Like many an aging 45 year-old radical, Earth Day has gotten a bit flabby. While at one point it had a cutting--even subversive--edge, it's long since lost its transformative power, at least in large portions of the United States. But that doesn't mean that its power can't be recovered! We can look beyond the confines of our borders to see examples of what genuine creation-care looks like.
Loving the planet is not for wimps; in fact, it is very risky business. In 2014, there were 116 documented cases of environmental activists being murdered, the vast majority of them taking place in Latin America. While I love recycling and think more people should do it, it is not an action that threatens anyone. It's a nice place to start but a poor place to end. As they say, no one ever got crucified for being nice. But some communities don't have the luxury to play nice; they resist and walk in the way of the cross.
In fact, the most dangerous country in the world to fight for environmental and indigenous rights (which so often go together) is Honduras. The Lenca, an indigenous community along the Rio Blanco in Honduras, successfully stopped a major dam from being built that was designed to power a mining facility last year. Many people were injured or killed by government-backed and US-supported military and company forces. One of their leaders, Berta Cáceres, received the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her courageous organizing in the face of multinational opposition. Her story is a moving example of an inspired earth day spirituality.
It reminds me of a poster created by the artistic intentional community "The Beehive Collective," which has done an excellent job depicting the relationship of front-line communities facing death-dealing globalizing forces. Through artistic murals, they show the parabolic relationships these communities face. One of my favorites, called "Mesoamérica Resiste," focuses on lower Mexico and Central America. You can see it displayed prominently on a table the next time you come by the PCU office. Or you can take a free online guided tour of the manifold symbols here! It reveals (and it is indeed a muralistic revelation!) struggle, and pain, and hope, and beauty, and terror, and resistance, and espíritu in an overwhelmingly moving image that envisions another world.
Many churches will incorporate Earth Day into their worship celebrations this year. But I hope that a few will catch a glimpse of that espíritu santo that so clearly fills the Lenca by the Rio Blanco, the Beehive Collective, and the millions of others near and far that risk life and limb for an authentic "Earth Day" spirituality. They show that the earth and their communities are worth fighting for.
En el Espíritu,
Timothy Murphy
Executive Director