This year the spiritual theme of the Ottawa Catholic School Board is “We Care for God’s Creation.” The emphasis then, in addition to the regular curriculum, is the instilling of respect and care for our environment in our children . The following is from the Ottawa Catholic School Board Website:
This theme also forms a bridge to last year’s theme – Who is My Neighbour? Stewardship for Creation will have a Justice dimension. Jesus calls us to open our lives to all who need our love and care across the globe. For instance, most affected by global warming will be the people of Africa and low-lying parts of Asia like Bangladesh.
Part of this whole-system responsibility for environmental education includes modelling environmentally sound practices in our facilities and operations. These practices are outlined in a Report of the Working Group on Environmental Education, endorsed by the Ministry of Education. Our students and staff are actively engaged in activities that demonstrate care for Creation including the environment, the welfare of others, and personal wellness.
“God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. God said, “See I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Gen. 1:28-31 Holy Bible, NRSV, Catholic Edition c.1993)
THE WAY IT WAS
THE WAY IT IS NOW
Garbage Mountain - Philippines
April 28, 2005
I had a dream where I was part of a small team/expedition. We had found the path to climb Mt. Everest, I think it was. It became Mt. Kilimanjaro after descending. I and another (a man was leading me) told others: “We’re going to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest.”
We turned to the right and followed the narrowest of trails. It was a straight line of blue crystal looking material laid in a very thin line in the snow. We climbed it. I and my companion reached the peak so quickly I was surprised – I don’t even remember the climb, just the start on this beautiful crystal blue trail and then arriving at the summit.
The top had become a tourist sight now though. There were tables and a restaurant or diner for serving food. I sat at a table with my companion on the very edge of this peak/cliff. It was so high and on a precipice that you had to be careful not to back up too much or you’d fall off the side.
I didn’t sit or eat anything because I was upset and dismayed at how trashy and touristy even this place had become. People seemed to have made the climb and spot of such former pristine beauty a sullied tourist spot.
I cried for the former unspoiled beauty of the world and was all of a sudden shown in split screen what this mountain looked like WAY BACK – at the time of its original creation. I longed for and much preferred this natural, pristine, exquisite, simple beauty and I began to cry as God was showing me how simple, majestic, beautiful and pristine the world had been when created. Then, on the other side of the split screen I saw it today – so concrete, dirtied, sullied, trashed and commercialized. People were so ignorant of what they had lost.
Then, on the beautiful side of the split screen on this pristine, breathtaking, fresh, cool mountain with beautiful breezes, the Light that was God broke out over the peak. I moved closer and was crying at the heartbreak of such spoiled beauty and also because I miss my God so much.
As I walked and approached the top of this pristine peak I cried “Papa, I miss You so much!” over and over again as I gently sobbed. What beauty! I don’t know which made me sadder – the missing and longing for my God or the sight of such pristine, clean, fresh, airy, magnificent beauty made absolutely chokingly trashy, hardened and commercialized by humans – OH! the loss of the world as God gave it to us! This struck me most profoundly…
In speaking with Father Kane about this issue, he offered his own personal experience of this contrast in the mission fields of Peru. On the one hand there are beautiful, mountainous areas, relatively untouched by humans, with tall vegetation that make for a beautiful experience of nature. However, in the big city of Lima one finds a shantytown in the desert and because of their desert conditions they have to have water trucked in from outside sources. The levels of pollution, however, make them unable to be sure of the safety of the water source, and so they have to boil it. The appalling conditions of local dumps, where children forage for anything that will earn their families money (see Father Kane’s Easter Message) also create a sad pictorial of this contrast. He has found, however, that because these people have such warm hearts and wonderful commitment within their families, they manage to live with good human values in spite of the sub-human conditions and poverty.
In essence the problems we are experiencing environmentally are another offshoot of the fallen nature of man. Humanity’s greed, materialism, lack of consideration for neighbour and the quest for more, better, faster, without due consideration of outcome, has become humanity’s industries without becoming stewards – where people are thoughtfully responsible for the management of God’s resources. We must become better stewards, both now and in the future.
May this dream sharing strike you most profoundly this Earth Day as well…
Karen
The Deliverance Ne†work 
Love this blog I’ll be back when I have more time.