Word to the Wise
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - Bl. John of Fiesole, O.P. [better known as "Fra Angelico" - renowned Renaissance artist]
[Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22 and Mark 8:22-26]Never again will I doom the earth because of man since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
These words are the opening phrases of God's promise and covenant to Noah. We'll hear more of that in tomorrow's first scripture. For today, it seems consoling to me that at least we don't have to worry about GOD destroying the earth. It would appear we have to worry about HUMANS destroying it! In so many ways, we are eating ourselves out of house and home through our careless and casual attitudes and behavior in regard to our environment! Note the expression in God's thought, "as long as the earth lasts..." - that's the line that concerns me. How long WILL this earth last if we keep up our current rate of consumption of the resources of this planet? For some, the answer is, "Who cares? Just so it lasts as long as I live. My kids can worry about the next step!" For others, there is the belief that we are not the owners of the planet, only its stewards, and we have no right to be polluting air, water, earth with our man-made chemicals and trash! Private property, economic gain and unnecessary consumption must yield to the common good. A more cynical response to God's thoughts might be: "Sure, I don't need to destroy the earth again, the humans will do it for me!" There are good people whose livelihoods are connected with "harvesting" the resources of the planet for the good of the community. They have been unnecessarily pitted against those who wish to be better stewards of those resources. Working together instead of against one another seems to me to guarantee God's cooperation in the matter and a greater future for this planet. AMEN