Establishing more sustainable habits means that they have to be actions I can and will keep doing and be better for the environment. 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.
Judgment and helplessness are obstacles to sustainable habits. I don’t want to be judged or seem judgmental to others because that shuts down the conversation. I can only change my actions, but talking about the process that has brought me to these practices, can be persuasive. Why have I changed what I buy, eat, or drive for the Earth’s sake? These practices change my commitments, self-understanding, and how I wield my power or join movements. Individual actions do not get us “off the hook” but should draw us in deeper.
This message is excerpted from “Practices for my resistance to climate change” by LeeAnn Pomrenke in the April 2022 Café online magazine.
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