As a health care professional, I believe that anyone working in this field has a moral responsibility to educate their patients about climate change. It’s not simply a matter of doing the right thing, but letting people know that their health is already being directly affected by climate change. If we think that government will “fix the problem”, we ignore the structural obstacles preventing a top-down government fix.
The fossil fuel crisis is bringing changes to our world that are already deadly for many millions. The temperature – both actual and metaphorical – will only climb from this date onward. We can choose to engage and skillfully mitigate these challenges by committing ourselves to increasing our compassion for all life, and by acting on that compassion.
Technology is a tool. Intention and mindfulness determines how it is used.
In my home town of Seattle, I live on a street with nice houses and lots of trees. When I turn on the kitchen faucet, relatively clean water flows from the tap. I go to the food co-op and there are beautiful organic vegetables, fruits, grains, and such. I do not need to huddle in the rubble of a bombed out building when I hear planes overhead. I do not need to get in a leaky boat and cross an ocean, maybe never to arrive at the far shore. I do not need to wonder where I will live when the ocean floods my village, my entire nation.
The earth is us. We are the earth. Her ocean flows through our veins, her solidity strengthening our bones. The pumping of our heart draws strength from the molten core of the planet. Sunlight shimmering through the trees is our own nervous system. And we feel her pain. We know she is suffering, somewhere in the deep recesses of consciousness.
Stand tall and brave
Beside deep water
Surf this planetary wave
Of a world getting hotter.
Only when one has reached a firm conclusion, that a peaceful world can never be realized until all people are truly free, will privileged white people understand that it is our moral duty to work tirelessly to bring true freedom and happiness to people of all races – ending colonialism, racism, patriarchy, capitalism, and all forms of oppression.
One of my acupuncture teachers once, when remarking on how he works with people diagnosed with cancer said this – I look for the healthy energy within a person and find ways to support that. I think that could be a useful model for inter-personal relationships and social justice activism in general.
Science divorced from the holiness of the heart will never solve the epic problems our world faces. More and better data, gadgets and gizmos will never eliminate greed, anger, and self-centered delusion.
