Before We Become Extinct

By William Brawner

Our world, the planet Earth, needs our help, desperately, if she is to allow the human race to survive and thrive; to reach whatever levels of social, economic, spiritual and intellectual achievement we can attain. We have done a superior job of following God's directive to "go forth and multiply". We have been a great deal less successful in our realization that we are not the earth's owners, merely her stewards.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257480104

Book preview

BEFORE

WE

BECOME

EXTINCT

A Faith-Based First Glance

at Solidarity & Sustainability

By

William Brawner

«What we need to do Now»

Copyright: The Foundation for Justice and Charity 2008

ISBN 978-1-4357-4423-3

eISBN: 978-1-25748-010-4

Author’s Forward

This series of thoughts developed based on years of exposure to Kathryn Y Buckley-Brawner, M.A.A.T., Diocesan Director of Peace and Justice in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts. Kathryn designed the Just Life® experiential workshop series to bring Catholic Social Justice to teens and adults. I have been involved with the series for years as a volunteer. Her insights into Catholic Social Teaching and her empathetic approach to social justice continue to inspire me.

The catalyst for writing this essay was a retreat that Rev. Warren J. Savage III, a well known mission and parish revival preacher, an adjunct lecturer for the Religious Studies Department of the College of Our Lady of the Elms, and an experienced retreat and spiritual director, facilitated on August 4, 5, 6, 2006 at The Passionist Calvary Retreat Center in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. The theme of the retreat was Listen to Him! based on the Transfiguration of Christ as related in Mark 9:2-10. Most of these thoughts were committed to paper during the reflection times provided during the retreat.

Though not meant to be a complete plan of action, I hope that you will be able to use these thoughts as a discussion-starting point in our successful process to save our home planet and return our spiritual lives to the center of our daily existence.

Wm. Brawner

Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts

August, 2008

Preface - Stewardship and Discipleship

These reflections are written from the perspective of a Catholic Christian, but are certainly applicable to the life of any faith filled person. While not all religions regard Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God, most mainline religion groups, representing over 3.4 billion people, do acknowledge that He was an important prophet and teacher. So, one does not have to be a Christian to Listen to Him. Catholic Social Teaching grew out of the thoughts regarding relationship that Jesus shared in His time. People have not changed so much in the intervening 2000 years that we cannot use these thoughts to help save Earth, the only place we have to make our home. I have come to understand the pressing need to get all of us humans on the same page – at least regarding the fate of our fragile planet.

This first glance is an initial challenge, to start prayerful discussions at the local level, hopefully leading to action on both the individual and governmental levels leading to the salvation of our planet.

Our world, the planet Earth, needs our help, desperately, if she is to allow the human race to survive and thrive; to reach whatever levels of social, economic, spiritual and intellectual achievement we can attain. We have done a superior job of following God’s directive to go forth and multiply. We have been a great deal less successful in our realization that we are not the earth’s owners, merely her stewards.

As I write this, Bread for the World tells us that:

A child dies of hunger every five seconds

One billion people in Latin America, Asia and Africa, live in slums

20% of the world’s population consumes 85% of all goods and services; the poorest 20% consumes 1%.

Globally about 800 million people do not have access to adequate food. Of those, 200 Million are children.

In Africa 15% of children die before the age of 5.

In America 700,000 people are without shelter on any given night

When we review all these facts, we are lead to ask questions like:

Can Earth Survive?

Who Can Save Earth?

What Happens if it’s Too Late?

This first glance will present some ideas of how we can start treating our fellow humans as our neighbors, not disposable ‘human resources’, and our world as a home, not a shopping mall with unlimited, throwaway inventory. This is Mankind’s only hope of survival - Solidarity and Sustainability.

You will find many simple actions which we can each take that, when combined with these same actions taken by billions of others, can add up to a fabulous opportunity to improve our own lot as the family of mankind, but not only for ourselves, but for future generations who will bless us for our thoughtful stewardship.

Our goal must be: to save the world, and thus ourselves.

par·a·digm

One that serves as a pattern or model.

A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline.

Today’s Paradigm - self-based

Tomorrow’s Paradigm - community-based, building the kingdom of God here and now - in communion and:

sol·i·dar·i·ty:

mutual agreement and support: harmony of interests and responsibilities among individuals in a group, especially as manifested in unanimous support and collective action for something

[Mid-19th century. < French solidarité< solidaire< solide solid]

The way to save the world and ourselves involves a major Paradigm Transformation

Ask questions, be spiritual, take small value-based steps, and be consistent.

In the following pages, some useful questions to help bring about the necessary paradigm transformation are laid out for your active consideration.

One - Why Does The World Need Saving?

Why Now?

Why, you may ask, is it so important to act now? After all, it has taken us a very, very long time to get ourselves into an unsustainable situation. We certainly can wait a little longer to take what are sure to be painful actions to get ourselves out of trouble. Maybe even wait and let ‘the kids’ do it… Well, consider the following facts:

A child dies of hunger every five seconds

Every cow in the European Community is subsidized by $2.50 a day. That’s more than what 75 percent of Africans have to live on.

The average Japanese woman can expect to live to be 84. The average Botswanan woman will reach just 39

One in five of the world’s people lives on less than $1 a day.

There are 67,000 people employed in the lobbying industry in Washington DC - 125 for each elected member of Congress.

Every day, some 800 million people go hungry.

More people die each year from suicide than in all the world’s armed conflicts.

There are 27 million slaves in the world today.

Children living in poverty [one in six in the USA] are three times more likely to suffer mental illness than children from wealthy families.

More people can identify the golden arches of McDonalds’s than the Christian cross.

That’s Why Now.

[Facts taken from 50 Facts That Should Change The World, by Jessica Williams]

So let’s get started!

Let’s take care of a couple of nagging questions before we get down to saving the world:

1. Can’t the world continue to be our dumping ground? It has always been able to absorb whatever we discard – it’s all part of the cycle of life, right? Global warming and pollution are just two of the results of our continuing view of ourselves as not being a part of the world – we’re different, we’re human – earth can just keep cleaning up after us, right? We’ll see in Chapter Five that this is no longer the case

2. Why me? Why shouldn’t ‘they’ be the ones to fix this? If, as I suspect, you are one of the 20% of the world’s population who consumes 85% of all goods and services, that makes you the ‘they’. I know I am. If you want to start this process by discovering just how out-of-balance our levels of consumption are, go to the link