climate (in)action

to tell you the truth:
i haven’t taken climate change
very seriously –

that is,
not until recently.

maybe simply because it remains
an inconvenient truth.

& it is inconvenient because accepting it
means you + i become accountable,
and responsible.

that means not only must we accept
fault but we must also make c h a n g e s –
from me, from you, from all of us.

and i don’t want to think about it.
i don’t want to think about recycling
and how it may be pointless anyway

or how many paper towels i use and all
my trash going into a landfill every week
and its expensive to shop sustainably –

and you know, i’m just one person
it won’t make a difference.

i’ve even used my faith as an excuse –
the Bible foretells the world ending,
so it’s only going to get worse
until Jesus returns
right?

so

why

b o t h e r?

except… it’s getting harder to ignore, you know?
average temperature higher by about 1.18 degrees
celsius since the late 19th century

noses pressed to greenhouse g(l)as(s)
and b r e a t h e in

and the ocean is absorbing most of this heat
l e e c h i n g color from coral reefs
leaving only skeletons, bleached.

ice sheets shrinking & glaciers retreating
so the sea levels r i s e and people
are swept away in the floods –

and you’ve seen that picture,
haven’t you? of a polar bear just skin & bones
on the last bit of ice left in the whole world –

35% of animals and plants could become
extinct by 2050 and the forests are
disappearing

but if i don’t want to, you know, if
i choose to, i can still ignore it. i can ignore
it because of all the things i count in my life as blessings.

i don’t live somewhere where its too hot
or flooding or on fire – not y e t .

i don’t live in a country where my country
dumps all its trash (and ‘recycling’)

i don’t live in economic insecurity with
a life dependent on natural resources
the threat of being displaced
and so worried about
putting food on the
table that i can’t
think about
anything
else.

so i don’t have to see it,
not so much, anyway.

& i realize that my blessings have become blinding.

and it was never meant to be that way.
so maybe its time to stand up
and see the world is on fire
ask God to help me turn
my blessings into rain.

for Him, His world, & His people.

because you know something? that’s
the first thing He ever asked of us:
to care and watch over His
creation(s).

somehow, i’ve forgotten.
but He hasn’t –

//You care for the land and water it…
the grasslands of the wilderness o v e r f l o w; the hills are
clothed with gladness. the meadows are covered
with locks and valleys mantled with grain –
they shout for joy and sing – psalm 65

when i think of God’s kingdom
it is one of love and
wholeness –
shalom.

not just for you and me – but for
all of creation.

//do you know when the mountain goats
give birth? do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
do you count the months till they bear? job 39: 1-2

what i see is our kingdom of
death & destruction,
pollution, waste,
convenience.

my own convenience
(i am become death) –

we live in creation, a world
in daily communion with the Lord
who treasures it and cares for it
daily and as for me?

i have treated it with carelessness,
entitlement, and ingratitude.

the earth is crying out when it
is meant to s i n g

it’s been a long time coming,
for me – for all of us – to
treat our world

like we give a damn
with care.