“A change in lifestyle could bring healthy pressure to bear on those who wield political, economic and social power. This is what consumer movements accomplish by boycotting certain products. They prove successful in changing the way businesses operate, forcing them to consider their environmental footprint and their patterns of production. When social pressure affects their earnings, businesses clearly have to find ways to produce differently. This shows us the great need for a sense of social responsibility on the part of consumers.” – Laudato Si, paragraph 206
In this episode, an environment enthusiast and the youngest member of the International Council, Bro. Shok Ariola shares about his passion for environmental stewardship, the many challenges that ail our environment and how we can contribute to mending these ailments.
Transcript
Robert Labayen
Welcome back, brothers and sisters. We’re now on the sixth episode of “What Ails You?” I’m Robert Labayan, your host, journeying with you on this path to healing.
This series has been a journey as well as we celebrate our 41st anniversary. In the last episode, we had Brother James Dio with us. He talked about how God responds to the ails of our own community. Today, we’re going to talk about, or tackle, a question that affects not just us, but even our children. What ails our environment?
To share his thoughts on the topic, we have a brother joining us today on Zoom. He is a member of our International Council, and he was a full-time missionary for about 21 years. Brothers and sisters, let us welcome our brother, Shok Ariola.
SHOK ARIOLA
Hi Tito. Good day.
ROBERT
Hi, Brother Shok. You look even younger now. So, how have you been? Tell us how have you been and where are you now?
SHOK
Tito, the family and I just recently moved to Canada. We’re based in the province of British Columbia. It’s the westernmost province of Canada. I think one of the most popular cities that most of your viewers know when we speak of British Columbia, is the city of Vancouver.
My family and I, almost three months ago, moved to Vancouver for many reasons. It’s born out of prayer, and I think as we all say, for the kids. In behalf of the brothers and sisters here in Vancouver, the rest of the province of British Columbia, we greet all your viewers, parang milyon-milyon na ata (seems like millions now). Happy 41st anniversary.
ROBERT
You know, Kuya Shok, we were all really surprised when we learned that you moved to Canada because you didn’t talk about it so much. So, please tell us what adjustments you and your family have to make, and can you tell us more about what British Columbia is like?
SHOK
Yeah, okay. Tito, yes. Number one, we really did not get to share this desire and this prayer to the other brothers and sisters in community. It was only our household and close friends who knew that we were praying to move to Canada.
Was it sudden? Yes, it was very sudden. Given what was happening, not only in the Philippines, but in the world, my wife, Karel, and I really prayed. If we wanted to secure the future of our children, we needed to move somehow to British Columbia or to Canada.
How is British Columbia? Alam mo (You know) tito, if I would describe it in a few words, it’s one of the most beautiful places that I’ve been in, or been to.
ROBERT
Yeah, I can imagine.
SHOK
If ever your viewers have the opportunity to Google British Columbia, they’ll see the Rocky Mountains always covered with snow. They’ll see the sandy beaches of the borderline of the Pacific Ocean. And on the north of British Columbia is Panhandle of Alaska. Fifteen minutes away from where we are is the border of Washington, the state of Washington.
So yeah, sobrang ganda dito. (it’s so beautiful here). I can only place, or capture, or describe British Columbia as really something that is beautiful that God created.
ROBERT
Yeah, if there was a song that can remind you of British Columbia, what song would it be? (laughs)
SHOK
Ayaw ko sa mga ganito mo eh! (I dont like where this is going!) (laughs) Remember that song by Louis Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World”. I think the words, a few lines from that words that says, “I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.” Yung kanta na yan (that song), it captures the beauty or the creativity, the creativity of God. Baka kulang pa nga eh (It might not even be enough).
When we arrived here, it was the start of spring. So flowers were blooming, trees were getting back their color. Naalala nga kita eh (I remembered you,) because of how creative you are. I think this is how God intended the world to be.
One of our major adjustments, between you and I: I remember when we moved into our rented place, binigyan ako ng pamphlet (I was given a pamphlet). I was handed a pamphlet. Actually parang libro siya (it was like a book). It looked like a manual about waste management. Because they’re very—not only careful, but their implementation of the policies that they have in regards to waste management—galing. Galing, tito. (excellent. They’re excellent, tito.)
ROBERT
Alam mo (You know,) the song that you sang a little earlier. I have memorized that song even before you were born.
SHOK
Oo, kanta ng matatanda yun! (Yes, it’s old people’s music!)
ROBERT
So yeah, you described just how beautiful this world is. Actually, the rest of the world, not just British Columbia, is a beautiful place created by the greatest Artist that we know.
But it is threatened. As you said, you even have to have a manual on waste management. Can you share with us about what is the situation of the earth today? Why is it in danger?
SHOK
I think, Tito, it’s pretty obvious. One thing that this pandemic taught us, I think, is to look carefully—not only in ourselves, but also to the environment or to those that are around us. Because we take a lot of things for granted. We take a lot of people for granted. Diba, isa iyan sa mga tinuro sa’tin ng pandemic (It’s one of the things the pandemic taught us).
What I realized when they handed me this manual about waste management—because here you cannot just throw your garbage anywhere, meaning every kind or a particular kind of waste goes to a particular kind of bin. Yung mga organic waste, or yung mga tira-tirang pagkain (The organic waste or the leftover food), for example—it goes to the green bin. The normal garbage, meaning the things that we throw, they go to the blue bin. And they have recyclables.
Funny thing, Tito. Diba tayo (Isn’t it that for us) when we drink, for example, any soft drinks from a can, after drinking diba tinatapon na natin (we throw it) or we dispose of it. Here, they actually wash it. Wash it, and put it in the black bin or the recyclables. Why? Because part of the implementation of the waste management policy of our province is that every recyclable material can be returned to the shop for deposit, Tito.
So lahat po nang binibili namin (everything that we buy), aside from the tax, is meron deposit (has a deposit) that you can claim when you return these items. So I think it’s a beautiful, beautiful implementation of the policy set by the government, because I think every country has their own waste management policy. But here it’s the implementation, the efficiency of the implementation.
Going back to the song. When God created the world, we know that God created everything to be good, to be beautiful. He’s the master artist, as you mentioned. And the problem is when—I think—the current problem of the world is when we try to overmanage what God created. Because God called us to be stewards, to look after this beautiful creation of his. But unfortunately, we have this tendency to think that we are the owners, instead of just stewards or managers.
Even in community, we talk about respecting life. We talk about the dignity of the human person, not realizing that the respect for life and the dignity of the human person extends, extends to the rest of creation. Because as the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, everything that God created was made to praise God, to bring glory to God. It doesn’t add to his glory, but it was made to glorify him. So the mountains, the environment, the trees, the flowers, they were made to praise the Lord.
Kaya pala Laudato Si (that’s why it’s called Lautado Si)—meaning, praise be to you. Praise be to you. That’s what it means. The second encyclical of Pope Francis spoke about how we should manage or take care of our common home, which is this world.
Alam mo (You know) tito, as our technology advances, as the tremendous contribution of science, for example, to medicine, our great leaps in regards to transportation, our desire to provide economically, our improvement in communication, and to human life in general—we need to bring to light that we cannot separate, separate God from the equation. We cannot deny that it is also cost, this degradation of the environment. We cannot deny that it is caused by the drastic effects of these changes, maybe through technology, science, etc.
It really changes us. It really changes the world. We wanted badly to improve human condition, but to what extent? To what expense?
At times—I’m not saying all the time, but at times—the first thing that we throw away or the first thing that we put in jeopardy is the environment. We have seen no other meaning in the earth or in God’s creation as a resource more than it being a home. The tendency to just collect, the tendency to gather, the tendency to accumulate. Actually, I think that’s what put the environment in jeopardy, Tito.
ROBERT
Yeah. I think we have forgotten the part about being stewards. Instead, we have placed ourselves on a pedestal, feeling superior above the natural order of things. We just look at the natural environment as a resource that we have to consume as though it’s not going to run out.
SHOK
Yes, true. Because Tito, I think we forgot the natural world is a precious gift from God for all of us to enjoy. Not only for our generation, not only for our children, but for the future. We are called to be stewards and guardians and not to be exploiters and destroyers.
One of your bosses, former bosses, Ma’am Gina Lopez would always say that this is a precious gift, talking about the environment. Unfortunately, we’re not treating it as such. The selfish acts of exploitation of the environment is a failure to genuinely love God. Yes, feeling ko maraming masasaktan or matataman (I feel like a lot of people will be hurt or affected with this). But when we don’t love what God created, simply put, or what God gifted us with, we don’t love the Creator. Or if we don’t show respect for the creation, it’s almost equal to saying we don’t respect the Creator.
And it extends. You know our liturgy, our liturgy, sa misa (in the Mass), we have the fruit of the earth, the fruit of the vine, the work of human hands. Whenever the priest gives or blesses the bread and wine, right? The first two lines, I think we separate, or we fail to recognize, that the fruits of this earth, the fruit of the vine, together with the works of human hands, give glory to God.
Genuine love for God extends love for nature. Genuine love for God extends for love of your fellowmen, of love for the truth, and the disordered attachment or disordered attachment to power, to pleasure, to money. Iyon ang kasalanan eh (That’s the sin).
It’s not the person, Tito. It’s not the person that is the environment. I think it’s the sin. The sin that populates the heart of every person that puts the environment in danger, Tito.
ROBERT
Yeah, I agree with you. This is respect for what has been given to us and being insensitive to what our brothers need because they also depend on the environment. I agree with you it can be considered a sin.
So would you like to explain some more how this is a sin?
SHOK
Ako, tito, (For me, tito), anything that goes against God or the will of God or the knowledge of removing yourself from the presence of God is sin. I would like to highlight three, especially in regards to the environment, although I know it’s not only meant for the environment.
But for example, the sin of pride, the sin of greed. These are capital sins. The sin of apathy.
Let me somehow elaborate, Tito. When we talk about pride, it’s the desire of man to be like God. Man sees himself as the central or the most significant being in the world. Whenever that enters our heart, it becomes a sin. Why? Because it turns other beings or other creation of the Lord as mere object of consumption, or as we mentioned earlier, as a means of resource.
When pride takes over our lives, it changes our view on how we see the world around us. And we lose sight. We lose sight of the dignity that God endowed his creation and what it really means, or what it was meant for. When pride enters the picture, selfish interest in gain comes into the picture then, Tito.
ROBERT
Yes, Bro. Shok, it is called now the principle of anthropocentrism.
SHOK
Big word, big word.
ROBERT
Can you repeat it? Anthropocentrism. I just learned that word today. And what it means is the attitude of putting human supremacy above everything else.
SHOK
Yes, Tito. Anthropocentrism.
ROBERT
Congratulations. (laughter)
SHOK
Parang may plus ten points yan. (I think I got plus ten points.) (laughter) But kidding aside. It simply means, Tito, aside from human supremacy, it simply means greed. Anthropocentrism simply means greed. When we want to accumulate more, especially in these times of consumerism and materialism, when we put standard or a higher standard by looking at how much you own, I think that’s when greed sets into one’s heart. And it can be very, very dangerous.
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis mentioned that when people become self-centered and self-enclosed, their greed increases. Meron naman akong nabasa. From Pope Benedict naman (I also read something, this time from Pope Benedict). Pope Benedict said in Caritas Veritate: “the environment is God’s gift to everyone. It’s God’s gift to everybody. We have the responsibility. And as we use the environment responsibly, it is showing care or love for the poor, for the future generation, and for the whole of humanity.”
So una, yung pride (first, this pride). When it sets into one’s heart na iniisip mo mas magaling ka sa iba (that you believe you are better than others), that you are above in the whole picture of creation, it becomes a sin. And it destroys the environment. Yes, even pride.
Second, Tito, when greed, when you want to accumulate and fail to share, it destroys the environment as well, Tito.
ROBERT
Yeah. I think somebody has used the term throwaway culture. And I believe that’s being encouraged, in fact, by the marketing world. There’s a thing called planned obsolescence. It makes us want to acquire new things. Even though the current thing that we own is still usable, they encourage us to buy new things. And so what we have is now obsolete, and they become waste.
SHOK
Yes, Tito, that is very true. Look at the cell phones, for example, that we have.There are different versions, right? But if we go back to the original purpose of why it was created, for example, to communicate, to send messages—and I know that technology advances—but look at the version of, for example, your iPhone 13 as comparing it to iPhone 11. What are the major differences in terms of communicating or in terms of fulfilling its purpose?
Again, there’s nothing wrong with it. Science, technology, it was, I’m sure it’s a gift from God to help man. But unfortunately, it also gives us the sense to gather more and to dispose of things that we think that are useless. Hence the throwaway culture. If this (takes a piece of paper from his desk) is already obsolete, then… (throws the paper away). Actually it’s not even obsolete. If this is out of date.
ROBERT
Ah, yes.
SHOK
And to set it aside. But we know, looking at what’s happening in the world today. For example, we know that there’s beauty in the classic, or classical. There’s beauty in the old things. There’s novelty in owning an antique, for example.
But the culture that we have at the moment, especially—this is my fear for my children: that they need to get the latest of something and dispose of their out-of-date things—it scares me. Scares me, Tito. Because it feeds, it feeds not only greed, but it feeds the destruction of the environment, or the world, or the home that we live in.
But Tito, I would like to highlight the third. Sabi ko (As I said), there are three sins that I wanted to highlight. I think the third is apathy. Apathy, Tito.
Sa Tagalog po (In Tagalog), it’s “walang pakialam”. When apathy enters a man’s heart, the tendency is to look inward. To look… basta kami okay lang, okay na (as long as we’re okay, everything is okay). If my family are eating or my family are living comfortably, then I don’t care about what’s happening around us.
That’s wrong, Tito. And it’s a sin. When we start looking at our own versions of truth more than the general truth that God has provided us, the tendency is to destroy—to destroy the environment. When we say “Hindi naman ako apektado eh (I’m not affected anyway)”, “I don’t care”… whenever we utter the words “Okay kami, bahala sila. (We’re okay. Let what happens to them happen”. It can be very, very dangerous.
ROBERT
That’s self-enclosed as you mentioned earlier, diba (right)?
SHOK
Yeah, yeah. Self-enclosure. And this is my fear for the young generation, for my children and my future grandchildren, for example. Because if they start looking inward, or if they develop this self-enclosure, the world will continue to hurt. It will not only destroy the environment, but it will destroy humanity. When we stop caring for each other, when we fail to recognize the pain of the other, it will destroy our being humans, not only the environment, Tito.
And Tito, when we also speak of apathy, we also speak of the lack of enforcement. The lack of enforcing policies, the lack of enforcing programs and systems in reducing waste, for example, in protecting the environment.
Because I think man has already thought of almost everything in regards to policies and laws. What we fail to do—because I think policies and laws were placed for man’s betterment. But unfortunately, the enforcement. When we lack enforcement, that’s being apathetic. It’s tantamount to saying, “I don’t care”.
And that’s what puts the environment in danger. Because apathy, greed, pride is rooted—rooted in sin. These are sins that are not just ecological in nature, but also pollution to a man’s soul.
Global warming is happening, yet there are people who discount it. It has already been proven by science, yet people value their own truth as compared to what is revealed. And when we say, “Bahay ko naman ‘to, so okay lang na makalat (this is my house, so it’s okay for it to be messy),” that’s being apathetic. And that’s a start of jeopardizing the whole creation or the environment in total. So ayun, tito. (So that’s it, tito.)
— End of Part 1 —
