Praxis and Awareness

Ecological crisis is a fruit of awareness and values crisis!

Awareness! What is lacking in our world today is awareness—the knowledge of the present reality and of the universe story. At present, many of us are not aware that our present era, i.e. the Cenozoic Era, is on its terminal phase. Many of us were already blinded by greed that we only tend to look for avenues that will somehow uplift the human well-being. We are only concerned with the viability of the human person, not of the earth as a whole. We failed to realize that all things are connected—that there is only one story.

During the past few weeks, some parts of the Philippines were devastated by the super typhoon ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng.’ Many lives were lost, infrastructures were destroyed, and many are still suffering. Today, though many are still haunted by this specter, new super typhoons are threatening to enter the country. Because of this, Filipinos and the Philippine Government are already preoccupied with matters concerning ‘preparation.’

The above situation just show how human-centered is the mindset of most human person. Most of us are only thinking for our own safety—of ‘preparations’ that we forgot to talk about the idea of ‘prevention.’ Yes, human safety is important but what happened is that we forgot to look at the real cause of the problem—i.e. the abuse of the natural world. We failed to see that the excessive cutting of trees, the pollution, improper waste disposal, and the likes contributed and aggravated the matter. So, what is really lacking is awareness. Thus, those who are aware must start the change from themselves and to start influencing others. Little by little, we can minimize such disastrous calamities if we will just be aware that we can make a change.

But change will not take effect if we will be stocked on just being aware. We must also change our value system. Proper action must be done. All of our preoccupations must be done not only for the upliftment of the human well-being but for the upliftment of the well being of the earth community in general. It is only through this way—by acting and living as part of the natural world, that we may continue the story of life…for viability is really a matter of awareness and praxis.

Thomas Berry's Vision of 'Ecozoic Era': A Paradigm for Ecological Philosophy

The year 1914 marks a new epoch in the world of ecology. It was on this year that the second Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), a French paleontologist, was born in the person of Rev. Fr. Thomas Berry, a cultural historian and theologian.

Thomas Berry, an advocate of deep ecology and ecospirituality and a Catholic priest of the Passionist order, is famous for saying that in order for the human person to understand his/her being as an individual person, i.e. his/her mode of existence, he/she must first have a grasp and understanding of the history and story of the universe. Thus, a comprehensive outlook of the universe needs to be laid down and discussed so that the contemporary world may truly discover and appreciate the wonders of the present time. It is not only the phenomenon of man that matters. What matters most is the universe story—for the story of man is just a fragment of this comprehensive story.

But what is this universe story all about? When did it start? Thomas Berry asserts that the story begins since the primordial flaring forth up to the formation of stars, galaxy, planets, sun, the earth. And in the earth’s context, the story continues up to the emergence of the unicellular organisms, followed by the multicellular organisms, the appearance of fish, insects, reptiles, plants, dinosaurs, mammals, and finally the appearance of man. With this, Thomas Berry concluded that all beings originated from the same story—the developing and ongoing universe story.

But, though there is only one story, the human person of the contemporary world became autistic and was blinded by the ideology that the human person has the highest and distinct story among other beings—that they are the apex and crown of creation. Thus, they forgot that their story is just a part of another story.

But, if we will go back in the course of history, the first human society live their lives in harmony with the larger earth community—with the natural world. They still give importance to the primordial harmony and viewed the universe as having a psychic-spiritual and physical-material dimension.

But the shift in paradigm entered with the rise of the classical and generally literate civilizations. They started to become more and more destructive that they were then alienated from the natural world. Thus, man has become self-centered or anthropocentric. This situation got even worse with the advent of the Cartesian philosophy in the 17^th century—especially when Rene Descartes separated the spiritual realm from the material realm and thus degrading the non-humans into the form of mere machines that can be subjected to industrial exploitation.

With man’s misconception of reality, the primordial harmony was disturbed and the unity within the universe was shaken and destructed. And basically, new sins against the universe came into being—the biocide, i.e. killing of the life systems of the planet, and the geocide, i.e. the killing of the planet itself. Due to this situation, the earth is now suffering from pain, from a deep cultural pathology due to man’s anthropocentric use of the word ‘progress.’

At present, the viability of the human person is in question because his/her existence generally depends upon the condition of the larger earth community—the universe in general. If this problem will not be taken into consideration, Thomas Berry feared that all beings might enter into the destructive Technozoic Era—an era of chaos and inequality among beings. This epoch is also a period where the existence of the non-humans is viewed only in servitude to the human beings. According to Thomas Berry this era will just lead into the total destruction of the natural world—thus of man.

As of this period, the best and the only way to avoid this sudden phase out is to enter into the Ecozoic Era—an era were all beings live in communion and in unity with each other. This era aims to reestablish the harmony within the natural world that was lost during the course of time. In the realization of the Ecozoic Era, the human person must again realize that everyone’s existence, that everyone’s story is just a part of a single story, i.e. the universe story.

According to Thomas Berry, human consensus is needed in the emergence of the Ecozoic Era for they will play an important role in this period. The human person must not only think of himself but of the entire life community. And due to the fact that “the well-being of the earth is primary and that the human well-being is derivative,” (The Ecozoic Era, Thomas Berry) the fields of religion, education, government, and economics should always ensure that the well being of the natural world will always be prioritized.

Today’s challenge of Thomas Berry to the human community is to “move from its anthropocentric norm to a geocentric norm of reality and value” (The Viable Human, Thomas Berry) so that the universe may be able to again celebrate its grandeur, loveliness, beauty, and joy of existence.

Now, everyone’s viability, the future of the earth community, is in the hands of man. It’s just a matter of asking, “what does human person prefer: a life of communion and celebration or death?

A Reflection on Pope Benedict XVI's "State of the World" Address 2010

"...all creation groans and is in agony" and "we ourselves groan inwardly...." (Rom. 8:22-23)

Over the past years, humanity was so engrossed with the issue of the dramatic crisis of the global economy and the widespread of social instability. We were so concerned with the issue of peace, of solidarity, and of unity between nations. We used to focus our times finding the root cause and the possible answers for these problems. And in the end, it was always all about the story of humanity and nothing else.

But gone was the epoch where we were much absorbed with the human story. It is time to widen our horizon—to speak of the Earth story. In this regard, Pope Benedict XVI is exhorting another issue, though not new at all, for us, especially the Christians, to be aware of.

All creation groans and is in agony and we must be aware of it. In connection with this, Pope Benedict is then urging us to appreciate and to care for God’s gift of creation. For him, it is our communal vocation to protect His creation.
With our environment at the brink of death, it is advisable to visit the present condition and story of our environment. As with the issue of global economical crisis and social instability, the larger earth community is now also suffering a great distortion. But what is its cause? There is one major answer. Again, as with the issue of economical crisis and social instability, it is the current self-centered and materialistic way of thinking that is to be blamed for this issue.
We have exploited the Mother Earth over the past centuries thinking only of ourselves. We have also separated ourselves from the rest of creation as is we have a different niche. Thus, it is the humanity that is to be blamed for this degradation of the creation. But it is also humanity who can help Earth rise from her present condition. Through the Church’s assistance, humanity is called to promote international consensus. All nations are called for an appropriate management and wise use of the natural resources. Humanity should not exploit it just to satisfy our personal hunger for power and honor. Rather, humanity is called to work with nature and to aim for the flourishing of the entire and larger earth community. To care for creation is to promote justice, peace, and the love of God.
With the above mentioned statements, we, Mindoreños, are also challenged by the Church to be aware of our own local environmental concerns. We must battle for our advocacy to fight for the preservation and for the blossoming of our natural resources. We, as the local Church of Mindoro, must be the ones to lead on this advocacy. Thus, to fight for mining, illegal logging, dynamite fishing, and the likes must be one of our major advocacies. We must find a way to uplift the well-being of our nature.

All creation really groans and is in agony. We must help her. We must assist her. It is our duty. It is our responsibility. It is God’s call.