Lenten care for our Earth

BY ANTHONY GATHAMBIRI IMC

A long time ago, there lived a very rich king in Africa who took his son on a tour to a very poor country to show him how poor people could be. They stayed with a certain humble family for two weeks and when they went back home, the father asked his son what he thought about the poor country. His son thought the trip was surprisingly nice. His dad said, “Did you notice how poor they were?” There was silence as his son thought deeply.

Catholic nuns plant trees in a field, during a programme marking World Environment Day (Photo:Romeo Ranoco, Reuters, CNS)

His son said, “These people are rich. I learned that their country is greener, while our country is full of built structures everywhere. They drink from any stream while our water from taps must be treated before we drink. They eat “fresh-from-the-garden stuff” while we eat food that is several weeks old in market stalls. They eat organic food which has never been poisoned by fertilisers and pesticides while we eat poisoned stuff.

“They hear and see all types of birds singing while we hear engines and factory noise instead that fills air with smoke. They breathe fresh and clean air while ours is heavy to breathe. Their children sprawl on refreshing grass and climb trees while our children play on artificial grass in the house and see artificial trees that have lamps on them.”

His father was speechless. The son said, “Thanks, father, for this awesome tour that helped me to see how poor we really are.”

We are poor when we don’t breathe clean air because of heavy pollution. We are poor when we don’t have clean water. Man’s greed is to blame for all this.

We will never know the value of clean air until we breathe dirty and smoky air, and we will never know the worth of having clean water until our streams go dry.

Having water and air is a basic right of everyone. When we pollute our rivers, air and soil with our lifestyles, our right to have a healthy environment is tampered with. Every single Christian should check on their carbon footprint. Today, whenever we travel from one place to another, we have to make sure that we have a few coins to buy water, lest we risk drinking sewage.

A few weeks ago, the media showed people in China with masks because of the air pollution. Before the Beijing Olympics, billions of dollars had to be pumped into cleaning the air. Africa is going there too if we don’t check on our carbon footprints. This could lead to its countries spending hefty money just to clean air or water.

A sage once said, “Do you want to see an endangered species? Wake up and go to your mirror.” We are sitting on a time-bomb, and so we urgently need to drop habits that harm our ecosystem.

This will be possible if we reflect on how poor we are when we entertain wasteful attitudes. We are wasteful when we leave lights on while we don’t need them. We are wasteful when we leave geysers on when we don’t need hot water or when we are not around. We are wasteful when we fill our dustbins with leftovers.

Parents have a big role here. They have to train their children not to waste food, water or power. Blessed John Paul II said that society would have no solution to ecological problem unless it took a serious look at its lifestyle.

In few days’ time, we start a journey with Jesus in the desert. It is not an easy one, especially for those of us for whom meat is our favourite meal.

It’s a journey of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Needless to say, the three acts should improve our relation with God, our neighbours, ourselves and our environment. When we work on our relation with ourselves, we will be able to love our neighbours, our God and our environment.

Lent could be a good moment to work on our habits that impoverish our beautiful Mother Earth. It is a time to see how poor we are when we don’t live simple lives that are eco-friendly.

Nature is hitting back violently more than ever, as it tries to readjust itself. Our lifestyles are to blame for robbing nature of her beauty and wealth.

Last week I saw on TV a programme on a town near Lake Victoria in East Africa, which was complaining that crocodiles were eating people and livestock.

An environmentalist was there doing his investigation on the crocodiles’ behavioural changes. When the scientist was asked why the crocodiles had started hunting people and their livestock, he responded that people had overfished the lake.

All this is because of our greed. Our greed ought to be tamed, if we want to be in harmony with the ecosystem.