Thunder

While the heavens continue to tell of the glory of God, the firmament today also proclaims some nefarious human handiwork – smog, acid rain, and an immense hole in the ozone layer. Recent articles in the news tell of the effects of Global warming, and while that may have a nice ring to it for those of us living in Alaska, upon examination we become aware that the ringing we hear is coming from an alarm. My own, not so scientific observation is that in the past fifteen years the summers have been getting longer and warmer. A telling sign is that after living in South Central Alaska for three years, there was in the summer of 1978, a single thunder clap. It was such a rare occurrence that the cat I received on that day was henceforth known as “Thor” in honor of the occasion. I would have to wait three years to hear another thunder clap. Last summer, there were by my unofficial count, nine thunder storms in Anchorage while the Gulf coast was buffeted again and again by hurricanes of increasing magnitude until Katrina broke it’s back and ravished so much destruction. Scientists tell us that the increasing intensity of the Gulf hurricanes is due to the rising water temperature and that the trend toward larger and more powerful hurricanes is likely to continue. Whereas I rather enjoy the warmer and longer summers, as a child of God I am also compelled to at least be aware of the needs of my brothers and sisters in other parts of the world as well as the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren yet to come.

The vast majority of scientific opinion throughout the world is that this warming trend is brought on by that nefarious human handiwork of ours. A small minority of scientists, those quoted largely by our current administration, continue to hold the line that what is happening is a natural cycle. This cyclical argument is then used as justification to role back environmental protections while touting the advantage of industrial self regulation in areas of pollution control. Cyclical or not, dumping millions and millions of tons of garbage into our air, water and streams is not helping. It is like your child arguing that dust bunnies are a natural phenomenon therefore there is no need to attempt to clean up their room.

While those who suffer from such a climatic change may be far away, aside from the Christian calling to care for our brothers and sisters, we must also realize the effects closer to home. The change in our own ecosystem is moving at a rate faster than most parts of the world and someday, our grandchildren or great-grandchildren will have to live in garbage infested world we have helped to create. Someday all too soon we may be faced with the prospect of holding our own grandchild or great-grandchild whose body has been ravaged by some as of yet unknown disease. In such a moment I suspect, the memory of driving our very own big gas guzzler will be of little comfort. Hell is truth seen too late.

This time of year, we in Alaska remember the events of seventeen years ago when the Exxon Valdez ran aground and began to spill the oily contents of its hold into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound. To this day you can still go along the beach in places and pick up a rock hiding the remnants of this disaster. The accident spawned a flurry of regulations that now require double hulled tankers and extra escorts through this beautiful and yet befouled area of the world. What we don’t remember is that in our automobile culture, ten times that amount of oil is spilled every year in the driveways and garages of this world. Whereas there is satisfaction in controlling some major areas of pollution, we need also to be ever so keenly aware of our own personal pollution footprint.

The plight of the polar bear and other northern species in this ever warming climate is a wake up call for each and every one of us to do what we can to care for and nurture this creation that God has given us, less we be guilty of stealing this blessing from our very own grandchildren. I would call upon each of you to increase your education and activism in this area. Activism in the form of writing letters and emails to our government officials urging them to promote legislation that will help bring about a reversal of our nonchalant attitude toward the increasing size of the hole in the ozone layer and our own corporate ecological footprint. Education to increase the awareness of the impact our choices in life make in the size of our own personal ecological footprint. Let your calling as a child of God be an active part of the choices you make, not only what you buy, but in what and how you throw stuff away. Let your calling as a child of God be an active part of passing this creation on to our grandchildren as a blessing. I will close with a line from an e.e.cummings poem, “I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.”

For your activism and education:
http://murkowski.senate.gov/contact.cfm#form
http://stevens.senate.gov/contact.cfm
http://donyoung.house.gov/opinions.htm
http://www.elca.org/dcs/epr/environment/envindex.html
http://www.elca.org/socialstatements/environment/