It will be a dry hot week until at least Friday, tinderbox weather, for sure. Although new climate-related disasters – hurricanes both in the East sand the West, and wildfires that keep burning – may seem like some time ago in the news cycle – I mean, what is the disaster today? – we cannot forget those affected by them.
Maui struggling after devastating fires is just one of a host of concerns. Rebuilding along the Gulf Coast and cleaning up Southern California will take time. There are still people rebuilding after Sandy and that was eleven years ago. Even the loss of life in our storms, as significant as Ida was two years ago, was not as bad as Maui.
We must certainly figure out how to take care of ourselves in the face of such disasters, which are not “natural,” as the old phrase goes, but have been exacerbated by the refusal of politicians to seriously address the climate crisis we face. I often wonder what the climate deniers say when faced with the results of their inaction.
Prayer for the Day
O God of tenderness and compassion, we are often bewildered,
For in our world we see such callousness toward one another,
Afflicted by our careless acts of selfishness against the Earth,
We are faced with those in power who selfishly deny reality.
Save us from our false pride that admits no wrong,
And grant us the strength to take on those who refuse responsibility.
In the name of the One who is our source of strength,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
A state of half-ignorance and half-indifference is a much more pervasive climate sickness than true denial or true fatalism.”
- David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
Adults keep saying: "We owe it to the young people to give them hope." But I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. .Because it is.”
- Greta Thunberg, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy
Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord,
For to you do I cry all day long.
Psalm 86: 1-3