The trees in New Hampshire for the most part had changed color, and the early one to have done so were already bare. It was chillier, to be sure, but the locals told me it had been a warm fall. The rain made it feel raw but not overwhelmingly so. In the western part of the state farmers are suffering from alternating spells of drought and river flooding; there is concern for farms with shallow wells.
In the meantime, in Glasgow, three is a mixture of despair and hope. While we in the U.S. are being held hostage by a Senator who received more than $500,000 from oil and gas, the Greens in Europe are rising to political ascendency. The problem is, of course, that Europe cannot just cut itself off from the effects of the impending climate catastrophe facing the rest of the world.
Little will change unless the majority of people here in the U.S. and other major powers move to change the politicians who rely on oil and gas for their funding. At least we in the U.S have more control than the people of China or Russia. We should use it.
Prayer for the Day
Trapped in drying streams, the turtles look to the heavens for rain,
But focused on our consumerism, we pay no heed to them;
Caught in river floods that dislodge salamanders, they struggle to live,
While politicians argue over how much power they will have.
Forgive us, O God, for ignoring the needs of the earth we inhabit,
And move us to face the powers and principalities of evil.
In the name of the One who faced evil in his time,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The volume of water running through our rivers may wash out fish and their fry who can become stranded when the water recedes.
James Hitchcock, English estates manager interviewed on the BBC
Of the world’s 356 turtle species, only seven are sea turtles, 60 are terrestrial tortoises, and the rest live in fresh water. What then, wil be the impact of rising sea levels on coastal fresh water turtles?
Sarah Sweat, Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute
What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands,
You have put all things under their feet….
Psalm 8: 4, 6