THE WEB WAY TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
By John McConnell
"The Man Who Started Earth Day -- And The Earth Trustee
Idea"
In this brief statement I aim to do the impossible, describe an
Earth Trustee Agenda that can appeal to the most people (people
of every creed and culture) and do the most good for people and
planet. I will also provide the formula for individuals and
institutions that can convert the words into actions, tap the
best of every religion and ethic, and rapidly replace hate, fear,
greed and injustice with altruistic attitudes and actions that
will eliminate poverty, pollution and violence.
As we enter a new millennium a new global state of mind is
emerging. The end of the "Cold War" and the new
communication connections of Internet provide new possibilities
for peaceful change.
While the old way of thinking still hinders peace and justice in
Jerusalem and other trouble spots, the miracle of the World Wide
Web brings new connections among people of good will who are
seeking a way to global peace and prosperity. Following is
the Earth Trustee Agenda that can best serve this purpose and
provide a sustainable future:
EARTH TRUSTEE AGENDA
"Let every individual and institution now think and act as a
responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology,
economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future,
eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of
life and foster peaceful progress in the human
adventure."
To succeed we must combine heart and mind in effective
action. If this article moves you emotionally and you know
what to do, you will act. Let us first consider the
following:
In order to come together in care for our planet we must respect
and care about one another. People of all creeds and
persuasions find agreement in the three most important words in
human history, "Love One Another." They were
uttered by Jesus, the man most recognized in history as wise and
good.
Heartfelt love, faith and prayer is increasing around the
world. While great differences exist in creeds and social
issues, more and more people are finding common ground.
There is growing awareness that we are one human family and must
now take charge and take care of our planet. We can and
must now come together where we agree -- leaving room for
differences on matters where we don't agree.
SPACE
AGE WORLD VIEW
"We set out to explore Space and discovered Earth."
Now we know Planet Earth has amazing raw materials (land, water,
gold, oil -- etc., and organic life). With proper use of
our new technologies, with logical economic policies and fair
benefits for services, everyone could join in the rejuvenation of
Earth. In the New Millennium we can make our planet a
Garden of Eden.
There is no excuse for extreme poverty and unearned extreme
wealth. New Earth Trustee economic policies can remedy
this. There is growing support for a New Millennium
Proposal to cancel the massive debts owed by the poorest
countries. This should be followed by vigorous efforts to
restructure economic institutions and achieve just and
efficient production, trade and currency exchange. Internet
now provides access to ideas, actions, records and results.
Let all institutions now report how much their policies and
programs accomplish Earth Trustee goals. A growing flood
of Earth Trustee solutions will follow.
FACING
THE DIFFICULTIES
While
it is good to accent the positive and focus on solutions, we also
need to honestly face the difficulties.
Whether it is the result of sinful nature, childhood neglect or
bad genes, humanity today is crippled by hate, fear, greed,
sickness, crime and misuse of money and power. Fortunately,
the vast majority of people believe in the golden rule and try to
be honest. They can support the vision and actions that
will bring a positive, global, state of mind. This will
better enable efforts and their values to reach the minds and
hearts of those engaged in evil acts -- who in truth "know
not what they do."
Actions good or bad begin in the mind. Evil will be
overcome -- not just by laws or military might, but by love and
faith and vision of a better way.
TWO
LEVELS OF REALITY
To
achieve Earth Trustee goals it is important to recognize two
levels of reality -- the physical and the metaphysical, or
spiritual.
People of all creeds and cultures can now agree on physical
reality. We agree we have a great planet and can benefit by
its nurture.
In the larger question, "What’s life all about?"
we are faced with profound mysteries of life and death.
Conflicting creeds try to deal with them.
Some of my best friends and I disagree on life after death.
I don’t believe in reincarnation. When I met with the
Dali Lama, I praised him for his strong support of peace and the
care of Earth. We agreed that in our differences over
reincarnation we each based our beliefs on hypothesis that could
not be scientifically proven. I did not have a videotape of
what people were doing in heaven – and he did not have an
X-ray of a soul waiting for reincarnation. We must
recognize our differences and work together where we agree.
The best of our science and logic provide no answers all can
agree on. Our beliefs are based on faith. While we
may differ on the nature of God and life after death, we can
commend actions that nurture people and planet -- regardless of
the person's creed.
The Earth Trustee agenda should not be a stumbling block to
people of any creed -- who want to help "peace, justice and
the care of Earth."
When it comes to the mysteries of life the human search continues
and will not diminish. The explosion of knowledge about the
Cosmos is accompanied by scientific study of spiritual healing
and psychic phenomena. The more we learn, the greater the
mystery! The Astrophysicist, Stephen Hawking, is
concentrating on how the Cosmos grows. The results are
astounding. However, in his last words on a recent TV
program, "The Universe" he stated, "We are finding
the answer to 'how.' When we find the answer to 'Why?', we
will have the mind of God."
To continue our quest to understand the great mysteries of life
we must avoid the death of nature and the collapse of
civilization -- a real present danger. Let us now convert
Earth Kill to Earth Care and make the next millennium an Earth
Trustee Millennium.
EARTH
DAY 2000
International
Earth Day 2000 - will be celebrated at the United Nations in
New York – on Monday, March 20. At 2:35 AM, the United
Nations Peace Bell will ring, followed by two minutes for
silent prayer or meditation. At the same time, in San Francisco, on Sunday
March 19 at 11:35 PM, John McConnell will be in the city where he started Earth
Day, 30 years ago. Check your local time zone to see when Spring
begins, and join millions of people around the world. This moment provides a powerful time for people worldwide to join
in dedication to be responsible Trustees of Earth.
The March Equinox was chosen for the first Earth Day
(1970). The idea was not local convenience or comfortable
weather -- which varies from place to place, but a day suitable
for international celebration. On this day, night and day
are equal. This day is a million year symbol of the balance
of nature and the equilibrium we seek on Earth.
WHAT
INDIVIDUALS CAN DO
If
you agree in principle with this Earth Trustee proposal for a
sustainable future, then decide you will help make it work.
First, adopt an Earth Trustee attitude. That means an
Earth Trustee way of looking at everything. You want your
daily choices in work, travel, shopping and other activities to
naturally reflect your Earth Trustee values. Individuals
will differ in what they pay most attention to. You may get
interested in composting, planting trees, or volunteering for
some project that is bringing peace and justice with
understanding and action to better your neighborhood.
If you have not already done so, join some group that you feel
will assist Earth Trustee goals. Where possible get them to
use the Earth Trustee label for their efforts. All who seek
to further peace, justice and the care of our planet can foster
mutual understanding and cooperation by labeling their effort an
"Earth Trustee" effort. The Earth Day/Earth
Trustee agenda in the Earth Magna Charta can help any worthwhile
project. Your church, club, school or business can adopt
the Earth Magna Charta and in its own way implement its policies
and agenda.
EARTH
TRUSTEE INSTITUTIONS
Individual
Earth Trustee actions can improve conditions in institutions as
they presently exist. Far more will result as we
restructure institutions to conform with Earth Trustee policies
and purposes. Businesses, banks, churches and temples,
clubs, towns and cities, are all invited to help implement the
Earth Trustee Agenda. They can adopt the Earth Magna Charta (http://www.earthsite.org) and implement its Earth Trustee ideas
in their own way. Every web site can be an Earth Trustee
site and do their part to help people and planet.
WORLD
WIDE WEB -- Make Earth Day 2000 an Internet Earth Day
Let
every person with access to Internet, forward this message to a
few of their friends, with the suggestion they do the same.
We invite all webmasters to help make Internet an Earth Trustee
facilitator: Earth Trustee Web Sites, Message Boards,
Forums.
Make
Earth Day 2000 A Great Day for Planet Earth
Let leaders and media now begin a Countdown to Earth Day 2000 (March 19/20).
This can be a
Moral Equivalent of World war II – every individual and
institutions joining in a global effort for Earth’s
rejuvenation.
Proceed Earth Day with Earth Trustee solutions on Internet.
On Earth Day join with your friends and family at home, church,
school or work to mark this day with attention for the wonder of
life and what we can do for people and planet. Let's
have bells ring all over the world when the Peace Bells are rung
on Earth Day. Explorers in Space will share their inspiring views
of our beautiful planet as they join in the celebration.
The New Millennium will be a New Beginning of promise and hope.
Spread
the word. Now is humanity’s greatest opportunity.
Earth Magna
Charta: http://www.earthdayone.org/charta.htm
Earth Site Home: http://www.earthsite.org
WOW Earth Trustees: http://www.wowzone.com/wow-ed.htm