I know that thinking that my small actions cannot make a difference is an excuse that derails my commitment. So, I frame the actions I can take personally to resist harming the Earth as “practices” for my own good or even spiritual disciplines. These actions bring me closer to who I want to be in relationship with God and Creation. Like prayer, I don’t expect my small actions to change God’s cosmic actions or the world’s future but uttering them changes me and how I interact with God and the world.
Personal actions will not solve global warming – not when corporations belch and dump so much pollution daily into our sky and waters. But disrupting my patterns solidifies my commitment to “walk the talk” and become the person who votes with climate change in mind, shops with climate change in mind, travels with climate change in mind and, well, you get the idea. The degradation of the earth by human actions is the greatest threat of our time.
This message is excerpted from “Practices for my resistance to climate change” by LeeAnn Pomrenke in the April 2022 Café online magazine. Today we commemorate Benedict the African, confessor, 1589.
Copyright © 2024 Women of the ELCA. Inquiries for permission to reproduce should be directed to [email protected].