April 22, every year, I am celebrated. For the other 364 days, I am not only ignored, but I am also destroyed by constant human activities. I write to you all after being patient for many years, as I stood by watching our relationship slowly break.
I’m sure that all of you remember great names such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Christopher Columbus, Mahatma Gandhi, George Washington, and even Audrey Hepburn; however, what you don’t realize is that all of these people had one certain part of them in common: they accomplished greatness on the same planet. Whether you live in a small town in Pennsylvania or a city in Italy, I hold each living and non-living aspect that you know about. However, I have officially had enough of the constant using and misusing of natural resources. Now human beings are tearing up isolated corners of the planet looking for crude oil and coal; furthermore, the beauty of the forests and wild animals is disappearing. Our environment is completely polluted: we drink polluted water, inhale air full of dust, and eat food with traces of pesticides and other toxic chemicals. Hence we are suffering from diseases. Due to the reckless insensitivity towards me, the ozone layer has a hole, the sea is rising, and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland are melting. I never thought I would have to remind you to respect and honor me, but the time has come so here is what I will say to you.
I need you to have the wisdom, compassion and grace to help me because I am hurting and so are all of the species I have always protected, nurtured and kept alive. I periodically try to remind you of my power—floods, hurricanes and tornadoes are among the most known methods, but sometimes you just leave me no choice. Greenhouse gas emissions are ruining not only my health, it is harming yours; additionally, the rate at which humans are using natural resources is going to leave everyone running out of fish, wood, oil, or even some metals. I’m sure that each one of you has heard of how the planet can be polluted and how obtaining coal and minerals by cutting off the tops of mountains are all terrible for me; nonetheless, a majority of people just don’t care. You must protect this planet for those who come after us as well as the lives of the animals who cannot speak up to save themselves.
You spend billions of dollars to find life on other planets, but you spend trillions of dollars killing this one. So just a friendly reminder, I am your only home. Do not forget that you are a part of nature so when you say that you have lost connection to nature, you have actually lost connection to yourself.
You may feel overwhelmed or paralyzed about how to help me; likewise, you don’t trust that your effort will make a difference. I am in crisis and lives everywhere are at stake. If you can accept/honor the truth of how much I'm suffering, and that it's your very actions that can heal me, then I trust you will find a way to help. This isn't merely about you or me, it's about rescuing our home and protecting what we need if we're going to have a chance at survival.
