“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it
follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether
the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than
the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the
clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied
down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more
to him than birds.
“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten
taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you
think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk
out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but
have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and
women in the country look shabby alongside them.
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of
wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to
you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to
get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can
respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works
fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life
in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out.
You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,
and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will
help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
************************************************************************************
Today is Creation Sunday, and I deliberately chose
not to sing “All Things Bright and Beautiful”.
Why, when creation is part of our beliefs, when we praise the outdoors,
spend time in the summer going to the cottage and enjoying the green, the
beach, fresh air? Why? Because I think we get hung up in that and forget to
look realistically around us – or maybe we are too afraid to look.
And I confess to having a serious problem with the
Scriptures as well. Don’t worry about
tomorrow, but focus on today. Well, I can get into that a little – yesterday is
gone, tomorrow isn’t here, so today is what we get. But I can’t for a moment believe that with
the way the natural world around us is going, sitting and waiting for God to
fix it is a useful exercise. Because God isn’t – in my view – involved in
making or breaking creation. Not in this way. We are responsible for a good
share of the situation in which we live, and we are the ones who have to find a
way forward before humanity is eliminated – by our own hand.
Rev. Ralph Carl Wushke is minister at Bathurst St. United, as well
as Ecumenical Chaplain at University of Toronto. I found his words helpful in
trying to focus on working with these scriptures at the same time we think
about the current world. In an age of climate change and looming environmental
collapse, paralyzing anxiety about the melting glaciers, rising sea levels,
extinction of species, and the spectre of ecological refugees can fill our
days. Fortunately for us, anxiety is one of the themes in Matthew 6. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, noted Jewish
philosopher of religion, loved trees and also popularized the term “radical
amazement” in several books, including God in Search of Man (New York: Harper
& Row, 1966 © 1955) He rightly intuited that real knowledge (especially
Wisdom) births out of wonder, not doubt or fear.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 hold anxiety and awe in
dynamic tension. Awe, wonder, and radical amazement are spiritual
resources in a time of climate change,
not just for Christians. But for us, by taking time for mindfulness in this
Season of Creation, we can find inspiration and renewal for our daily lives,
challenges, and solidarity.
Nevertheless, the time for waxing poetic about God’s good
creation without looking realistically at what we have, is past, in my mind. So
how do we manage the two?
For two weeks in August I spent time in Norway,
Denmark and Sweden – and then a week in Finland. A friend and I cruised coastal
southern Norway where the weather had finally reverted to what is considered
normal for that time of year. We drove through Denmark and Sweden to Oslo for
four days. The four countries this summer endured 70 days of record
temperatures in the 30’s, and no rain. Sweden was hardest hit – more than 50 forest
fires burned. We realised that while, on the surface it looked reasonably
green, a closer look revealed something else; failing crops – corn about a foot
high – it didn’t look like there would be a harvest of anything this year. Right across, farmers were bringing in the
second haying – there will be no third this year, which means a shortage for
the animals. We noticed that the deciduous trees especially in Sweden had turned dry and crispy and brown. In Oslo some rivers had dried up. In Finland the
forest floor was drying out – huge stands of fern all brown, trees turning
yellow and brown – not because of the season but because of the lack of rain and
the intense heat. Literally no fires or barbecues were allowed anywhere. And at the cottage property where we stayed –
a trout stream with little water and no fish.
The Arctic Circle was on fire this summer, as was a
lot of northern Ontario and British Columbia, California – but also in Africa
and Central Europe. Water levels are
rising in some places as the Arctic Ice melts, and water dries up in places
where there is no rain. Animals begin to suffer; farmers begin to lose crops.
But there’s more – the Sahara has been growing, and as it blows the sand moves
across continents. Everyone in Spain and Portugal – and even parts north –
recognise cars covered in Sahara sand. Smoke from fires in North America blows
over Europe, smoke from fires over Europe blows across Russia and parts of
Asia. In both Pacific and Atlantic oceans, super-storms are forming, and more
of them than before. Japan was just hit
by a super-typhoon. Not that typhoons
are unknown, but that typhoons of this strength are unknown. Typhoon Jebi is the first, but will not be the last.
It’s not possible any more to watch or read social
media without something about weather, and climate. Here’s some more – Moose
Jaw Saskatchewan broke a record on Wednesday for the coldest September 5 since
measurements began, beating the record set in 1896 – at-2.8C. Several places
noted record low temperatures.
Some countries are working hard to bring about
change. In Norway we were told proudly, by many people, that within two or
three years all of Norway will be driving electric cars. Anyone who buys
electric gets a subsidy, no road tolls, and no taxes. Everywhere there are
large solar panel installations. Those combined with hydro-electric power mean
Norway will be a non-polluting country. Norway now has a zero deforestation
policy. Germany, Portugal, Holland and other places are almost entirely moved
to solar energy, reducing the pollution from cars.
It’s not good enough any more to sing hymns about
how beautiful creation is, unless we also acknowledge what is going wrong as
well; yes, it is beautiful, still. I went to the lakeshore on Friday, and it was
a beautiful day, waves crashing in – the weeping willows have grown so much,
green grass and sunshine. It would have been easy to think things are the way
they always were. But they are not. And won’t be again. We are in trouble. What
happens to the people who are displaced because of climate events? They don’t
qualify as refugees, they don’t qualify as anything. How will they be fed,
clothed or housed? If their jobs and livelihood is gone, what happens next? Where
do they go? Who feeds them? What if it’s us?
There are lots of theories about everything, of
course. There are those who deny that
the climate, or that the world is changing. There are those who think it’s
nothing. There are those who recognise that the earth is a kind of organism
with a life cycle which includes global warming, and there are those who
believe – as I do – that human activity combined with earth’s evolution as a
planet are together pushing us to a tipping point. And no outside deity is
going to swoop in and save us.
On Thursday, Amnesty International warned that
catastrophic climate change is near, that we are at five minutes to midnight.
Every country in the world except the United States is part of a climate change
agreement signed in 2015. And yet three years later those many countries are
still labouring to put changes into place – not for lack of trying either. Many
places have so many other issues to deal with as well; many lack funds; and
unfortunately corporate greed and an unwillingness to let go affect everything.
We push forward on developing projects which will be useless in a couple of
years anyway.
And on this trip, the thing I noticed more than
anything else. Those four countries – and indeed much of Europe, are truly
making efforts – while other places, like Japan, are pushing dangerous technologies
as ‘necessary’ and ‘safe’ even knowing the danger they pose – because of
corporate greed and corruption. Case in point – the northern island of Hokkaido
just suffered a 7.0 earthquake on the Japanese Shindo scale. 7 is the highest
possible number for that scale, measuring the shaking power of the quake. Now,
earthquakes can’t be helped – they happen. But – after this earthquake, power
to the whole island went out, including the Tomari Nuclear Plant. Three million
people without power. Backup generators did prevent the fuel rods from heating
and a meltdown – but what if? Too close for comfort – and Hokkaido would have
been affected for centuries to come. As would the rest of the world. Japan narrowly missed another Fukushima.
So where do we go with this? Throw our hands up? Or
do we pay close attention to the creation around us and far away from us – make
ourselves heard wherever and whenever we can…. celebrate the beauty of the
earth at its best, and work to ensure that all the earth can be renewed. Find
wonder and amazement in the beauty which can be – remembering that we have the
power to make change – for good, if we so desire it to be.
I put together just a few photos from the trip – and
yes individually the things I mention might seem nothing. Together, in my mind,
they form a picture.
And so we call on God – to send the Spirit into us –
to enable and empower us to renew the face of
the earth. The time is here – and the actions of renewal must be ours.
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