Three years ago, I retired from several decades of work in the corporate world. I became a bit circumspect, weighing my achievements and accomplishments against the goals, dreams and intentions I had had for my life. (Thank God for grace!) I also started to think about what I wanted to focus on in the remaining years of my life. Pretty standard fare for a man of my age in my situation, I think.
Throughout my life I had loved nature: camping, hiking, studying birds and plants, visiting national parks, and the like. I also contributed a little time and money to various environmental organizations. My wife and I tried to instill a love of creation in our three daughters. We never believed that the earth belonged to us, or that it existed only so that we could extract its resources.
We understood that “Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”. We thought of ourselves as stewards.
In assessing what is most important in my life and what I want to do with my time post-retirement, love of God’s creation and love of family and friends (including the church) are right at the top. They all fit together. In addition to our three beloved daughters, we now have 3 grandkids that we love more than life itself. Part of my focus now is to build relationships with these precious kids, to help their parents raise them, to try to share what we have learned in our time on the planet, and to do what we can to instill love of creation in them.
I want to do whatever I can to ensure that a beautiful and healthy creation exists for my grandkids and their kids and grandkids…and of course, for everyone else’s kids and grandkids.
Since retiring, I have spent some time researching, reading, and trying to understand the various threats to creation. I am now convinced that the best thing I can do for future generations is to focus my time and energy on mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. If our generation is not successful in curbing carbon emissions, and holding the global temperature rise to well under 2 degrees centigrade, we are on track to leave them a world that will be effectively uninhabitable.
I believe climate change is THE moral issue of our time. We have to get this right!
I have learned that though time is short, it is not too late. The 2015 Paris Agreement that the president of the USA recently ratified is our best hope. To support the agreement, citizens need to:
- Decrease our carbon footprints,
- Teach/inform/engage everyone, and
- Advocate for national and local policy action.
These are the 3 focus areas of our denomination’s Climate Witness Project. For my grandkids’ sake, for your grandkids’ sake, for the world’s grandkids’ sake, please engage with us. Let’s work together to return Creation to the condition that God intended. (Please visit the Climate Witness Project website to see how you can help!)
Editor's note: This is the first post in Do Justice's Why I Care about Climate Change series. To learn more and subscribe, visit Do Justice.
Comments
I too am a grandfather, have researched these questions, and care deeply about God's creation. Notwithstanding, I have concluded the 2015 Paris Agreement is counterproductive toward the goal of true "creation care," as are climate change alarmists' strategies generally. I also believe the CRC's advocacy on this issue is ill-informed and counter-productive.
According to "scientific" evidence, over the last couple of million years, much warmer climates are the norm. Ice ages are rare. Of course, if one is a 6 day creation/young earth young earth believer, then disregard and please agree to disagree.
I am a grandmother and also care about God's creation,but I am seriously concerned about our endorsements of United Nations' treaties and policies. Just ask my poor family, I've spent the last year researching them, so don't get me started! Personally, my faith rests on God's promise in Genesis 8 vs 22. "As long as the earth continues, there will always be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and hot, summer and winter, day and night on earth.{ERV}.
I think it's important to continue to trust in God's promises too. Creation is a gift and when we don't take care of it--whether it's toxic water that no one can drink, degraded soil that won't bear crops, or an atmosphere so polluted that it changes critical weather patterns--there are natural consequences.
For the families in this Kenya video (click here), who live in the vulnerable position of depending year to year on their small crop for survival, the threat of climate change hits really close to home. The weather patterns they relied on for generations have changed and the way they farmed isn't working anymore. They trust and depend on God with all of their hearts and their response to God's promises includes asking all of us in North America to have a more urgent awareness around the topic of climate change. The Paris agreement is one way that governments are working together in an attempt to protect the interests of the most vulnerable.
Nice video Kris (and I've watched all of them, not just this trailer linked to) but even in the linked video, one of the speaker says: "so water scarcity is becoming a big problem in Kenya because of deforestation." Indeed, changing landscape do change rain patterns.
I don't say this to suggest Kenyans are not deserving of help -- they are. But I am saying, as another speaker does, that we should "put politics aside" when helping Kenyans.
To connect "being willing to help Kenyans" with "accepting the political and science positions represented by climate alarmism (or the Paris Agreement of 2015)" is a counterproductive and disrespectful tactic. One can fully support caring for God's creation and providing help to Kenyans without coming to the political and science conclusions some demand others come to.
"Putting politics aside" does not mean requiring that both sides come to the political position of one of the sides.
Let's Discuss
We love your comments! Thank you for helping us uphold the Community Guidelines to make this an encouraging and respectful community for everyone.