The Garden of God: Toward A Human Ecology

The Earth Seen from Space Is Beautiful and Fragile

71 creation & nature brate the first day. And in so doing we celebrate God the Creator and his creation. Yes, we believe in God, the Creator of heaven and earth. And we celebrate the God who was made man, who suffered, died, was buried, and rose again. We celebrate the definitive victory of the Creator and of his creation. We celebrate this day as the origin and the goal of our existence. We celebrate it because now, thanks to the Risen Lord, it is definitively established that reason is stronger than unreason, truth stronger than lies, love stronger than death. We celebrate the first day because we know that the black line drawn across creation does not last forever. We celebrate it because we know that those words from the end of the creation account have now been definitively fulfilled: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gn 1:31). The Earth Seen from Space Is Beautiful and Fragile From Satellite Connection with the Crew of the International Space Station (ISS), May 21, 2011 SECOND QUESTION One of the themes I often return to in my discourses concerns the responsibility we all have toward the future of our planet. I recall the serious risks facing the environment and the survival of future generations. Scientists tell us we have to be careful and from an ethical point of view we must develop our consciences as well. 72 creation & nature From your extraordinary observation point, how do you see the situation on Earth? Do you see signs or phenomena to which we need to be more attentive? Ron Garan, U.S.A.: Well, Your Holiness, it’s a great honor to speak with you and you’re right: it really is an extraordinary vantage point we have up here. On the one hand, we can see how indescribably beautiful the planet that we have been given is; but on the other hand, we can really clearly see how fragile it is. Just the atmosphere, for instance: the atmosphere when viewed from space is paper-thin, and to think that this paper-thin layer is all that separates every living thing from the vacuum of space and is all that protects us, is really a sobering thought. You know, it seems to us that it’s just incredible to view the earth hanging in the blackness of space and to think that we are all on this together, riding through this beautiful fragile oasis through the universe, it really fills us with a lot of hope to think that all of us on board this incredible orbiting space station that was built by the many nations of our international partnership, to accomplish this tremendous feat in orbit, I think... you know, that just shows that by working together and by cooperating we can overcome many of the problems that face our planet, we could solve many of the challenges that face the inhabitants of our planet.... It really is a wonderful place to live and work, and it’s a wonderful place to view our beautiful earth. ...