![In every breath, we are connected [VIDEO]](https://www.ecojesuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020_09_30_Reflection_Photo1.png)
The Pacific Ocean, a third of the earth’s surface, changes seasonally. Those changes are becoming more extreme, so the typhoons, the monsoon seasons give us floods that we’ve never had before and they also give us droughts. And the rise in sea level can cause a whole nation to be left without a grounding.
We have cleared much of Southeast Asian forests; Papua New Guinea is there still and some of Kalimantan is left. But we’re clearing the Amazon and of course the Congo is under major pressure.
The clean oxygenated air that is revived by these forests and the oceans connects us. In every breath we are connected to these.
Oil palm, corn, cattle, the destruction of the forests all over the world – we connect with this, often through money not aware of what our purchasing is doing. It really calls for transformation in our lives.
The poor in the urban areas are often migrants – very poor conditions both for work and for accommodation. They’re extremely vulnerable. They’re living in cramped and unhealthy conditions. They have no support community.
We urgently need to connect and to recognize the differences and the diversities and the limits in our life and in the planet, and find new ways with dignity and with equity to connect.
May God give us strength.
This reflection is taken from the testimony of Pedro Walpole SJ, Ecojesuit Global Coordinator, during the Ignatian global prayer vigil during the Season of Creation, Breathing Together.
