My Sunday lesson this week is called “Wonders of Creation,” because even though yesterday was Earth Day, we can still think of this as Earth Day Weekend. And Earth is where we experience many of those wonders. As one with an avid interest in shamanism and a deep love of nature and the beauty of creation, I always love doing an Earth Day lesson.
The following is a short history of Earth Day, paraphrased from both Wikipedia and the Earth Day website. In 1970, Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin at the time, conceived the idea for Earth Day as a creative response to the times. On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day took place through the efforts of Dennis Hayes, the National Coordinator.
Twenty million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy sustainable environment. This led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to civilians in the U.S. for his role as Earth Day founder.
As 1980 approached, environmental leaders asked Dennis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time it went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries, and helped pave the way for the 1992 U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign focused on global warming and clean energy as the millennium began. On April 22, 2000, with the internet, there were 5,000 environmental groups worldwide reaching out to hundreds of millions in 184 countries. A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Africa, while hundreds of thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Today, Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action to change human behavior and provoke policy changes. Now, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more and more apparent every day. In addition, our Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts, are still in a state of recovery. The earth and all of nature needs our help and our prayers.
In Unity, we look at the deeper meaning behind the outer appearance. When we observe the current condition of our environment and the worldwide pandemic that is upon us, one must conclude that in addition to treating symptoms, the remedy is spiritual. What spiritual action can you—can we—take for our planet and the wonders of creation?
Love & blessings!
Rev. Kathy