of Manila in peaceful protest and prayer in the People Power movement. The Marcos regime folded on the fourth day.
- In 2003, the people of Georgia ousted Eduard Shevardnadze through the bloodless Rose Revolution, in which protestors stormed the parliament building holding the flowers in their hands.
- Earlier this year, the presidents of Sudan and Algeria both announced they would step aside after decades in office, thanks to peaceful campaigns of resistance.
In each case, civil resistance by ordinary members of the public trumped the political elite to achieve radical change.
There are, of course, many ethical reasons to use nonviolent strategies. But compelling research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, confirms that civil disobedience is not only the moral choice; it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics – by a long way.
Looking at hundreds of campaigns over the last century, Chenoweth found that nonviolent campaigns are twice as likely to achieve their goals as violent campaigns. And although the exact dynamics will depend on many factors, she has shown it takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change.
Chenoweth’s influence can be seen in the recent Extinction Rebellion protests, whose founders say they have been directly inspired by her findings.
Climate scientists tell us that we have less that 12 years to avoid uncontrollable climate change. Individual change, though important, is not enough to change the systems. We need to amplify the voice of the voiceless and pressurise companies and politicians to effect those changes. And just like Paul and Silas, some of us may risk imprisonment for doing so.
https://www.greeningtheblue.org/event/world-environment-day
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world
LITURGICAL RESOURCES
Forgive us, Lord God our Creator.
In haste and hunger for progress we have laid waste the good earth you have made.
We have mined landscapes, spoiled coastlinesand polluted air and water.
We have brought health and wealth to some and suffering and deprivation to others, exploiting the earth and threatening its creatures.
Make us hungry now for generosity and balance.
Make us brave enough to choose more wisely for the future of the earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
© The Anglican Church of Australia
Creator God, let all countries live with love and respect for the environment, including the air that surrounds us and fills our lungs with the breath of life. Help us find ways to prevent air pollution.
Prayer in Chinese and English by Bishop Andrew Chan, Diocese of Western Kowloon, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
世界環境日禱文
天父啊，我們感謝祢賜給我們這美好的大地：有陽光、雨水，更有空氣，藉此滋養地上，海
裏及天空萬物。我們也為人類的貪念，及過份的開採與消耗資源，以致污染了祢所賜給我們
的空氣，我們懇求你寬恕。更求祢給我們一顆珍惜祢所創造一切的心懷，好讓我們能夠共同
努力，為我們的大地作出保護，又求祢讓世上各國都能攜手努力，制訂更好的環保政策，讓
我們的空氣得以淨化，使我們從萬物的生長中更看到祢賜給世界的生命力，並藉此讓我們能
和你的生命聯上更親密的關係。此乃我主耶穌基督之名而求。阿門。
Prayer for World Environment Day
Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us this beautiful land: we have sunshine, rain, and air to nourish earth, sea and sky. For our greed, our excessive exploitation and consumption of resources, polluting the air you have given to us, we beg for your forgiveness. Give us hearts to cherish your creation, so that we can work together to protect the land. We also pray for all countries in the world that they may work together to formulate better environmental policies to improve our atmosphere so that we can again see the life-force provided to the world through the growth of nature, and in so doing find a closer relationship with you. In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Amen