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Discovering God's Beauty in Earth's Diversity: A Spiritual Journey

Explore the mystical beauty of creation and the diversity of life on Earth, reflecting on God’s presence in every creature. Delve into the interconnectedness of all living beings and the urgent need to protect our planet’s biodiversity. Learn from nature’s intricate designs and the spiritual message they carry. Embrace a new spirituality that honors God's work in the world and our role as stewards of creation. Together, let us appreciate the intricate web of life and strive to live in harmony with nature.

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Discovering God's Beauty in Earth's Diversity: A Spiritual Journey

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  1. Finding God in the singing heart of the world Towards a new spirituality of creation

  2. The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. There is a mystical meaning in every creature, every aspect of reality. Laudato si, 233

  3. Creation is ‘a precious book, “whose letters are the multitude of created things present in the universe” Laudato si, 85 (quoting John Paul II)

  4. Where the human response (over hundreds of years) to God’s instruction to pay attention has taken us in the enquiry into how God is at work in the living world

  5. We are all brothers and sisters ... All made with the same loving care …

  6. Diversity

  7. Species Each as unique in its different way as we are … EACH MADE WITH THE SAME LOVING CARE …

  8. Banded piglet squid

  9. Species Each as unique in its different way as we are … EACH MADE WITH THE SAME LOVING CARE …

  10. The diversity of life on earth • Around 1.5 million species have been described • 750,000 of them are insects • 250,000 are vascular plants + bryophytes • 41,000 are vertebrates • … and then the rest. • THE TRUE NUMBER IS LIKELY TO BE BETWEEN 5 AND 30 MILLION

  11. The diversity of animal life on earth

  12. Some 100,000 species of fungi have been described 2% out of a total of 2-5 million species believed to exist

  13. Remember the rotifer?

  14. The diversity of animal life on earth

  15. The diversity of animal life on earth

  16. The Diversity of Life by Professor Barnes is the standard university textbook in courses on Biological Diversity … It has 345 pages … of which VERTEBRATES get only 8 … and mammals get half a page

  17. Why?

  18. God cannot express himself fully in any one creature: and so he has produced many and diverse life forms, so that what one lacks in its expression of divine goodness may be compensated for by others: for goodness, which in God is single and undifferentiated, in creatures is refracted into a myriad hues of being. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 1a47.1

  19. God cannot express himself fully in any one creature …

  20. God cannot express himself fully in any one creature: and so he has produced many and diverse life forms …

  21. God cannot express himself fully in any one creature: and so he has produced many and diverse life forms, so that what one lacks in its expression of divine goodness may be compensated for by others:

  22. God cannot express himself fully in any one creature: and so he has produced many and diverse life forms, so that what one lacks in its expression of divine goodness may be compensated for by others: for goodness, which in God is single and undifferentiated, in creatures is refracted into a myriad hues of being.

  23. God cannot express himself fully in any one creature: and so he has produced many and diverse life forms, so that what one lacks in its expression of divine goodness may be compensated for by others: for goodness, which in God is single and undifferentiated, in creatures is refracted into a myriad hues of being. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 1a47.1

  24. Our role is to further that plan: ‘so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it, and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness.’ (Laudato si, 53)

  25. Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things. (Laudato si, 69).

  26. Everything is, as it were, a caress of God. (Laudato si, 84).

  27. Extinction … is forever

  28. Extinction is a normal part of the pattern of evolution • During the past 250 million years there have been episodes of extinction at intervals of 26 million years or so. • The rate of extinction today is 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural rate. • This extinction is entirely caused by human activities.

  29. The current rate of extinction • Around 150,000 km2 a year in 1990 • A straight-line extrapolation of this rate means it will all be gone by 2135 AD • Much higher in some areas: • Madagascar has lost 93% of its forest cover • The Atlantic forest coast of Brazil is 99% gone • The forests of the islands of Polynesia and the Carribean are gone altogether

  30. Fifty acres of rain forest disappear every minute of every day

  31. We are wrecking the earth, as burglars will sometimes wantonly wreck a house … The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy Michael McCarthy, John Murray 2015

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