Humans & Other Created Beings
On April 24, 2023, 7 Directions of Service issued a press release about the April 18 introduction of H.B. 795, The Rights of the Haw River Ecosystem, to the North Carolina General Assembly’s House of Representatives. Though twelve countries, and many US districts, recognize the rights of nature, if this bill is adopted it “would be the first state-level Rights of Nature law in the U.S.” Such laws “elevate the status of nature from “property” to a rights-bearing entity, like a person, and recognize the rights of ecosystems–and the human and natural communities that depend on them–as having legally enforceable rights to exist, regenerate, flourish and be free from pollution.”
The press release also included the following quote, “The Haw River is a sacred waterbody of the Sissipaw and Occaneechi-Saponi peoples….7 Directions of Service who are leading the campaign for Rights for the Haw have…a long-term vision that starts with education, bipartisan outreach, and relationship-building across differences…”
On April 21, in “The Land Laments” Richard Rohr, OFM wrote, “…when one part of creation goes awry the whole creation suffers. The land’s grief at what the people have done points to the fundamental reality of our interconnection.”
The rights-of-nature perspective recalls this quote from Laudato si, Pope Francis’ letter on creation, “The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air, and we receive life and refreshment from her waters. (2)”
May we in the stillness of our hearts listen to God and respond to what we are each called to do to safeguard the health and wellbeing of humans and Earth.
Veronica Blake, SMR