Ecological Justice Resource – JVC Northwest

The Ecological Justice Resource was presented as part of Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest’s breakout session at the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice 2013.

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Excerpt from the Ecological Justice Resource:

ECOLOGICAL EXAMEN: JOSEPH CARVER, SJ (SEATTLE, WA ’93-94)
QUOTES ABOUT ECOJUSTICE & SUSTAINABILITY
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. All creation reflects the beauty and blessing of God’s image. Where were you most aware of this today?
2. Recall the day. What ways did you make a conscious effort to care for God’s creation?
3. What challenges or joys did you experience as you recall your care for creation?
4. How can I repair breaks in my relationship with creation, in my unspoken sense of superiority?
5. As I imagine tomorrow, I ask for the grace to see the Incarnate Christ in the dynamic interconnections of all Creation.
Conclude with the prayer of Jesus:
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
 What is your local water source? Where does you water go after it drains? How is the water cycle in your area affected by the actions of humans?
 Where does your food come from? What are the impacts of your food choices on the environment? Where does your trash go after you throw it away?
 How are Ecological Justice and Social Justice intertwined?
“Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would create new religions overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch television.” -from Northwest Earth Institute course book “Choices for Sustainable Living”
“Where do people get this idea that they can’t influence things when they’re at the bottom of the food chain? People affect their peers, bosses, teachers, students, spouses, children, friends, fellow bus riders and rush hour drivers. The simplest of interactions can start a chain reaction.” -Rodrigo Baena, life coach
“Few people during their lifetimes come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.” -Richard Byrd
“In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace.” -Wangari Maathai
“Sustainability is a new idea to many people, and many find it hard to understand. But all over the world there are people who have entered into the exercise of imaging and bringing into being a sustainable world. They see it as a world to move toward not reluctantly, but joyfully, not with a sense of sacrifice, but a sense of adventure. A sustainable world could be very much better than the one we live in today.” -Donella H. Meadows, The Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update
“Pathwalker, there is no path. You must make the path as you walk.” -Antonio Machado, poet