All creation groans - Time to act

Addressing climate change has become our greatest moral imperative. The evidence of what global warming is doing to our planet confronts us daily - hearing or reading stories in the media, looking out the window at our gardens or simply checking the weather forecast.
 
Despite impressions to the contrary, we have just “enjoyed” our warmest May and warmest Spring based on records dating back to 1884. Not just the UK, but the world has experienced a streak of record temperatures, continuing for 11 months in a row up to April 2024, which was the hottest recorded ever.
 
The authoritative 2023 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report makes grim reading. The Earth’s unprecedented 1.1C rise in temperature has already spurred huge global changes, from rising sea levels to extreme weather events and disappearing sea ice. Consequences include loss of species, failing food crops, fires, famines and flooding, all of which have a huge impact on people and lifestyles and particularly affect populations in the poorest areas of the world. Only last week I read about inhabitants of a seemingly idyllic Caribbean island being evacuated because rising sea levels had made their low-lying homes too vulnerable.
 
Although 99% of climate scientists and policy makers agree that climate change is a reality, the layman still has his doubts, particularly about its causes and the role human beings play in warming our world. A study by Kings College London last year suggests that one in six people in Britain don’t see a connection between human behaviour and global warming. The study also found that Christians were more likely to accept this link than people holding other religious beliefs.
 
Stewardship of the Earth and its creatures lies at the heart of all world religions, not just Christianity.
 
The Bible is full of examples of God calling on his people to take care of his creation and its creatures. In Genesis 2, the Lord tells Adam to work on the land and to take care of it. Psalm 24 says that the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; we therefore have a responsibility to care for, manage, oversee and protect all that God made and owns.
 
The Jewish tradition expands the story from Genesis in a Midrash (commentary on the Torah), 

“When God created Adam, he showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: See my works, how lovely they are, how fine they are. All I have created, I created for you. Take care not to corrupt and destroy my universe, for if you destroy it, no one will come after you to put it right.” 

The teachings of Islam put great emphasis on the environment and the need for human beings to live in harmony with nature to ensure the good health of all species on earth. The Quran says, 

“He raised the heaven and established the balance so that you would not transgress the balance. Give just weight - do not skimp in the balance. He laid out the earth for all living creatures." 

Religion and faith of all denominations are about hope and their teachings are about doing the right thing. How powerful would it be if this sacred calling across different creeds became a global call to action!
 
A prayer - Creator God, you call us to be good stewards of this Earth. Strengthen us to care for your creation; forgive us when, through our greed and indifference, we abuse its beauty and damage its potential. Empower us through your Spirit to nurture the world, so that all creation sings to your glory. Amen

Image by Darwin Laganzon from Pixabay