Time to heed cry of the earth

Drought is a symptom of a much bigger problem, writes Stephen Brislin

IN THE stillness of the night a cry is heard. It is that of a newborn child, a male child, who will be called the Son of God, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel – “God is with us.” It is the cry of the Saviour, the Godman, sent to redeem the earth. It is a cry heard only by a few humble people in a stable, while the rest of the world continues with its business, unaware and unheeding .

Christmas recalls and celebrates that first cry of the child, remembering the historical event of 2 000 years ago. And yet, as we become silent, we can hear the cry still. It is the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor – a cry of unrelenting anguish through these two millennia, a cry of abuse, mutilation and abandonment. Yet, just as most did not hear the first cry of the child, most are deaf to it now, too busy and too unconnected with a reality that is beyond their immediate horizon.

Capetonians have been forced to hear the cry of the earth. As we face the harshness of the heat, dryness and dust of a thirsty land it has dawned on us finally that life cannot be sustained without the earth. The revelation has come to us of how foolish we have been to waste such a precious commodity as water, seemingly believing that it is infinite no matter how much it is misused. How selfish, careless and irresponsible we have been.

This realisation that has finally dawned on us should extend beyond the present crisis to the knowledge that – even if we have water in excess – it is too precious a gift to waste or abuse. Have we truly connected with the reality that life is dependent on the earth or will our human nature cause us to slip back into old ways once impending danger has passed?

But the cry is not only of a parched earth, it is the cry of creation itself – scarred and disfigured, polluted and fouled, exploited through greed, ignorance and indifference. “Where will this lead to and what is it good for? Poor world is hurting bad, Poor world is doomed to die. We kill the world… we surely do… cause we don’t know what we are doing,” sang the pop group Boney M.

The cry of the earth blends with the cry of the poor – the abused, the raped, the trafficked – for everything is interconnected, interrelated and interdependent.

As Pope Francis has noted in the encyclical Laudato Si: “When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities – to offer just a few examples – it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected. Once the human being declares independence from reality and behaves with absolute dominion, the very foundations of our life begin to crumble, for instead of carrying out his role as a co-operator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature”. (117)

The birth of the child Jesus brought salvation to the world, yet we are co-responsible for salvation, co-operating with God’s grace.

The almost hymn-like words of St Augustine capture this truth: “God who created you without you, will not save you without you” (Sermon 169). We are not subject to fate or to the power of irrational “gods”. We have the means to change and the means to make a difference – it is within our power to do so, but is it within our will to do so?

Harmony and peace in the world will not be achieved as long as the earth continues to be exploited and the worth of people disregarded. There is no sustainable future without caring for creation and promoting the eradication of poverty, striving for a just and inclusive economy that ensures a decent life for all, opportunities for the young and the end to the inequity that characterises our society and which we simply take for granted, seemingly thinking it to be a natural part of the landscape.

The struggle to change attitudes and behaviours that destroy the world and human lives is a moral imperative – it is the human responsibility of each and every person, because we are obligated to each other, we are our “brother’s keeper”.

Hats off to those in politics, business, faith organisations and civil society who are willing to make the effort and have the courage to speak out and confront prevailing attitudes and bad practices in order to seek a world where the child is consoled and comforted – and cries no more.

May the Lord bless you this Christmas and may you experience joy and peace, especially in your families. May the New Year not only be a prosperous one for you, but may it also be the opportunity for all of us to be courageous in saying “no” to everything that disfigures and de-humanises God’s creation.

In the words of Boney M’s song, “Don’t kill the world, help her to survive, And she’ll reward you with life. And don’t just talk, Go on and do the one, who wins is you. Cherish the world… Foundation of life, slow progress down and help her survive.”

Brislin is the Catholic archbishop of Cape Town.

PICTURE: DAVID RITCHIE Earth’s cry blends with cry of the poor, the abused, the raped, the trafficked – all is interconnected, interrelated and interdependent, says the writer.