An Invitation To Change Everything

Hanging on to hope in recent weeks and months has been difficult for many of us. The streets of Ferguson, Missouri, are our first-hand look at the racism, economic injustice, the remnants of a military-dominated budget and the fear of the “other” that dominates our society (tell me again why so many who claim to follow the words of someone who said “Fear Not” live most of their lives in fear?). Our political system is so broken one wonders if it can ever be repaired. And we as a country continue to deny medical care as a human right. Even implementation of the Affordable Care Act – which is nothing but a baby step toward what the rest of the civilized world does in terms of health care delivery – is stopped by governors of many states for political reasons. People in this country die every day because we choose to keep politicians and for-profit insurance companies in charge of who can and can’t receive care.

Peoples-Climate-March_Use This OneSo when an email came in the other day with the subject line: If You’re Looking For Hope….” how could I refuse to open it?

There it was, the incredible Bill McKibben from 350.org reminding us that there is the one problem that impacts all of us: the survival of our planet. Don’t know who Bill McKibben is or about the fabulous work 350.org does everyday on our behalf to try and keep the human species going? Click here to find out more. Bill (and 350.org) sent the email to remind us of the “People’s Climate March” September 21 in New York City.

In the email, Bill says:

“Here’s another question, one I’m asked almost every time I speak. ‘How do you stay hopeful?’ I don’t always, but most of the time I do — precisely because I get to see, every day, the remarkable people involved in this fight.

“If you’re looking for hope, I can’t think of anywhere better to be than the streets of New York this September. See you there.”

If you haven’t heard about the People’s Climate March, we invite you to click here. As 350.org tells us:

With our future on the line and the whole world watching, we’ll take a stand to bend the course of history. We’ll take to the streets to demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities.

To change everything, we need everyone on board.

Sunday, September 21 in New York City. Join us.

Bill McKibben and 350.org doing the work to help save our planet.

Bill McKibben and 350.org doing the work to help save our planet.

Their web site offers state-by-state information and it gives you the opportunity to organize a local support march in tandem with the New York City rally. The web site information and organizing efforts are reminiscent of those used to organize the Civil Rights March on Washington decades ago. They offer information on transportation and lodging and why September 19 was chosen as the date (in advance of the UN Climate Summit). Can’t make it to NYC? Then work with your local or state organizers to sponsor someone who wants to go but can’t afford to.

We have often quoted from the great wisdom voice of Diarmuid O’Murchu in the final pages of his incredible book Catching Up With Jesus, in which he envisions a talk from a Jesus who understood the interconnectedness of all life on Earth. We leave you with that “invitation to change everything” again:

“So, cone on folks, time is running short and Mother Earth is getting weary of all this adolescent belligerence. The hour is fast approaching when you will have to choose between life and extinction. The choice is yours. If you want to remain part of the creative evolving process, that will be great. If you choose not to, my relational matrix is not short of creative options—for the earth and the cosmos. If you choose to be within these options, that will be fantastic. If you choose to remain outside them, you will have doomed yourself to extinction…It saddens me to think that you might do it. So please wake up, and let’s face a new dawn together. Let’s wrap ourselves in the light of the rising sun, so that we can penetrate the anthropocentric darkness that is engulfing the earth at this time.”

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