The above phrase has been in the global lexicon for quite some time now and never has it meant, or will it mean so much. For every action there is a corresponding re-action. It comes down to a matter of choice. In terms of our planetary homeland, this ecosphere of ours is responding to the billions of individual and collective actions that have been taken and are being taken every moment. So, how do we proceed?
Humanity’s existence is governed not only by physical forces, but also by social and moral laws of cause and effect. Greed is inherently corrosive to the common good, no matter how artfully justified or concealed. Acts of selfless compassion invariably hold the power to motivate and inspire, no matter how seemingly simple or isolated.
Central to any authentic conception of oneness at a planetary level are issues of justice. That widespread suffering has resulted from humanity’s extractive relationship with the natural world - these reveal profound injustices to people and planet.
From this perspective, the path to a more harmonious relationship with nature cannot be one of technological adjustment alone. It must also involve communities and societies learning to align themselves with higher principles. A notable alternative to the paradigm of material advancement alone can be found in the significance that multitudes around the world place in the transcendence of the human spirit and its connection with the divine. Much could be learned from a systematic and scientific inquiry into communities that are learning to apply spiritual principles—such as selflessness, solidarity with others, and stewardship for the natural world—to advance broad-based social progress.
“Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches,” asserts Bahá’u’lláh, providing one example, among many, of an approach to personal identity and collective interaction that is grounded in values transcending material prosperity alone. How such ideals come to infuse the thinking and behavior of growing numbers, and how this process can be consciously fostered and accelerated, are questions of central importance to the environmental movement and to humanity as a whole.
Individuals, communities, and nations are contributing their share toward this goal every day.
Yet for action to rise to the scales required, far stronger consensus and collective will among the nations is needed around the values demanded by the current stage of humanity’s development. It also calls for much greater resolve in putting those values into practice, recommitting to that which is beneficial to the common good and discarding whatever stands in the way of answering the moral and practical call of the present hour.
At the individual level, justice calls for fair-mindedness in one’s judgments and equity in one’s treatment of others. At the group level, it is the practical expression of awareness that the interests of the individual and those of society are inextricably linked. It also requires a standard of truth-seeking far beyond the patterns of negotiation and compromise that tend to characterize present-day relations—a process of consultation and decision-making that is principled, candid, and fact-based.
Each of us enters the world as a trust of the whole. Each in turn bears a measure of responsibility for the welfare of all and for the planet on which we depend. This world-encompassing sense of trusteeship does not seek to eliminate humanity’s impact on the natural world. Material resources will always be required to sustain and advance civilization. The goal is to direct that impact consciously, creatively, and compassionately. (One Planet, One Habitation-A Statement of the Bahá’í Community)
Paying it forward for the next generations.