I still have before my eyes the determined face of young Greta Thunberg, vigorously shaking the masters of this world. Very annoying at times.
However, Joan of Arc of modern times confronting the powerful to deliver her message with authority, this fragile and determined fighter has become a symbolic representative of the fight against global warming. She keeps reminding us that if we fail to move collectively, disaster is upon us.
A deep fear of the future
We had already come close to this catastrophe during the Cold War. We knew that it had become possible for us to annihilate the world. Today, faced with the heaviness of the large States and their reluctance to take the necessary decisions, some think that it is very plausible.
These perspectives, relayed by social networks, generate a deep fear of the future, especially among those who have one. Work on the anxiety of young people shows that our humanity is sick and needs to be treated.
What is surprising is that this disturbing and unlikely picture finds a deep echo in the biblical texts that punctuate the autumn liturgy: “On earth, the nations will be terrified and bewildered by the crash of the sea and the waves. Men will die of fear waiting for what must happen to the world…” (Luke 21, 25-26). It is Jesus himself who pronounces them. But he continues, as if recalling that he must be reckoned with: “Then we will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds…”
We who live 2000 years later, we know that this future is not for tomorrow. For a long time, I imagined that it would come true as a kind of assumption, when men would have matured. But I came to think that the “big night” would be more of a disaster in which “The Son of Man will come with great power and glory to gather”, to comfort and console those who have trusted in him. And bring them into his peace.
Signs of a revival
The work of successive COPs shows that humans, for the most part, have chosen other paths. The little shoots that appear everywhere in our countries are a sign of this. Whether in human relationships, new ways of cultivating the land, management of waste and used equipment, switching to renewable energies, reforestation, concern for the poorest and most fragile countries: a profound movement finally kicked off. Difficult conversion: we will have to leave the obsession of having it, and learn to become simple managers of what life has given us.
The actors of this renewal are driven by an irrepressible inner force. Force that has a spiritual dimension, even if they don’t know it. Faced with the grave dangers that threaten humanity, Jesus distances himself from the apocalyptic culture of his time and advises: “Let yourself be instructed by the comparison of the fig tree: as soon as its branches become tender and the leaves come out, you know that summer is near! Likewise you too, when you see this happen, know that the Son of Man is near, at your door. (Mark 13, 28-29).
Surprising: no more triumphal appearance in the cloud, the Son of Man is at our doorstep. Let us contemplate its hidden presence among the artisans of renewal, who have undertaken to think of life differently. We felt it: we have not reached the end, but an end: the transition from winter to a new spring: branches becoming tender and leaves emerging.
Benoit Billot is Benedictine, monk in the city at the priory of Étiolles, in Essonne. Adept of zazen, he founded the House of Tobias. He notably published Light in the ordinary of days and the fruitful energy of the sacraments (Mediaspaul).