Earth Community
“We live in right relationship with Earth community.” – Adrian Dominican Sisters Vision, 2004-2010
In 2004, we proclaimed in our Adrian Dominican Vision that we would “live in right relationship with Earth community.” We committed ourselves to respond to areas where Earth community is suffering. Even as we commit to live and foster right relationships, we experience the results of broken relationships every day: wars, violence, poverty, racism, despair, species extinction, climate chaos and depletion of fresh water and fertile soils. These unbalanced relationships are affecting not only human communities but the biological communities to which we belong as well.
In 1996, I became part of the health care community at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, California. The activities and lifestyle of the local community and sister sponsors have helped me grasp the importance of honoring the connections between the health of human and non-human communities and the health of our ecosystems. For example, a dozen agencies have developed a variety of specialized support services for homeless individuals and families. Dominican Hospital provides health care for those least insured in Santa Cruz County and is challenging proposed budget cuts for the most vulnerable. Most new building projects are subject to green building regulations. Some buildings are even LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. The idea is to create a green and energy-efficient structure.
Farmers’ markets offer local, organic produce to the community. There are composting programs for businesses and schools. Bike paths encourage people to exercise while using less gas. The Coastal Commission discourages growth in rural areas where growth creates environmental harm. Kids of all ages learn about the value of our animal populations.
Our own Dominican Hospital strives to live in right relationship with Earth community by paying attention to our carbon footprint: the amount of energy and water we use; what we purchase; how we dispose of it; the types of chemicals and cleaners we use; what we’re pouring down the drain; the food we offer in our cafeteria; eliminating bottled water; what we’re recycling, reusing, reducing; and using our institutional influence to negotiate with and challenge our business partners to provide products and services that honor the health of our employees, patients, and planet; offering presentations that highlight our role as human beings on a planet with limited resources, where everything is seen as communicating some aspect of the Creator Spirit.
As we know, all our sisters and associates have been involved in finding ways for every single member of the wider Earth community, reflecting the glory of God, to live and flourish. Recognizing that we are all made from the same “stuff’ and are intimately related, may we continue to witness to our personal and communal commitment to live right relationships with Earth community.