Dear friends,
This meditation is a heartfelt appeal to each and every one of us to come to the aid of planet earth as we face the greatest crisis humankind has ever known.
We will all have read the latest report of the International Panel on Climate Change.
It makes for very sober reading.
It's hard to believe that humanity can have had such an effect on our planet.
I mean,
As we stand at the edge of the sea and look out,
We ask ourselves,
How could we possibly have polluted the world's oceans?
They seem so vast.
But then we remember that there are over 7 billion of us.
7,
000 million people.
7,
000 million everyday actions.
And it all adds up.
The actions of each of us makes a difference.
So today we are going to meditate and reflect on what we might do to avert a looming catastrophe.
All our useful actions must come from a place of stillness.
So let's stop for a moment and bring ourselves to that place.
A place of quietness.
A place where we can renew our dedication.
Allowing ourselves to really come into this present moment.
Think of how wonderful it is to be able to do this.
How we have to be thankful for whoever it was who introduced us to the gift of meditation.
And how Inside Timer have built this community.
We have so many reasons to be grateful.
In this Timer Quiet we can come to realise that there is a light within each one of us.
We must always remember this.
The light that is within each one of us.
And let that light inspire us to be the very best we can be.
That light reminding us of our potential to work for the common good.
And to make this world a better place.
To leave this world better than we found it.
So let's give ourselves one minute,
Just 60 seconds to become still.
Let's give ourselves one minute,
Just 60 seconds to become still.
Welcome back.
Our opening thought today comes from William Fry.
This is an extract from A Sleep of Prisoners.
Dark and cold we may be,
But this is no winter now.
The frozen misery of centuries breaks,
Cracks,
Begins to move.
The thunder is the thunder of the flows,
The thaw,
The flood,
The upstart spring.
Thank God our time is now,
When wrong comes up to face us everywhere.
Never to leave us till we take the longest stride of soul men ever took.
Affairs are now soul size.
It takes so many thousand years to wake,
But will you wake for pity's sake?
Words of William Fry.
That poem could almost have been written for our time.
A time when wrong comes up to face us everywhere.
A time of fire,
A time of floods,
The time of climate chaos.
But the poem is not pessimistic.
Yes,
It looks out and observes the troubles of the day,
But it goes on.
Thank God our time is now,
When wrong comes up to face us everywhere.
Never to leave us till we take the longest stride of soul men ever took.
And that is exactly what we are called upon to do.
We have to take the longest stride of soul people have ever taken.
Why?
Because we have the latest report of the International Panel on Climate Change.
The UN reports show that never before in the entire history of the world have we been called upon to make such rapid changes in the way we manage our lives.
They point out in no uncertain terms that we all need to take immediate steps if human civilization is to survive.
In the long history of the world there has never been a generation faced with the task of preventing the annihilation of all life on earth.
But here we are.
This is our challenge.
But do we believe it?
This is something that we find hard to accept.
We look out our windows.
Unless we are very unlucky the fires and the floods are far away.
How can it be that the warming of the planet by a few degrees can have such a devastating effect as to cast doubt whether we can survive as a species?
But there is no doubt about the IPCC findings.
These reports are based on clear irrefutable scientific evidence.
The combined work of thousands of scientists and climatologists.
They talk of melting ice caps,
Rising sea levels,
The flooding of coastal areas,
The loss of whole low lying countries,
Extremes of heat,
Extremes of weather,
Loss of species,
Loss of biodiversity,
Poisoning of the oceans,
Overfishing of the seas,
Loss of pollinators,
Loss of food.
I'm optimistic by nature and it's against my temperament to act the part of a prophet of doom and gloom.
But the simple fact of the matter is this.
Unless we take immediate urgent steps,
All of us,
This planet that we call home will become uninhabitable for huge numbers of us,
If not for all of us.
It is as simple and stark as that.
As you all know we've been dodging the environmental issue for years.
We've been pushing the can down the road for decades.
Not all of us admittedly.
Some people to their credit have been working for years on environmental issues.
Initially these were the lonely voices,
People on the fringes,
The cranks amongst,
Dismissed as tree-hugging vegetarians.
And so we have allowed matters to roll along,
Ignoring the fact that we live on a planet with finite resources and with a delicately balanced life support system.
The world in general has been pouring CO2 into the atmosphere to the point where temperatures are rising at a rate not seen since human life first emerged on Earth.
Rising temperatures have been predicted to cause more frequent and more extreme weather events and we already see these incidents happening more often and with more intensity.
What we need now is an individual and collective moment of enlightenment so that we can all work together to meet the clear and immediate challenge of climate change.
In the past we have talked vaguely about the idea of working together to improve the living conditions of the poorest people and most.
But we have never cooperated on a planetary scale to make a difference to the wellbeing of all humanity.
It has always been north against south,
East versus west,
The rich exploiting the poor,
Capitalism fighting against communism,
Liberalism battling against dictatorships and the god of commerce promoting its wares as if there was no limit to growth.
As if having more and more and bigger and better was the gateway to happiness.
We have been speeding down the road to nowhere.
But the present situation demands that we finally work together,
That we cooperate together as never before,
Not simply as a good and a fair idea,
Not as a long overdue social experiment,
But so that life and civilisation as we know it might survive it all.
This crisis could turn out to be a real turning point in the history of humanity.
If the environmental crisis has taught us anything,
It reminds us that we are all interconnected and interdependent.
We are each part of an interconnected web of all existence.
If one part suffers harm,
Every part is affected.
In that respect we can compare our collective life on this planet to the interconnected parts of the human body.
You know that if you have a sore foot,
Your whole body feels the discomfort.
If you catch flu,
Your whole body feels sick.
If you have a toothache,
The pain does not only affect your mouth,
It affects your whole being,
It puts your whole being out of sorts.
The eyes cannot say to the hands,
We have no need of you.
The hands cannot say to the feet,
We have no need of you.
When we look at our bodies we see that we are one interconnected unit,
Where all the component parts are working together as one.
It's the same with life on Earth.
We are one interdependent and interconnected web.
And speaking of webs,
John Greenleaf Whittier,
The American Quaker poet,
Puts it this way.
Like warp and woof,
All destinies are woven fast,
Linked in sympathy like the keys of an organ vast.
Pluck one tread and the web ye mar,
Break but one of a thousand keys,
And the paining jar through all will row.
John also encourages us to cooperate with one another in a hymn where he used these words.
O brother man,
Fold to thy heart thy brother,
Where pity dwells the peace of God is there.
To worship rightly is to love each other,
Each smile a hymn,
Each kindly deed a prayer.
So how can we encourage one another to finally cooperate for the good of the planet and for the benefit of all the creatures on it?
First of all we need a collective approach.
Each one of us here is part of a community,
A city,
A country.
We need to press our public representatives to take urgent action in response to the latest report of the IPCC.
We all need to do this and we need to do it now.
The protection of the environment needs to be placed on a firm legal footing the world over.
Elections take place every so often,
Every four years or every five years or whatever,
Depending on where you live.
But the crisis that we face calls for long term action and that is why we need firm laws committing us to reducing our carbon emissions year after year after year.
It's pie in the sky talking about how we need to reach zero emissions by 2050.
2050 is nearly 30 years away.
We can't leave these adjustments to the last minute.
We all know what will happen if we think in terms of 30 year targets.
The painful adjustments will be put off and put off until there's insufficient time to reach the target.
The corrections must begin now,
This year,
Not in five years,
Not in ten years.
They must begin now and they must continue to be progressed year by year by year.
Facing elections as they do every few years,
Politicians can be tempted to concentrate on short term projects with eyes focused only on the next election.
Thinking of the new next election,
They are tempted to concentrate on popular and populist policies.
There are no votes when it comes to belt tightening,
Asking people to accept a reduced standard of living,
Urging people to use their cars less,
Warning us that we must limit consumption.
These things are not popular in the short term,
But short term policies will not get us out of this crisis.
The policies of endless growth and endless consumption have brought us to where we are,
A world in crisis.
We need environmental laws that operate over a longer term,
Laws that are not subject to the whims of the moment or the voting fears of any particular government or party.
So it is important that all of us,
Every one of us,
And everyone we know,
Put pressure on the powers that be to take action now,
This year,
Not next year.
This is not something that's just a nice thing to do,
An optional type of project that we might do if we feel like it,
Or we might postpone if we feel like postponing it.
This action to work now to reduce our impact on the environment is essential to the very survival of life on earth.
We must make our politicians wake up and take immediate and continuous action.
What else can we do?
We can all encourage one another by being part of groups of people who are working together to protect the environment.
So let's all investigate what groups there are in our area and see if we can join up with them and support one another.
We need to work together and encourage and enthuse one another.
And finally,
There are our very important day-to-day decisions that make all the difference.
How we travel.
Think of our needless car journeys,
Hopping into a car for a short journey that could easily be made on foot.
And what about our excessive plane journeys?
Figures show that 50% of all the pollution caused by air travel in the world is caused by 1% of the population.
Despite the huge pressure that governments face from airlines,
I wonder should we consider the mad idea of rationing air travel just in the same way food supplies were rationed in World War II.
Simply increasing the price will not have any effect because unless they have a change of heart,
People who have the money will continue to burn up all the fuel they want,
Travelling wherever they want and whenever they want.
If rationing were introduced,
There would still of course be wheeling and dealing in terms of the supply.
But at least the supply of fuel allocated to air travel would be fixed and the pollution caused by air travel could be capped.
And any wheeling and dealing would result in a redistribution of wealth from the travellers to the non-travellers.
This might seem like a mad idea,
But if we don't take serious and united action to save the planet,
There will be nowhere for people to travel to.
Moving to another planet is not an option even for the very rich.
There is no planet B.
We stand or fall,
All of us together,
On this one planet that we call Spaceship Earth.
And apart from personal transport and air travel,
We have to look too at our buildings,
How we heat our homes,
Offices and factories.
Can we capture more solar energy?
Think of all those roofs,
Millions upon millions of them,
Many of them doing nothing except providing cover.
And how do we cool our buildings?
Can we design or modify them so that they require less energy to keep them cool?
And then there are our shopping habits.
Think of what we buy.
How are the products packaged?
Think of unused plastics,
Used once for a few minutes and taking hundreds of years to decompose.
How far have the products travelled?
Is it really necessary to send apples from one part of the planet to the other?
Can we eat less meat,
Especially beef?
We see huge forests being turned into grazing areas to accommodate cattle,
Which in turn give off methane.
When we look at what we are about to buy,
Can we stop to ask ourselves what impact has this product had on the earth?
Money is only one aspect of the cost.
Now these considerations are not easy.
They involve changes in the way we live and in the way we think.
And these are uncomfortable changes for people who have had what they want,
Whenever they wanted.
Up to now,
These deliberations have not been natural for the average person.
It means that what was a simple shopping expedition now begins to take into account the impact our lives and our lifestyles are having on this planet.
It also raises human rights questions.
Is the product fairly traded?
Have the producers been fairly paid?
Has this product come to us as a result of child labour?
Has it eaten into the limited resources of the earth?
Troublesome as it might be,
We have to touch on these issues as we consider the impact of our lifestyles on the planet and on the people around us.
The environmental crisis forces us to think of these challenges and that is no bad thing.
That's not to say that it's a good thing that we have to face this crisis.
Far from it.
It's a horrible situation.
But it does bring us face to face with dilemmas that we never had to think about before now.
So if we all work together and when we hopefully come through this we will find ourselves much changed for the better.
We'll find ourselves with a fairer,
More just,
Worldwide community.
With the help of all of us,
This could be a dream come true.
You might ask,
Does it really matter what I do,
What you do?
That's a reasonable question.
Does my action or your action make any difference?
Yes it does.
Yes it does.
Yes each one of us is only one person,
But there are 7 billion of us.
7,
000 million people.
The problems that face us have been caused by the actions of millions of us and by the way we go about our lives.
In the same way,
The problem can be solved by determined actions by the same number of us.
The actions of each and every one of us makes a difference.
Mandy Hale tells us,
You have a destiny and a purpose that no one else on this earth can fulfil.
And you have travelled a unique journey that has equipped you along the way with the tools you need to carry it out.
And in case any of us feel the mountain ahead of us is too high to climb,
Khan Yamada reminds us,
No matter how high the mountains are,
No matter how deep the sea of ignorance is,
They will be as nothing before a boundless spirit of determination.
So let each of us resolve today to play our part at this critical time.
To be firefighters for planet earth.
And to enlist our family and friends and colleagues,
Everyone we know,
To do the same.
We need everyone to play a part.
The danger is that we have been talking about the environmental crisis for years.
We have had conference after conference.
People have been talking about how such and such will happen by the end of the century if we don't take action.
This leaves us with the impression that the day of reckoning is far away.
That the action to avert it can be left to another day.
But the latest IPCC report is a final wake up call to humanity.
The time for action is now.
The people to take action are you and I,
Everyone who listens to this,
And everyone else as well.
Difficult as it is to take the idea on board,
The terrifying fact is that the very future of life on earth depends on each one of us.
We cannot sail on as before.
If we glide along,
Sometime very soon,
There will be a tipping point,
Beyond which it will be difficult,
If not impossible,
For humanity to bring itself back from the brink.
A Native American prophecy tells us that when the earth is ravaged and the animals are dying,
A new tribe of people shall come onto the earth from many colours,
Classes,
Creeds,
And who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again.
They will be known as the warriors of the rainbow.
Let us hope and pray that everyone who hears this message will enrol as a warrior of the rainbow and a fur fight up for planet earth,
And help to bring this prophecy to pass.
We are nearing the end of our meditation now,
So it's time to take another minute,
60 seconds for reflection.
Let us take this minute to remind ourselves of the possibilities that each new day offers us.
Let's remind ourselves that each one of us can set out every day to make this world a better place.
And just before the pause for reflection,
We have a prayer.
We pray for peace in all the world.
We pray that evil may be overcome by good.
We pray for harmony and for the cessation of all disaster.
Now a one minute pause.
Welcome back.
For closing words today I have found for you an earth prayer.
We gently caress you,
The earth,
Our planet and our home.
Our vision has brought us closer to you,
Making us aware of the harm we have done to the life network upon which we ourselves depend.
We are reminded that we have poisoned your waters,
Your lands,
Your air.
We have filled you with the bones of our dead from war and greed.
Your pain is our pain.
Touching you gently,
We pray that we may become peace bringers and life bringers so that our home in this journey around the sun may not become a sterile and lonely place.
May this prayer and its power last forever.
And now a final blessing.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
That's an old Irish blessing.
And that's my wish for you today.
May God hold you in the palm of his hand always.
And may you be inspired to play your part in this the greatest combined effort that humanity has ever been called upon to make.
We can all play our part in saving this planet for the future.
Just imagine,
You and I can become part of the Earth's history,
Part of the better pages of the story.
Namaste.
