People Are Showing Up for the Earth
“Yesterday I joined thousands of people (some estimates said up to 30,000) in the People’s March during COP; from Mercado São Brás to the City Park. We walked alongside Anglicans and Indigenous relatives from across the world, shoulder to shoulder with so many organizations and movements, all carrying the same prayer: that life will continue for our peoples and for Mother Earth.
Our Anglican delegation carried banners honoring the environmental martyrs and saints of the Amazon, those whose lives were taken because they dared to protect the land, the water, the forests, and their futures. We marched to remember them. We marched for climate justice. We marched because our children, our communities, and all our relatives deserve to live.
The Bishop of Amazônia told us that the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil is the only Brazilian church present as its own entity, because other denominations are not of one mind on caring for Creation. Other Brazilian churches join only as ecumenical groups. SMH, I cannot understand how Creation Care isn’t a most obvious part of our Christian call. How can we claim to follow Jesus and not defend the sacred web of life we depend on?
As Indigenous people, we know that the Earth is not a resource, she is a relative. Her waters are our veins, her forests our lungs, her soil our memory. When Creation suffers, we all suffer. When she thrives, we can all thrive.
Yesterday’s march gave me hope. Not because everything is fixed, but because we showed up. Because people are rising. Because our ancestors walked with us. And because the future generations were watching, trusting us to fight for a world where they can breathe, drink safe water, grow, pray, play, and live.
May we keep marching. May we keep praying. May we keep loving this Earth with all that we are. Mitukye Oyasin”
