As expected, President Trump removed the United States from participation in the Paris Climate Accord. This decision was based on greed and on adherence to what is most dangerous to the well-being of our fragile planet. Such an act stands in opposition to what is most prophetic in America.

This outrageous choice makes no economic or planetary sense.

It contradicts the best of the scientific and social visionaries alive today. It disregards all of Al Gore’s climate change initiatives, and places the future of our planet and its people in greater jeopardy. It ignores Johanna Macy’s vision of the great turning. It makes Thomas Berry’s dream of the Earth become instead a nightmare for humanity. The fact that the very day of Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord fell on the eighth anniversary of Thomas’s passing is ironic, to say the least.

I can feel the pain of this disastrous choice. Yet, as I contemplate the significance of this moment, I nevertheless look for reasons to feel encouraged. I think about the sun’s generous gift, about the beauty of the flower outside my window, about the spontaneity of the child who lives with her parents down the hall.

And especially, I am inspired by the numerous people who gather here and around the country, motivated by genuine love for the Earth. These people are our hope for the future. They are dedicated to preserving the sacredness of life, so that future generations may live in a truly participatory democracy, where people recognize and listen to one another. They dream of a world whose first act is compromise and whose organization is founded on justice making.

The toxic news of the day may assail me, but I also cannot ignore the goodness of the people I see around me. I feel hopeful seeing something precious and new bubbling up at a grassroots level. I pray that the future will more just, that people will be more engaged, that our journey together will continue, and that our tomorrows will be better than all our pasts.