A simpler lifestyle for a joyful world

Pope Francis on the courage of young activists (From video here)

The Covid-19 pandemic has made us aware the "no one is safe until everyone is safe, that our actions really do affect one another, and that what we do today affects what happens tomorrow". That is a lesson that must stand us in good stead in dealing with the crisis in our use of the world's resources and care of the global environment, our common home.

We are fortunate to have as motivation to transform our lifestyle some recent statements that express the urgency of our inescapable situation arising from overuse and misuse of resources and, at a personal or family level, an overconsumption that brings us not happiness but a poverty of mind and spirit. 

There are clear steps that we - each of us - can take now that will contribute to a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases, which make the planet warmer, and reshape our communities in such a way that relationships will be more important than possessions.

Why bother?

The world's political leaders going to Scotland for this year's summit on climate change are dependent on each of us in order to make commitments that will affect their nations and the world. We members of the public must be ready to support the promises made in good faith by leaders.

Let's hear some reasons why we must commit ourselves to the global effort to restore balance to the world we share. 

Some of the most powerful calls for action come from religious leaders, whose universal perspective enable them to easily embrace the concept of Earth as "our common home".

In our common Christian tradition... the concept of stewardship—of individual and collective responsibility for our God-given endowment—presents a vital starting-point for social, economic and environmental sustainability. In the New Testament, we read of the rich and foolish man who stores great wealth of grain while forgetting about his finite end.

We learn of the prodigal son who takes his inheritance early, only to squander it and end up hungry. We are cautioned against adopting short term and seemingly inexpensive options of building on sand, instead of building on rock for our common home to withstand storms. These stories invite us to adopt a broader outlook and recognise our place in the extended story of humanity.

But we have taken the opposite direction. We have maximised our own interest at the expense of future generations. By concentrating on our wealth, we find that long-term assets, including the bounty of nature, are depleted for short-term advantage. Technology has unfolded new possibilities for progress but also for accumulating unrestrained wealth, and many of us behave in ways which demonstrate little concern for other people or the limits of the planet. Nature is resilient, yet delicate.

We are already witnessing the consequences of our refusal to protect and preserve it (Gn 2.15). Now, in this moment, we have an opportunity to repent, to turn around in resolve, to head in the opposite direction. We must pursue generosity and fairness in the ways that we live, work and use money, instead of selfish gain.

This is from a joint message on the protection of creation from Pope Francis, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby issued in September, looking toward the summit in Glasgow.

To enter into the vision they have of the world burning up and the poor of the planet being harmed most by the lifestyle of the people of the wealthiest nations it's worthwhile to look at more from their message to the world:

The current climate crisis speaks volumes about who we are and how we view and treat God’s creation. We stand before a harsh justice: biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and climate change are the inevitable consequences of our actions, since we have greedily consumed more of the earth’s resources than the planet can endure. But we also face a profound injustice: the people bearing the most catastrophic consequences of these abuses are the poorest on the planet and have been the least responsible for causing them....

Accordingly, as leaders of our Churches, we call on everyone, whatever their belief or worldview, to endeavour to listen to the cry of the earth and of people who are poor, examining their behaviour and pledging meaningful sacrifices for the sake of the earth which God has given us.

Today, we are paying the price. The extreme weather and natural disasters of recent months reveal afresh to us with great force and at great human cost that climate change is not only a future challenge, but an immediate and urgent matter of survival. Widespread floods, fires and droughts threaten entire continents. 

Sea levels rise, forcing whole communities to relocate; cyclones devastate entire regions, ruining lives and livelihoods. Water has become scarce and food supplies insecure, causing conflict and displacement for millions of people. We have already seen this in places where people rely on small scale agricultural holdings. Today we see it in more industrialised countries where even sophisticated infrastructure cannot completely prevent extraordinary destruction.

Tomorrow could be worse. Today’s children and teenagers will face catastrophic consequences unless we take responsibility now, as ‘fellow workers with God’ (Gn 2.4–7), to sustain our world. We frequently hear from young people who understand that their futures are under threat.

For their sake, we must choose to eat, travel, spend, invest and live differently, thinking not only of immediate interest and gains but also of future benefits.We repent of our generation’s sins. We stand alongside our younger sisters and brothers throughout the world in committed prayer and dedicated action for a future which corresponds ever more to the promises of God.

Here, then, are the most important words for us:  "We must choose to eat, travel, spend, invest and live differently, thinking not only of immediate interest and gains but also of future benefits."

The three leaders point to the various crises confronting us at present and urge cooperation:

We are in a unique position either to address them with shortsightedness and profiteering or seize this as an opportunity for conversion and transformation. If we think of humanity as a family and work together towards a future based on the common good, we could find ourselves living in a very different world. Together we can share a vision for life where everyone flourishes. Together we can choose to act with love, justice and mercy. Together we can walk towards a fairer and fulfilling society with those who are most vulnerable at the centre.

But this involves making changes. Each of us, individually, must take responsibility for the ways we use our resources. [...] Together, as communities, churches, cities and nations, we must change route and discover new ways of working together to break down the traditional barriers between peoples, to stop competing for resources and start collaborating.

They end with a call for each and every individual to take part  in a united effort:

All of us—whoever and wherever we are—can play a part in changing our collective response to the unprecedented threat of climate change and environmental degradation.

Caring for God’s creation is a spiritual commission requiring a response of commitment. This is a critical moment. Our children’s future and the future of our common home depend on it. 

What to do?

Most people now understand that the gross exploitation of the planet in order to support one particular kind of economic system, which entails pushing consumers to desire more, truly poses a threat to human existence on Earth. It has taken disaster after disaster to wake us up to this. How to respond is the question that is getting increased attention.

In the message above, we saw the call to change the nature of our choices, to live differently, to give more regard to the future. We were urged to commit to setting or accepting limits, to restrain our desires and to fucus on our needs; instead of selfish gain, to share and colloborate, and "pledging meaningful sacrifices".

This is hard, but it can also be joyful as we join together as a family to transform our lives, joining with others who are doing likewise.

This is what Pope Francis said in a video message earlier September asking for prayer and personal action on the care of creation. He identified where we can transform our lifestyle. This is what he said:

Let us choose to change! Let us advance with young people towards lifestyles that are simpler and more respectful of the environment.

Let us pray that we all will make courageous choices, the choices necessary for a simple and environmentally sustainable lifestyle, taking inspiration from our young people who are resolutely committed to this.

And they aren’t foolish, because they are committed to their own future. This is why they want to change what they will inherit at a time when we will no longer be here.

Let us reflect on how the way we eat, consume, travel, or the way we use water, energy, plastics, and many other material goods, is often harmful to the earth.

So each of us can make a start, using these items as a template for action:

Fill in your own details, with a focus on sustainability, avoiding waste, and reducing the amount of the earth's resources used, for a lifestyle that is "simpler and more respectful of the environment".

We commit to these changes in our lifestyle:

In what we eat — We will:

In the form and amount of goods consumed — We will:

In the form and amount of our travel — We will:

In the way we use water — We will:   

In the way we use energy — We will:

In our use of plastics —  We will:

In ...                             —  We will: 

In ...                             —  We will:

Can stuff make us happy? 

Matt Fradd has advice on making our life simpler. He's written a book that explains why it is one of the most common traps we fall into is thinking that earthly possessions can make us happy. 

When we’re incapable of possessing things, we can mistakenly believe that, if we had them, they would make us happy (be it a thing or even a person with whom we are infatuated). But when we obtain them, we realize that they can’t fill the void in our hearts that is the root cause of our unhappiness. 

In fact, there’s a whole movement of people who understand this and try to live a life of minimalism. They know that as we accumulate more stuff, we accumulate more worry about our stuff. We worry about it breaking, being stolen, or eventually fading in quality over time. We worry that other people won’t be impressed by our stuff or that we need newer stuff to make us happy because the old stuff is now inferior or obsolete in comparison. 

Fradd cites a study of people who had won the lottery. The happiness felt at the time of their win soon fades:

Thus, as lottery winners become accustomed to the additional pleasures made possible by their new wealth, these pleasures should be experienced as less intense and should no longer contribute very much to their general level of happiness. 

There's also the matter of how we should think of money: 

Don’t get confused, however, in all this talk about money not making us happy, to think this means money is evil. In 1 Timothy 6:10 St. Paul says, “For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.” 

Paul doesn’t say money is the root of all evil. He says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”. St. Thomas Aquinas defines sin as the result of loving creatures more than creator. Money (or anything) becomes evil when we love it more than God. 

In brief, our putting into effect the simpler lifestyle that is being urged on us by our religious leaders, who are at the forefront of the environmental movement, means that we will be living more closely to God's will, we will be happier - with fewer worries about the security of our material posessions or what our neighbours think about what we own - and planet Earth will be happier, sending fewer natural disasters across our path. That commitment to more care for our small blue planet seems to make for a pretty good outcome all round.

See also:

💢 ENCYCLICAL LETTER LAUDATO SI’ OF POPE FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

💢 ENCYCLICAL LETTER FRATELLI TUTTI OF POPE FRANCIS ON FRATERNITY AND SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP

💢 Patriarch Bartholomew on creation and the ecological crisis - here 

Ω If you like this blog, go to my Peace and Truth newsletter on Substack, where you can subscribe for free and be notified when a new post is published.