In his column in last week’s issue of this paper titled “Saving Our Soils movement takes off,” OpinYon publisher Ray Junia disclosed that he and topnotch agriculture consultant Sonny Domingo have recently launched the SOS (Saving Our Soils) Movement, with the primary purpose of organizing farmers, agriculturists, and media practitioners to bring to the attention of government and civic-minded citizens to stop the destruction of our basic resource-- the soil-- in order for our society to survive and prevent a looming food crisis.
Domingo, for his part, revealed the unabated alarming facts about the sorry state of our soils, enough reason for the inception of the “Saving Our Soils” Movement.
“First, it is a fact that most of our arable soils are now toxic, perhaps 100 percent at the most, though Sen. Cynthia Villar says 83 percent of our soils are now depleted. This is primarily because for more than 59 years now, we have been using chemical fertilizers to increase yields. Second, according to NASA scientists, our soils will become barren or infertile in 3-5 years’ time. The third disturbing fact is that for every 2.5 cms. of barren soil, it will take more than 100 years before it can nurture a plant,” Domingo explained.
With these compelling reasons, it behooves underscoring, thus, that “saving our soils” or SOS is the tall order of the day. It is undeniably imperative for us to take heed to the wrenching gasps of our soils, to the dying cry of our mother earth.
But, to my appreciation, saving our soils or caring for the earth is not only about rehabilitating our terra firma. Saving our soils doesn’t simply stop in rejuvenating our infertile lands. More profoundly, saving our soils points to a higher reality: saving us, the earth’s inhabitants.
More importantly also, nurturing our soils in order for plants to grow will not only nurture our physical bodies but our spiritual component as well: our souls.
Let me put forth, hence, the thesis for this piece: there is a plausible correlation between the imperative of caring for our soils or environment and of our ethico-spiritual calling of being “stewards of God’s creation.” In a sense, saving our soils (SOS) is saving our souls (SOS) – and, in a holistic way, saving our society (SOS). These are the three prime “SOSes” of our time.
After the rhyme, let me now proceed to the reason.
First is the biblical basis. Genesis 1:28 says that Adam, the first human, who was created to dwell in paradise, is told by God that he has “dominion” over what God has created. However, such “dominion or mastery over creation” cannot be falsely construed as humans having the unrestrained upper hand in harnessing or exploiting our natural creation. Sadly, this wrong notion of “dominion” is inescapably in vogue nowadays whence our soils have been grossly abused and sacrificed at the altar of profit accumulation.
From the theological perspective, the biblical “dominion” is aptly understood as man being a “responsible steward of God’s creation” and therefore has the moral duty to “serve and love God, take care and offer all creation back to him” (Catechism of the Catholic Church or CCC#358).
Then another important aspect of “saving our soils is saving our souls” is derived from Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si” (On Care for our Common Home), where he stressed that it is our moral obligation as humans to care for our environment.
“We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen. 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters,” Pope Francis wrote.
Finally, another reasonable basis for our thesis of “saving our soils is saving our souls” is founded on the global Christian churches’ observance of the “Season of Creation.”
Supported by the world’s leading Christian organizations (World Council of Churches, Christian Aid, Lutheran World Federation, Anglican Communion Environmental Network, Global Catholic Climate Movement, and the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development), the “Season of Creation” is an annual month-long prayerful observance that calls the planet’s 2.2 billion Christians to pray and care for God’s creation. It’s a time to reflect on our relationship with the environment and the ways in which our lifestyles and decisions as a society can endanger both the natural world and those inhabiting it, both humans and other creatures.
Interestingly so, the launching of the “Saving Our Soils” Movement (perhaps unbeknownst to its convenors, Ray Junia and Sonny Domingo) coincided or fell within the annual observance of the “Season of Creation,” which began last September 1 (World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation) and culminates this October 4 (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology).
In closing, it’s worth quoting Pope Francis’ message during last April’s Earth Day celebration:
“The Earth is an environment to be safeguarded, a garden to be cultivated. The relationship of mankind with nature should not be guided by greed, by manipulation and exploitation, but it must preserve the divine harmony that exists between creatures and creation with respect and care, so that it can be put to the service of our brothers, and also future generations.”