Our duty of care to nature
A widely held belief is that God created the Earth and everything on it and in it, including us and all other life. And on this wondrous and precious Earth that is our shared home, we have everything we need to survive and thrive, and even to cure illnesses. Sadly we don’t take good care of them at all.
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If indeed these precious gifts were given by God, then we should revere them and treat them with the care and respect they deserve. We don’t spoil a precious gift given us by a loving mother or father. No. We take good care of it and treasure it and use it wisely so that it lasts as long as possible.
In the same way, we must care for the gifts that God has given. It is our duty to do so. We have a duty of care towards the Earth and all things on it because, after all, they are what sustain our lives on Earth.
Trees
So let’s look at what we can all easily do towards fulfilling that duty of care, starting today. There are two major and very easy changes we can make in our lives. We will start with trees.Those beautiful majestic graceful trees that keep us cool, shelter us from the sun and the wind and the rain, regulate the air we breathe and help ensure the rains keep falling so we have water to drink and put on our crops. If we cut all our trees down, the rain will rarely fall and we will have famine. Trees are also beautiful. When you pass beneath a big tree, just take a moment to look up into it and appreciate how it supports your life on Earth. They do so much good for us… And then we cut them down.
The Trinity Theological Seminary, an institution that one would think should appreciate the life that God has given recently cut down all the trees along its front. I am puzzled why it was done.
The Cree Indians, one of the native peoples of America, revere nature. They have a proverb that says, “Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find money cannot be eaten”. So let’s not find that out… Let’s appreciate trees. Let’s stop cutting them down and plant more instead.
Plastic waste
The other huge difference we can make is to stop dropping plastic waste everywhere. Plastic bottles, plastic water bags, black plastic take-away bags, ice cream wrappers. The streets, the soil, the drainage channels are littered with plastic. If people didn’t drop plastic, there would be very little litter around. But at the moment, it’s everywhere. And it looks horrible. Animals eat it because they think it is food and then they die. Surely, this is not the way to care for the wondrous Earth and home that God has given? So why not put the plastic rubbish in your pocket or your bag and put it in a bin... Some plastic can be recycled such as the plastic water bags. I take them home, package them up and give them to the pure water sellers for recycling. It only needs a very small effort. And instead of getting a plastic carrier bag every time you go to the shop or market, take a strong bag with you.
And when you buy take-away food outside, take a bowl that the food vendors can put the food in. Rwanda and some other African countries have completely banned plastic, and what a difference it makes! So we can stop this ugly plastic mess in Ghana too. Every piece of plastic that has ever been made in the world still exists today because it doesn’t break down. So it’s going to keep on building up in the soil and the drains and the oceans. Let’s not leave it to spoil the Earth that God has given as a home for all life.
Ghana in top 10
Ghana has been rated as one of the top 10 most unsanitary countries in the world. President Nana Addo Dankwa is striving to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa. It’s a noble goal and it’s also totally achievable if we all support that effort. And one of the easiest things we can do is to stop dropping rubbish on the streets or in the gutters or anywhere except in the recycling or garbage bin. We must all care for the Earth that God has gifted.
Spiritual leaders, Imams, pastors, church leaders, elders, traditional leaders, I urge you all to encourage your followers to fulfill a sense of duty and care towards God’s gifts… Teach them how to care for this home that God has provided. Make your next service or prayers or meeting one that talks about God’s gifts of nature. Take your followers out to the rural areas to see the trees growing and the birds flying and to feel the fresh air.
Spending time in nature is healing for both emotional and physical sicknesses. It improves our well-being and our spiritual selves. Let’s work together and respect, cherish and truly care for the Earth and all its wondrous life, the gifts that God has given to sustain our health and happiness.