On Monday, September 21 the world marks the International Day of Peace. Coincidentally the date falls within the Season of Creation. How does this time enhance our faith in following Christ in peace as we increase our advocacy for all of God’s good creation?
Established by the United Nations in 1981, the purpose of International Day of Peace is to “commemorate and strengthen the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.” During the Season of Creation, we join our sisters and brothers in our ecumenical family to pray and act for our common home. Earth – this common home with all living things above, atop, and below – directly benefits from an end to violence that harms and and increase in care-giving that heals and gives hope. Significantly one of the reasons for war as well as consequences of war is the integrity of water, another expression of the source of life. War results in the desecration of life as well as land, water, and air. This year’s Season of Creation, Immersion in Living Water, reminds us of our call to tend the bounty of life-giving water for all creation, human and non-human alike.
Here we paraphrase the words we often sing or pray:
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy….
In many Indigenous cultures as well as those cultures living in close relationship to the land, including North American farm communities, water is respected and treated as an essential neighbor. What a contrast to many military/industrial societies that treat water like a sewer! Water rights are debated and challenged, as we in California know well. When it comes to weather, too little water from droughts AND too much water (as we will soon witness from El Niño) can kill us and all creation that surrounds us.
Wars and migration are intensified by desertification where land can grow barren and by flooding where water can inundate and destroy crops and homeland. As Bill McKibben has warned, even if we significantly increased our use of renewables and seriously decreased the use of fossil fuels today, the best we could do is mitigate the harm from past decades of sitting on our hands instead of being responsive to the science of a changing climate.
Today, in the midst of staggering volatility, the search for peace feels overwhelming. But it has never been more urgent. How do we call upon national leaders to move from a cycle of violence to a culture of peace? And what would that look like?
Instead of enemy images, promote understanding, tolerance and solidarity. Not armaments but disarmament that is universal and verifiable. Not authoritarian governance but democratic participation. Not secrecy and propaganda but the free flow and sharing of information. Not violence but dialogue, negotiation, the rule of law, and active non-violence. Not male domination but equality of women. Not education for war but education for peace; Not exploitation of the weak and of the environment, but economies of peace with equitable, sustainable development
As we will learn from our September 20 forum presentation by Dr. Christina Bagaglio-Slentz, we need to appreciate and care for all of nature and exponentially increase climate solutions that we know can mitigate and reduce some of the environmental harm not only caused by war but that which can lead to war and injustice. Sister Water is our sibling, beloved by God just as we and all of creation are loved. Water is life. If we want peace, we will need to work for environmental justice!
Signed,
Rev. Richard Lief, Peace and Justice Ministry
Diane Lopez Hughes, Simpler Living Creation Care Ministry
