Psalm 8:4-5 - When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortal people that you have taken note of them?
"When I behold your heavens." Ever look at the night sky for a while? Did it make you feel small? It makes me feel small just trying to imagine the great distances involved. Just to get to the closest star (excepting the sun) - Alpha Centauri - would take a little over four years - at the speed of light, which is roughly 186,000 miles per SECOND. Even the closest star is unimaginably far away. I feel small when I look at the night sky.
Here in Cleveland and definitely in Chicago the night sky is hard to see because of light pollution. Flagstaff on the other hand, is an international dark sky city. From most places, the stars are clearly visible. Yet, I remember growing up in Los Alamos and the number of stars we could see was vastly higher. The world is turning away from the night sky in favor of lighting up the night. Cities are beautiful at night when their buildings are lit up. Yet, at what cost?
As I write this it is -2 F in Cleveland at 10 am and it is supposed to dip down again several times this week. A new normal. Everywhere it's colder than usual this winter due to climate change. The earth overall is getting warmer because of our abuse of fossil fuels, among other activities. Genesis states that God gave us the earth to care for in God's name. We are made in God's image, which in Biblical Hebrew means that we are God's representatives on earth and are accountable for how well we care for it.
We're doing a terrible job. This is a justice issue every bit as important as bigotry and greed because it is the most vulnerable who will suffer the most. Especially, people experiencing homelessness will bear the brunt of the heat and the cold. Animals, too, will suffer because their ecosystems are being disrupted. The icecaps are melting, which is killing off polar bears. The fires in SoCal are due to climate change. The computer I'm writing this on and the one you're reading it on are part of the problem. Human beings are the driving force behind this massive injustice to God's creation. While we should resolve to use our resources more wisely, individual action alone will not solve this problem; because it's our societal attitude toward the land that is the problem.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's white people's attitude toward the land that is the problem. We have so divorced ourselves from the land that we no longer see it as home, but rather as a resource to be exploited. Exhibit A: Bears Ears National Monument. Trump cut the size to open up the land for mining. We have lost sight of what is really important in order to get more, more, more things and money.
There is a movement in my denomination to take a stand against this destruction of earth; Fossil Free PC(USA). They are now part of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, because this is an issue of justice and without justice there can be no peace. In the spirit of Calvin's attitude to the ten commandments, I suggest that in addition to not destroying our environment, we also work toward its restoration, its flourishing. This, too, is the work of Christmas.
How is God calling us to respond? Do we have the courage to contact our congresspeople to share our opinion? What other steps can we take to address this issue.
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