Changing Climate Calls for Changing Practices

AM Psalm 107:33-43 • PM Psalm 108:1-6(7-13); 33
Exod. 2:23-3:15 • 1 Cor. 13:1-13 • Mark 9:14-29

When I read Psalm 107, I cannot help but think of the climate crisis we are living through. We are watching rivers turn into deserts, land thirsting for nourishment. Too much heat in the atmosphere is drying up waterways that have flowed for millions of years. The fruitful land turns into salt flats, as industrial farming prioritizes certain crops like corn and soy over a variety of crops that sustain humans and animal life alike. Our system is out of balance. For too long we have emphasized extraction, consumption, more, more, more. This kind of living has real consequences that we are living with, our children and grandchildren and their grandchildren will have to navigate a world of mass extinction unlike anything our ancestors have seen.

And yet, the Psalmist tells us that God looks for the hungry and poor. God makes a way even when there seems to be no way. God makes water spring out of the dry ground and creates a home for the homeless. As co-creators with God, may we work here and now to end our extractive ways of being. May we join with God in creating more sustainable practices with the land, creatures, and with our fellow humans. May we rest in the knowledge that we are enough, we have enough, and that God is enough.

As the Psalm closes, “Whoever is wise will ponder these things, and consider well the mercies of the Lord.”

Written by Angela Williams

...who finds hope in community even when the world is on fire.