Fire, water, tornados – forces that seem beyond our control. Storms here on the U.S. mainland and across Europe have upended lives, destroyed small towns, and brought heavy costs to all of us. The fire on Maui is dreadful beyond comprehension, reminding us of the terrible fire in Paradise, California, when people literally burned to death in their cars trying to escape the conflagration.
Maui’s death toll has risen to at least 55, with almost a thousand still missing. The fierce winds brought on by Hurricane Dora, several hundred miles to the southwest fanned the flames on an island that would have been contained in the past.
It’s clear that we are facing not just changes in our climate, fueled by the inability to change our ways of living, but a crisis, a catastrophe, one we have been warned about for at more than fifty years. We are reaping the whirlwind of the drive for profits by the fossil fuel industry. We are at a tipping point. Let’s hope we’re not already past it.
Destruction upon destruction, even upon the water.
Prayer for the Day
Holy and eternal Spirit, we are not always ready to hear you,
For you disturb us when we want comfort and tranquility;
You confront us with our neglect of the world when we want peace,
And upset us when we want an imagined stability
Help us, O Holy Spirit, to challenge those in power
So we have real change in the direction of our lives.
In the name of the One who embodies your Spirit,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The effects of climate change can already be seen in certain perils like heatwaves, droughts, floods and extreme precipitation. Besides the impact of climate change, land use planning in more exposed coastal and riverine areas, and urban sprawl into the wilderness, generate a hard-to-revert combination of high value exposure in higher risk environments.
- Jérôme Jean Haegeli, Swiss Re Group, major insurance company
Without a doubt, it feels like a bomb was dropped on Lahaina.
- Richard Bissen, Maui County Mayor
Give ear to my words, O Lord; give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sund of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
In the morning I plead my case to you and watch.
Psalm 5: 1-3