Vigil for the Reef - Stop Adani Kooyong

Djap Wurrung Embassy and the Islamic Khutbah Prayer

https://www.facebook.com/fatima.mawas/videos/10161000127440157/

For the past few years, there has been strong community effort to try to prevent or redirect the Victorian Government's plans for widening the Western Highway to four lanes.

Locals have done their utmost but still the Victorian Government

fails to listen and fails to acknowledge the historic and environmental significance of place,

and - in particular - the ancient Red Gums that are being destroyed. 

In recent times Aboriginal people have become active in the campaign.

Now it is good to see people of faith - the Islamic faith - in support.

Please send loving thoughts and prayers to this vital campaign.

Khutbah

The Religious Imperative To Fight Climate Change: Environmental Stewardship And World Religions

From Counter Currents

Climate Change — by Ryan V. Stewart — November 4, 2017

One may easily argue that climate change represents the greatest ever threat to the continued existence of civilization. And such a threat, global and multi-generational in its scope, cannot long go unabated. Let me be very clear: We humans cannot, under any circumstances, afford to ignore climate change. Rather, we have to muster our very best efforts to combat it, both for our own safety and the safety of all future persons.

But how can we effectively communicate the kind of peril that a rapidly warming planet poses? Despite a nearly continuous stream of headlines referencing the dire reality of the environmental crisis, many people around the world continue to ignore climate change, simply do not know about or understand it—thus underestimating it—and still others deny its destructive capabilities, or even its very existence, altogether.

If there are inroads to be made for the cause of confronting climate change, they will be made through convincing individuals that it is in their best interests, and in the interests of their loved ones, to pursue environmental wellbeing. We must convince the people of the world that maintaining a stable climate is in line with their values. We must appeal to them on an almost spiritual level.

One of the most effective ways to open the hearts and minds of the masses is through religion. On an individual basis, religion represents our inmost principles: those concepts and ideals closest to and most comfortable for us. Religion usually provides, for those who adhere to it, useful notions for navigating and enjoying life in what is otherwise an indifferent and often unfair world.

However, despite humanity’s predilection for religion—the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life reported that, in 2012, 84 percent of all people adhered to some form of religion—religious values have not kept us from pursuing the selfish practices which have led to the ecological disaster we now find ourselves in the midst of. I think it best, then, that we review some of the world’s great faith traditions and see for ourselves what they have to say (or at least imply) about environmental stewardship:

BUDDHISM:

One of Buddhism’s central tenets, a so-called brahmavihara—a cardinal virtue—is compassion (karuna). Indeed, the Buddhist tradition is built upon the fundamental principle of reducing suffering—an ethical concept that has come to be known as “negative utilitarianism.” According to the Buddha, an enlightened person is one who has relinquished the “three poisons” (trivisa) of ignorance (moha), ill-will (dvesha), and greed (raga), which together form the root of endless attachments or cravings (tanha), none of which can ever be fully satisfied in a world of impermanent phenomena, thus ultimately leading to suffering or dis-ease (dukkha). The enlightened person, overcoming his ego and attachments, renounces the pursuit of needless pleasures and looks upon the world—rife with the suffering of living beings—with an eye of compassion, as well as loving-kindness. (Metta.)

The spirit of renunciation, humility, love, and simplicity is totally anathema to the kind of wasteful consumer culture which has given rise to anthropogenic climate change.

Among the Buddha’s five precepts (pancasilani), which practitioners are expected to undertake in almost all schools of Buddhism, there is the vow “to abstain from killing,” with the following elaboration from the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta, a section of the Buddhist Pali Canon: “There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings.”

The fourteenth and current Dalai Lama, the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and probably the most well-known Buddhist in the public imagination, has repeatedly called for strong action to combat climate change.

In 2015, Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world’s most renowned Buddhist monks, released a statement on climate change to the United Nations, saying: “The Earth is our mother, nourishing and protecting us in every moment… When you realize the Earth is so much more than simply your environment, you’ll be moved to protect her in the same way as you would yourself. This is the kind of awareness… that we need, and the future of the planet depends on whether we’re able to cultivate this insight or not.”

CHRISTIANITY:

In the Old Testament’s Book of Jeremiah we read: “And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.” (Jeremiah 2:7.) Elsewhere in that book, we read: “How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”” (Jeremiah 12:4.)
Does this not suggest that God looks down upon—seriously judges—those who would abuse and destroy his creation? Christ himself speaks in near-poetic terms about the beauty and glory inherent in nature, God’s original providence: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28-29.)

Pope Francis, the current head of the Catholic Church, has, on many occasions, called on the world to better protect the environment. Notably, in 2015, Francis released the papal encyclical Laudeto si’, a critique of unabated consumerism and continued ecological harm.

In September of 2017, Pope Francis released a joint message alongside the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church—the largest Christian church after the Catholic Church—urging humanity to “care for the whole of creation”. In their message they state: “Our propensity to interrupt the world’s delicate and balanced ecosystems, our insatiable desire to manipulate and control the planet’s limited resources, and our greed for limitless profit in markets – all these have alienated us from the original purpose of creation.”

HINDUISM:

Hinduism, arguably the world’s oldest organized religion—or, more realistically, a complex of many different religions bound together by similar ideas and origins—places a special emphasis on the value of the natural world. On this topic, Dr. Pankaj Jain, associate professor of philosophy and religion at the University of North Texas, writes in the Huffington Post, “Our environmental actions affect our karma. Karma, a central Hindu teaching, holds that each of our actions creates consequences — good and bad — which constitute our karma and determine our future fate… Moral behavior creates good karma, and our behavior toward the environment has karmic consequences.” Dr. Jain, a leading expert on the intersection of environmentalism and the Hindu faith, also writes, “The earth — Devi — is a goddess and our mother and deserves our devotion and protection.” He goes on to note that, “Non-violence — ahimsa — is the greatest dharma,” dharma being one’s moral duty or obligation, that, “Ahimsa to the earth improves one’s karma,” and that, “For observant Hindus, hurting or harming another being damages one’s karma and obstructs advancement toward moksha — liberation.”

On a related note: There is a profound, sacred phrase which comes to us from the Isha Upanishad of the Shukla (“white”) Yajurveda, itself one of the Vedas, the foundational texts of the Hindu tradition: Ishavasyam idam sarvam. This roughly translates to “The entire cosmos is to be seen as being one with God.”

So, if God inhabits everything, and God is worthy of reverence, should we not, then, give due respect to all existence? And if all existence is sacred, then surely the Earth itself—the one place in the entire universe that we know can support life—must be so utterly sacred that it is impossible to overstate its importance!

I will cap off this section by mentioning the Assisi Declarations on Nature: In 1986, the World Wildlife Fund, via its president Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, invited five leaders representing five of the world’s great religions to assemble in Assisi, Italy, discuss how their respective faiths could help preserve the environment, and make declarations on the issue thereafter.

The Hindu declaration included the following statements: “Nature is sacred and the divine is expressed through all its forms. Reverence for life is an essential principle, as is ahimsa (non-violence)… Nature cannot be destroyed without humanity destroying itself… The divine is not exterior to creation, but expresses itself through natural phenomena.”

ISLAM:

Just as in the Bible, we find examples of environmental concern in the Qur’an. In the Qur’an’s fifty-fifth chapter (surah), ar-Rahman (“The Most Merciful”) we read: “He raised the heaven[s] and established the balance / So that you would not transgress the balance. / Give just weight – do not skimp in the balance. / He laid out the earth for all living creatures.” (Qur’an 55: 7-10.)

The Prophet Muhammad himself understood the value of nature, and saw that the mindful use of its bounty, by humans, represents a form of charity—indeed, almost a sacred duty—on behalf of both God’s creation (the ecosystem) and other human beings. As we read in the hadith of Sahih Bukhari: “If any Muslim plants any plant and a human being or an animal eats of it, he will be rewarded as if he had given that much in charity.”

The Prophet is also reported to have said, as recorded in the Ibadi Jami Sahih, “If the Hour is about to be established and one of you was holding a palm shoot, let him take advantage of even one second before the Hour is established to plant it.”

In 2015, 60 high-ranking Islamic clerics gathered together to issue the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change, which states: “Our species, though selected to be a caretaker or steward [khalifah] on the earth, has been the cause of such corruption and devastation on it that we are in danger of ending life as we know it on our planet. This current rate of climate change cannot be sustained, and the earth’s fine equilibrium [mizan] may soon be lost.”

The Islamic declaration at the aforementioned 1986 Assisi Declarations on Nature included the following statements: “For the Muslim, mankind’s role on earth is that of a khalifa, vice-regent, or trustee of God. We are God’s stewards and agents on Earth. We are not masters of this Earth; it does not belong to us to do what we wish. It belongs to God and He has entrusted us with its safekeeping. Our function as vice-regents, khalifa of God, is only to oversee the trust… His trustees are responsible for maintaining the unity of His creation, the integrity of the Earth, its flora and fauna, its wildlife and natural environment. Unity cannot be had by discord, by setting one need against another or letting one end predominate over another; it is maintained by balance and harmony.”

JUDAISM:

In the Jewish Tanakh, which is the source of the Christian Old Testament, we find a passage from the Book of Psalms, which reads: “For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills / “I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine / “If I were hungry I would not tell you, / For the world is Mine, and all it contains…”

This statement clearly show’s God’s dominion over all of nature — and that he is intimately connected to it. To destroy it, then, is a sin against God. Thus observant Jews follow the doctrine of bal tashchit, which means “do not destroy”—rooted in the Book of Deuteronomy—the injunction originally used in the context of cutting down an enemy’s fruit trees during a siege in wartime. Bal tashchit implies refraining from engaging in any kind of destruction unless the situation absolutely warrants it, a sort of mindfulness towards one’s actions insofar as they may include damage to or waste of resources.

In 2015, the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Ephraim Mirvis, gave the following statement (edited for brevity) ahead of the COP21 Paris climate accord: “World leaders convene in Paris this week to agree a global response to Climate Change. The challenge before them is unprecedented in scale and of the greatest consequence. The planet is experiencing a long-term warming trend… this due in part to the injurious actions of mankind. Many nations and major corporations are making admirable pledges to scale back greenhouse gas emissions… These are vitally important steps in safeguarding our collective future. Our planet is a beautiful web of ecosystems, weather patterns and natural resources upon which we depend.

“With the freedom to sample the fruits of God’s creation comes the responsibility to protect and steward, not abuse, our environment. I pray that the efforts of those participating will be blessed with the far-sighted wisdom to agree outcomes that reflect what is, undeniably, in all of our best interests.”

The Jewish declaration at the aforementioned 1986 Assisi Declarations on Nature included the following statements: “Now, when the whole world is in peril, when the environment is in danger of being poisoned and various species, both plant and animal, are becoming extinct, it is our Jewish responsibility to put the defence of the whole of nature at the very centre of our concern. We have a responsibility to life, to defend it everywhere, not only against our own sins but also against those of others… We are all passengers together in the same fragile and glorious world. Let us safeguard our rowboat — and let us row together.”

… In conclusion:

The world’s major religions all stress, in some way or another, the value of the environment, and mindful stewardship of the Earth. Thus the imperative to fight climate change, on behalf of both the environment and the countless species—including our own—which it supports, is, in this time, stronger than ever: Today, the carbon emissions which we have released into the Earth’s atmosphere practically guarantee, in lieu of global-scale “negative emissions” (a speculative technology and form of geo-engineering), a dramatic reshaping of the Earth’s biosphere, including a major loss of surface ice across the world, with all the knock-on effects—both known and unforeseen—that those will bring. Continued emissions, basically inevitable for the foreseeable future, will add unthinkable damage to our world on top of these already devastating effects.

Yes, sadly, awfully, we continue to pump ever more carbon into the air: Not only are our overall carbon emissions increasing—the rate at which they are increasing is accelerating. We have already passed 403 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in our atmosphere—a critical threshold—and will soon blow past 405 ppm. The level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is over 100 ppm higher than at any time in the past 3 million years.

The time to stop climate change and, if possible, to reverse it, is now. It has always—that is, since humans realized climate change is a global issue—been now. And our faith leaders, and our faiths themselves, can pave the way for the development of truly sustainable ways of life, those by which we may exist in harmony with our environment, instead of destroying it.

Ryan V. Stewart is a student and writer concerned with environmental issues. A seventeen-year resident of Connecticut, he originally hails from Austin. He believes in a God who likes to laugh at himself. He sometimes writes under the pseudonym “Vincent St. Clare”.

CALL OUT BY THE PLANETARY HEALING ARTISTS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INC TO PLANETARY HEALING ARTISTS

PHAAA - Planetary Healing Artists Association of Australia inc. 

is a not for profit organization that creates a forum for artists including visual artists, performers, writers, healers, 

and other creatives in the community to share ideas for a sustainable future in a creative way. 

The main purpose is supporting an environmentally sustainable planet. 

WE WELCOME YOU TO JOIN US at 7.30pm, 

1st Thursday bi-monthly upstairs at St Kilda RSL, 

88 Acland Street, St Kilda

On behalf of the Planetary Healing Artists' Association, COMMON and WIN Foundation

We are forwarding this email to invite Faith/Spiritual artists to exhibit to our upcoming art exhibition, One World.

There are 2 weeks to go now for submission forms to be in by 5th September 2017.
'One World', art exhibition is dedicated to world peace and will celebrate spirituality, faith and belief. It will explore the common connections between people with diverse beliefs, and promote the idea that by uniting for a common vision of a better world for all, that together we can make a difference. It is our hope that the exhibition will promote greater understanding and compassion in the broader community.

The exhibition will open on UN International Peace Day, 21st September 2017 and will run until 29th September at 4Dverse Gallery in St Kilda (1/118A Carlisle St - opposite the Town Hall).

We are calling for artworks along these themes in a variety of visual art mediums, representing a diverse range of beliefs and faiths. Submissions are due on 5th September (see attached for a flyer and submission form) and will be selected by a Panel curating the exhibition. 

Please share this email with your networks and let us know if you would like to exhibit your artwork.

Blessings
Maria
for the Planetary Healing Artists Team

info@planetaryhealingartists.org

www.planetaryhealingartists.org

Volunteers always win...  the more you get to act, the more opportunities you create. Raise your hand. Step forward. Step up. You'll be glad you did.  Jeff Haden

Resource Guide on Climate Change for Religious Communities

The European Interfaith Youth Network of Religions for Peace has produced a Resource Guide on Climate Change for Religious Communities.  Please go here to download the document in pdf format

World Religious Leaders Consider Global Deforestation

International: World Religious Leaders Consider Global Deforestation

June 17, 2017 by admin

Religions for Peace (RfP) is delighted to be working in partnership with Vidar Helgesen, the Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University, GreenFaith, Parliament of the World’s Religions, REIL Network, and the World Council of Churches to reaffirm the multi-religious commitment to protect the earth.

Office of the Secretary General

16 June 2017

Dear Esteemed Colleague:

There is a growing consensus among the world’s religions that we–each according to her or his tradition–have a moral and religious obligation to protect the earth and its people from the ravages of climate change. Tropical rainforests, one of the planet’s most vital life-support systems, are threatened due to deforestation. This deeply undermines the global efforts on combatting the perilous consequences of climate change. Through multi-religious partnership, the wisdom of each religious tradition can be a resource to help us cultivate the values and virtues essential for harmonious interactions with each other and our common home, earth

Religions for Peace (RfP) is delighted to be working in partnership with Vidar Helgesen, the Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University, GreenFaith, Parliament of the World’s Religions, REIL Network, and the World Council of Churches to reaffirm the multi-religious commitment to protect the earth. As part of this partnership, the first ever Interfaith Rainforest Initiative’s High Level Summit will be held from 19-21 June in Oslo. It will gather religious, indigenous and interfaith leaders, academics and experts to discuss the spiritual and ethical responsibility to end deforestation and to develop an action plan to protect, restore and sustainably manage tropical rainforests.

I welcome you to join me and other RfP leaders – H.E. Metropolitan Emmanuel [Co-President of RfP], Chief Rabbi David Rosen [Co-President of RfP], Bishop Emeritus Gunnar Stalsett [Honorary President of RfP], and Dr. Din Syamsuddin [Moderator of Asian Conference of RfP] in this important summit through the webcast on 19 June starting at noon CET.

You can find quotes from the RfP leaders here.
See the conference media advisory for details.

Dr. William F. Vendley
Secretary General
Religions for Peace International

RELIGIONS FOR PEACE-the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition-advances common action among the world’s religious communities for peace. Religions for Peace works to transform violent conflict, advance human development, promote just and harmonious societies, and protect the earth. The global Religions for Peace network comprises a World Council of senior religious leaders from all regions of the world; six regional inter-religious bodies and more than eighty national ones; and the Global Women of Faith Network and Global Interfaith Youth Network.

Religions for Peace New Faiths for Earth Campaign --- Good stewards of the Earth

Religions for Peace is the world's largest and most representative multi-religious coalition dedicated to advancing common action among the world religious communities for peace. Religions for Peace works to transform violent conflict, advance human development, promote just and harmonious societies, and protect the earth. The global Religions for Peace network comprises a World Council of senior religious leaders from all regions of the world; six regional inter-religious bodies and more than ninety national ones; and the Global Women of Faith Network and Global Interfaith Youth Network.

Religions for Peace Australia

THE ENCYCLICAL OF POPE FRANCIS - PRAISE BE TO YOU - ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

The latest papal encyclical was released to-day, 19 June 2015 AEST - 18 June in The Vatican.  The encyclical will take time to read closely and carefully, to digest it, and comment thoughtfully upon it.

Advocacy is indebted to Crux in providing the encyclical in a number of formats to make it easily accessible to people.  Advocacy has embedded the encyclical in this post where it can be read on-line or downloaded.  However, it is also available on Crux here in linked chapter by chapter outline for easy access and reading. Linked here is the encyclical as it was posted on The Vatican website.  Crux also contains recent commentary.

Comment

ABC - Australia: Key excerpts from the Pope's encyclical on the environment

The Age - Neil Ormerod: Pope Francis's views on global warming cold comfort for Canberra

The Guardian: The pope's encyclical on climate change - as it happened

The Washington Post: Ten key excerpts 

The Sydney Morning Herald:  

Papal environment encyclical a win for the Greens, challenge for Abbott

Invitation to a World Environment Day event hosted by Church of Scientology : Guest speaker - Dr Berhan Ahmed

Interfaith Environmental Network - an inspirational idea for interfaith organisations to take on board

Post by Interfaith Environmental Network.

Threatened animals from the Book of Genesis

The EPA recently announced its most aggressive plan ever 
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the United States: 30% by 2030. 
Cutting the poisonous greenhouse gas is the first of three objectives outlined in 
Obama's Climate Action Plan (CAP)
 and forms part of what Obama calls 
"a moral obligation to leave our children a planet that's not polluted." 
According to The Nature Conservancy, if climate change continues at its current rate, 
a quarter of the earth's species could be extinct by the year 2015.

Bushfires and response-ability - a re-think needed?

The article below is from the pen - oops, the keyboard - of Bronwyn Lay, daughter of B.I.N. member Margaret Lay. It is worthy of consideration.

Bushfires demand response-ability

Bronwyn Lay |  22 October 2013

I've never felt the earth move but have sniffed smoke, ashes and the aftermath of bushfires. The fright of inferno is akin to the world being taken away in an instant. It makes bodies tremble and language vanish. In front of violent nature, who are we but helpless and mute?

In bushfires, tsunamis and earthquakes, our relationship to the 'natural' world comes at us like an alive nightmare, and hurts. The natural world might not possess emotions like anger and revenge, but asks violent questions about meaning and action and responsibility. Many ask us to draw a line in our mourning, and only think about the humans. This is repression, for on such occasions humans and nature are bound in a dangerous dance.

In Lisbon 1755 the Western world changed direction. The ground literally moved as the biggest earthquake recorded in Western history hit the Portuguese coast and decimated Lisbon. A tsunami and fires followed. It was All Saints day and many people were at Mass when the earthquake hit. The monarchy fled to the hills to live as nomads, and thousands died.

To read more please go to Eureka Street magazine on line.

The Tree of Life Project - Ballarat's all inclusive end of year celebration

The Ballarat Interfaith Network

wishes its end-of-year all inclusive celebration

to be known far and wide.

In just under six weeks time,

The Tree of Life Project will be declared open. 

A preliminary program can be read on-line below or downloaded.

This program is still being finalised.

However, readers will get an idea of the structure.

It is not too late for anyone to come to us with their own project

and to get in the program.

There is still some room for the more the merrier.
Contact details are on the flyer as well as the program.

EARTHPRAYER by John Seed

EARTHPRAYER

by John Seed

 I pray
To dissolve myself in the Earth
To feel humanness dissolve back into the Earth
Whence it came

With each outbreath to ask the Earth
To purify
To mingle
To dilute
This over-concentrated humanness

And with each inbreath
To breathe in the ancient flow
The unconditioned pure certainty that comes
From 4000 million years of uninterrupted success

And for this to dissolve the crystal
Craggy structures within
Of habituated poverty and fear
Of this tiny identity turned inwards upon itself
Breathing only its own emanations
Dancing only to its own petty tune

To gently waft through this poverty consciousness
With playful, generous, exuberant abundance
Exultance

And with the outbreath
To tease it out into the world
(as much of it as will surrender)
And out in the world
To mingle, comingle, dance and disolve
So that the next inbreath comes in
Pure and uncompromising
From the vast southern ocean breath
From Antarctica, (remembering Gondwanaland
When that land and this land were one
And my DNA scurried out of the way
Of dinosaurs)
And once again dissolve
The puny structures of the ego
The wretched disconnected human song within
So long deprived of connection
With the great billion voices harmony
Which alone can give it meaning and endurance

And each time the inbreath
Is like a sponge soaking up the bile
The corpses full of fomaldehyde
The foul rotting vapours
For so long feeding on themselves
Hidden from the sun
Divorced from the exchange
The interplay
That alone can keep things fresh and alive

And on each outbreath squeezing the sponge dry
Allowing it to soak up
Pure alive sparkling water
Which pours cleansing, diluting, dissolving
Thru ancient holding, ancient arrogance...

And as the human falls back into the dance
Back into harmony
With the tune that created it
I offer my eyes to the Earth
So that it can have my perspective
Offer all my senses
So that all that I see from this place
The Earth can see
I quit refusing to be Her organs
Quit holding back my perspective
Quit blinding Her to what my eyes see coming down
Become that part of Him
That can see
Warning Her
Preparing Him
Alerting, waking, and pleading for more
More diversity please
More eternity
More time
To dissolve impurity and be dissolved
To be aligned again within the Earth
To fall once more into ancient harmony

Faith and environment - faith pushing for action on climate change

GreenFaith Australia, an interfaith environmental organisation founded at a meeting in Temple Beth Israel in 2008, is about to merge with ARRCC, the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change.  ARRCC has been rather Sydney-Canberra centric and hasn't quite lived up to its national name.  Similarly, GreenFaith Australia has not lived up to its name remaining mainly a Victorian organisation although in recent times an active green shoot has come into being in Tasmania.  The merger, it is hoped, will extend the reach of both organisations in bringing the voices of faith into the climate change conversation.

Again thanks to B.I.N. member, Elizabeth, the following article from Crosslight has come to Beside the Creek:

By Thea Ormerod (Chair ARRCC) and Sangita Bhatia.

According to an article in The Guardian, climate change is the most divisive and toxic issue in Australian politics and is one filled with uncertainty.

The anti-carbon tax rallies which ran before the carbon price was voted through were bitter, abusive and scientifically illiterate. However prominent religious leaders recently took a positive stand on the issue.

The leaders have signed an open letter organised by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, and came together for an official launch in Sydney on 4 July. They are calling upon Australia to be a part of the global solution to climate change, in order to avert a dangerous potential 4° C rise in global temperatures.

Rev Dr Brian Brown, moderator of the Uniting Church Synod NSW/ACT, spoke at the launch of our stewardship of the earth’s resources.

“The gifts of Creation given to us are meant to be used wisely, and in a way which leaves a world which continues to provide for the needs of future generations,” Dr Brown said.

At the launch the various signatories and their spokespersons affirmed our human interconnectedness with the natural world, and our responsibility to take care of it.

They share concern for social justice for those who are suffering the effects of climate change in the Pacific and elsewhere, as well as for those whose jobs will be displaced when society moves away from coal mining.

Ms Jacqui Remond, director of Catholic Earthcare and spokesperson for Archbishop Philip Wilson, very eloquently responded to the question on coal mining.

“As living creatures we must take responsibility for the spheres that we are a part of, the biosphere, the atmosphere, the lithosphere and the hydrosphere,” she said.

“What we understand from science is that we are causing crises within each of these spheres primarily due to release of fossil fuel in the atmosphere. It’s quite clear we have to reduce our mining of coal.”

Ms Remond went on to speak about the Clean Energy Future legislation which includes a price on carbon. “The results show that in the first six months of its operation, 4300 megawatts of power has been saved. We need to celebrate this achievement as this is an equivalent of three power plants being closed.”

Keysar Trad, spokesperson for the Grand Mufti of Australia, said, “We are spiritual people but our spirituality is meant to change the way we live, how we respond to the social issues society is grappling with.”

The leaders also invited all people of faith to participate in a transition to a more just and sustainable way of life. In Ms Remond’s words, “Everyone can take part in lifestyle changes such as reducing their consumption, switching to GreenPower and installing solar hot water. We can also let our political leaders know about the change we want to see.”

For the full text of the open letter and signatories go to: http://www.arrcc.org.au/leaders-open-letter

Wisdom and knowledge gained ... Beside the Creek

A blog can take many forms. So can an interfaith organisation.  So to begin, the first post is in a reflective mood.  It is a poem from which this blog takes its title ... Beside The Creek.  The poem is by the great Australian poet, Judith Wright. Wright was in her lifetime a significant environmentalist.  From both her literary works and her environmental advocacy, we can see that she was a person who was immersed in the Australian landscape in all its variety and forms.  Beside The Creek is a reflective poem.  It is written in the first person and in a reflective tone.  The "I" of the poem writes from the perspective of having been on a journey in which wisdom was learned.  The "I" now has a more mature knowledge which means actions are now different because of the wisdom and knowledge gained.  May our reflections have similar results.

Beside the Creek

by Judith Wright 

Under the wavering water shine the stones,

rounded in ruby-colours and clouded white.

Once I walked barefoot into that cool

Never-ceasing flow. I gathered once

Pebbles and ripples, the skimming rounds of light,

And took them home.

Now I am no such fool,

no such blest and envied stupid child

as to believe those colours, that once dry

gathered dust on a top shelf, heavy and dull

as pages written, pages forgotten and filed.

Here on the bank I sit unmoving; I

know the ungathered alone stays beautiful

and the best poem is the poem I never wrote.

Or so I said, watching the summer through.

But oh – years, time, you hoarsen here a throat

that sang all day without suspecting you;

stiffen the hands that gathered rubies then,

and open now, to show this dubious stone.

The poem can be found in -

Judith Wright - Collected poems  1942-1970

(A & R Modern Poets)

1971