This week, as we’ve done each April now for 52 years, we’re celebrating Earth Day. People often say, “Every day is Earth day,” but we all need an occasional celebration to gather us together, energize our efforts, inspire our spirit, and remind us what drew us in the first place while also pointing us toward the future. Earth Day provides us with a chance to say in unison that caring for our common home matters.
Door County, WI, looking over Green Bay, Lake Michigan (photo by Dan Robinson)
Religious celebrations do the same thing, gathering, energizing, inspiring, and reminding us of the importance of the spiritual experience. This year, as they do every three decades or so, Ramadan, Easter, and Passover take place at the same time, overlapping last weekend and continuing to today. This convergence provides an opportunity for the followers of these traditions, even in the midst of conflict, to acknowledge a unity that says spirituality and a larger view on reality matters.
We all, obviously, have a stake in the health of the Earth, and so even if we don’t always agree on how to go about it, that common stake is an opportunity to experience unity, both in practice and in spirit.
That is my wish and my prayer for all of us this spiritual season and this Earth Day … that even in the midst of disagreement and violence, diversity of opinions and beliefs, may we all experience a unity of purpose and priority as we care for our common home.
What a beautiful way to look at Earth Day and caring for our Earth every day. Of course this is where we have a common purpose and an opportunity for unity! We all can "experience a unity of purpose and priority as we care for our common home." Thank you!