Bearing Witness to Extractivism, Colonialism: Day 6

Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico & El Paso and Sisters of Mercy of the Americas are co-sponsoring an immersion retreat through some areas of New Mexico to bear witness to the damage #extractivism has inflicted on the people and the land of our state.  Tbe accounts and pictures come courtesy of Heather Scott-Molleda, senior director of communications for Mercy Sisters of the Americas.   Read Accounts for Days 1 and 2  Day 3, Day 4 Day 5

The Final Day

We begin the final day of our pilgrimage reflecting on the damage done by colonialism and extractivism which have treated God’s creation and Native people as disposable. New Mexico is suffering the consequences of that attitude.

 

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Day 6: A Prayer for Healing

On the sixth day, we ended our pilgrimage with a prayer for healing and call for new beginnings. We witnessed the beauty of God’s creation in Carlsbad Caverns, including the awesome sight of hundreds of thousands of bats flying out of the cave into the night. But we also saw evidence everywhere of the lack of care for people and for the Earth, farms turned into dumping grounds or new oil wells. This year is the centennial both of Carlsbad and of the first oil well in the Permian Basin. We are called to action. A dragonfly, the symbol of hope, change and love, joined us for the final gathering. We buried the “earthen treasure vase” that accompanied us on our travels, in the Permian Basin with the prayers of many, notably Pueblo and Diné (Navajo) elders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sister Marlys Jackson, Rochester, Minn., offers her impressions

A reflection from Bro. Ryan Roberts, a Lutheran Franciscan friar and member of the justice team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas