This week we will feel our first truly late fall week and will probably get our first hard frost. The last of the tender herbs need to be brought into sunny windows I they are to survive. Our heating systems are now working all the time. As we begin to think of the holiday season fast approaching, I have to wonder how those stalwarts of previous generations survived without central heat.
More and more homes in my neighborhood have solar panels, and I am just waiting for mine to be installed. I certainly hope they are put on soon; getting this permit approval and that permit approval is certainly taking more time than I thought it would.
But as chilly as it is now and colder it will become, it can’t match the cold people are already feeling in Ukraine where it will be snowing by the end of the week. As the people of Ukraine begin to rebuild, let’s hope it includes alternative energy sources that aren’t so easily destroyed or held hostage like Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, which is still under Russian control.
Prayer for the Day
During this season of longer nights, open our eyes to your light,
Help us to look through the windows of your majesty
So we may see your grace in the world around us.
Bring us a new vision of your world, full of possibilities
And help us to always work for your kingdom.
In the name of him who came to show us the way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
That fossil fuel made us modern and comfortable, and it leaves behind a legacy even more overpowering than the pyramids—an altered atmosphere. Each day the warmth our carbon emissions trap is the heat equivalent of 500,000 Hiroshima-sized explosions.
- Bill McKibben, environmental activist
Climate change is not gender neutral. Women and children face the greatest impact of climate change.
- Women’s Committee, UN COP 27 committee
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched,
I the Lord will answer them, I the God Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry lands springs of water.
Isaiah 41: 17-18