I’m sitting in my garden, soaking up the sun, thinking and pondering. All seems well.
But there's still that nagging, gnawing feeling of dread.
Several years ago, I researched and read about the climate emergency—it wasn’t just a phase, but a paradigm shift.
A shift that stirred emotions I have never previously felt, emotions that led to deep seasons of lament and grief, a shift that compelled me into the streets, to hold signs and shout at banks.
I can’t turn back the clock, I can’t unsee what I have seen, and the fires of justice were ignited in ways I never imagined.
What I discovered all those years back, is reinforced by news reports on a daily basis.
We really are in an emergency crisis situation.
Justice is what love looks like in public, a longing and yearning for the unraveling of unrestrained capitalism so that the world's poorest will not be plunged into the horror of unlivable temperatures and extreme weather which destroys lives, crops, and the veneer of peace and stability.
They say the arc of the universe bends towards justice—now I do believe in Him who plunged the depths of evil and rose victorious, the one who will wipe away all tears and restore all things.
But, temperatures continues to rise, the writing is on the wall, civilisation collapse is on the cards.
And so I sit pondering this situation and pray again that I may take my place afresh alongside others who articulate reality in a culture of denial, who counter a culture of entertainment and hedonism with honesty and integrity. I pray that I will reject hopium which distracts from reality and instead in love offer a hope-filled realism which seeks to avert the worst of what may be while adapting in love and compassion to what will be.
I choose to humbly follow the way of cruciform adaptation, seeking to look and love like Jesus whatever befalls.
If your church or community group would like a talk to explore these themes, either in person or online, then do get in touch.
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