So, I boarded a cruise ship out of Seattle and made my way “north to Alaska.” 

What for others may have been the ultimate “getaway” vacation became for me a spiritual pilgrimage. The constantly changing coastline made my heart leap in admiration for my Creator; the lush forests invited worship and awe; the diversity of sea life and wildlife thrilled my soul.  My natural response was to want to renew my efforts to preserve everything I had experienced for the next generation.

I am not alone in my renewed zeal. The Vatican has added pollution to its list of sins, stating that since we are a global village, sin is not just an individual act but a transgression against the larger community.

“An offense against God is not only stealing or coveting another man’s wife, it is also destroying the environment,” Explained Vatican official Msgr Gianfranco Girotti.

The Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment provides local momentum to champion environmental causes. On Oct. 25 at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, they will host their eleventh annual Caring for Creation conference.

The Muslim community has admirably supported OCICE. Both the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California and the Islamic Society of Orange County have signed the Creation Protection Agreement.

Dr. Amer El-Ahraf, professor and vice president Emeritus of Cal-State Dominguez Hills contributed a powerful poem honoring Earth Day.

Local artist and InFocus contributor Sama Wareh’s tribute at the last conference entitled “Nature Sleeping” is an especially moving tribute to the preservation of the environment through a vivid apocalyptic vision. The concluding lines:

It was December and the temperature was ninety five

It was hard for everything to stay alive

The ocean was black

Garnished with signs that read

“no swimming allowed”

The only park that had ever been preserved

People ten years in advance had reserved…

Twenty years of sleep

Were spent wide awake

Thinking that the one thing I could do

Would have no impact

Learning that I was actually responsible

Was a harsh fact

I would be held accountable

On the day of judgment

God will say to me

Protecting the environment

Was part of your duty

How many plastic cups you went through

Without a second thought

It’s hard to claim ignorance

When you had been taught

That nature is a sacred gift

Intricately woven for mankind…

In recent months, my employer has provided new recycling containers and reusable plastic mugs. However, if I understand the thrust of Wareh’s vision, it is that we must each be responsible for our own actions. Our communities and The Almighty will hold us responsible.

Pianist and songwriter Daniel Nahmod united the attendees at the last conference with his original composition “One and the Same”, where he vocalized, “If we care for creation, we will find common ground.”

And that is where I find that the cross meets the crescent.