Sunday 20 December 2009

Nopenhagen!

 
I just knew it would happen! The UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen has failed to produce any legally binding agreement on carbon emission cuts.

So what's new?  This is so much a symptom of fallen human nature: every nation looking out for itself. But, as Pope Benedict XVI says in his message for World Day of Peace 2010, ‘concern for the environment calls for a broad global vision of the world; a responsible common effort to move beyond approaches based on selfish nationalistic interests towards a vision constantly open to the needs of all peoples’. If only world leaders would heed this call!

How hard can it be for people to be less myopic, to see beyond their own puny worlds and come together to work for the good of the whole world? How can we keep dreaming of a white Christmas and singing of a winter wonderland when the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate?!

Good thing Christmas is so much more than snow and sleigh rides. Christmas gives us the reassurance that God has given us this beautiful world and that he cares enough about us to come into the world to save us. So we have a duty to look after this world! Even if world leaders are not ready to make bold moves yet, we can do what we can and play our part to be good stewards of creation. As the Pope continues: ‘Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all. May this be clear to world leaders and to those at every level who are concerned for the future of humanity: the protection of creation and peacemaking are profoundly linked!’ We certainly need God's grace and help to achieve this.

     O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Immanuel!

Because there can be no true peace as long as this global warming crisis continues.
 

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