The issue of climate change and its effects, and the larger issue of environmental stewardship, have been increasingly at the forefront of the headlines -- and the recent news that carbon dioxide levels have reached historic highs not seen on earth for millions of years brought them into stark relief. The public debate rages on, even as scientific consensus is hardening that this is a man-made problem. What is our responsibility -- how should we approach this looming problem?
In the next installment of The Immediate Word, new team member Chris Keating observes that the lectionary passages for Trinity Sunday from Proverbs and Psalms have an important word to say on the subject of the care and wisdom that we are to exhibit for the earth and all its creatures. Both readings cast humans in the long arc of time, and firmly establish God's place as the author of creation. But the Psalm also notes that humans have been given "dominion over the works of [God's] hands" -- and Chris suggests that our perception of what "dominion" means can lead us astray when we seem more interested in power and control over nature than in being mindful toward it... a mindfulness that the Psalm reminds us that God always displays toward us. If we continue on our present course and avoid taking drastic action, are we demonstrating the wisdom and stewardship that is our call? And what is the church's role in this issue? Chris offers some valuable thoughts on addressing these issues from the pulpit. Here's a preview:
Sharing Wisdom's Delight in Creation
by Chris Keating
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8
Mother Wisdom calls us from the streets, beckoning us to look at the moon and the stars, the mountains and the sea, the springs and the soil -- and the rising levels of carbon dioxide.
Last week, scientists announced that heat-trapped gasin the earth's atmosphere passed levels not seen for millions of years. Just a few days later, a comprehensive review of decades of research indicated that 97 per cent of scientists researching global warming agree it is a human-created phenomenon. It's a complex issue, but one that certainly invites reflection on the Psalmist's rhetorical questions: "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"
Perhaps God wonders that as well.
