Marion Lyon's Letter

To my daughter, Naomi, my nieces & nephew and all the children I have ever taught,

Dear Naomi and children of the 2000s,

When you were born 2030 might have seemed a long way off, but now in 2022, it's really not very long at all and yet I fear much will have changed by then. The Earth is a precious gift created for all and over the centuries we humans have made a pretty bad job of thinking about the future. We have used resources and destroyed them, the area where they grew and left the people who produced them with no future and it feels like this is happening now on a bigger and bigger scale, with ever more severe consequences. Those who have used least are already suffering the most and I wonder how things will be for you as adults.

I pray that we would not leave it too late. That there would be an understanding that making a difference means acting, sacrificially if necessary. I pray that you would still be able to look at the world and enjoy the changing seasons, local wildlife and understand about global ecosystems. I pray that you would truly see yourselves as global citizens, who care about the lives and livelihoods of people everywhere, standing up for the rights of the poor and justice for all. Try not to be overwhelmed. Try not to give up when it feels hopeless, that is the very time you will need to stand together, share what you have and create community.

Right now, as individuals and organisations there are many people around the world who want to make things better; however, there are also many more who just want to carry on living a comfortable life, who haven't yet seen the previews of the future or who still feel it is someone else's problem. Since the COP in Glasgow in 2021, the one delayed by the Covid pandemic, we have seen climate changing now, affecting people now and I pray that somehow we would have leaders that can look beyond the immediate headline crises and recognise the critical time we are in now, to give you all a future and a hope.

Let's encourage each other to work together, to hold on to the good and promote joy and gratitude in the hope that you will see the world living sustainably and be able to look back on that time in history where people always had something more important to do than to save the planet and give future generations a chance to live in peace.

Bless you,
Mum, Auntie Marion, Mrs Lyon