Grandad Reflects on Faith, God, Climate & Environment

 

  As I write we are alert for the birth of our first great-grandchild due tomorrow. What an exiting event. This child will be born into a family which will be welcoming and caring and excited to share his or her life. All four great grandparents have reached the eighties, so there is a good chance this child will too. Amid the sense of joy, I have been reading a great deal about the threat to the planet with global warming. Frequently it speaks of “by the end of this century”. That always seemed a long way off, but now I realise our great grandchild will likely live to then. Somehow it seems closer. This means that in this one child’s lifetime unless much more drastic action is taken by our world’s leaders the planet will experience increasing flood and fires, the disappearance of some Pacific islands and some coastal cities, the loss of the Great Barrier Reef and perhaps 8o% of all coral reefs, displacement of millions due to the rising sea levels, greater poverty, and loss ...

Most of us now know that global warming is a fact and that it affects the future of our planet. Those of us who have younger family members including children and adults are rightly concerned for their future. Those of us who have friends in low lying areas and particularly in the pacific island countries are aware that some of them are under immediate threat. Often the problem seems too big, and we do nothing much in resignation.   Here are some simple actions you can take – and if you haven’t already you can begin today. (The good news that almost everything you do will save emissions and also save your money.) 1.        Every night, switch off as many appliances as possible at the wall not just the remote. If there is a little light showing you are using some electricity. Don’t switch them back on until you need them the next day. 2.        Turn off lights when you leave the room or if there is sufficient li...

  When the ancestors walked the earth they new this world as a living being. Their “mother” who gave them life. Indigenous peoples around the world understood this and learned to live in harmony with their environment. The elders heard the ancient voices and regulated the use of the land and the of other creatures who shared it with them. They could not conceive of a people who would rape the mother and take as much as they could from her. They spent more of their time in community than in gathering food and knew the meaning of wisdom. In time cities grew. Nations flourished. Rulers dominated. Crowded together, they needed more food and land to sustain them. They took it from their neighbours and enslaved the less fortunate to till the soil and care for the food animals for them. Huge machines grew from the intelligent species. Advancement brought freedom for some and greater poverty for others. Wars were needed to create more “free-holdings” and cement the power of those in ...

In 1969 the late Prince Phillip said, “ If the world pollution situation is not critical at the moment, it is as certain as anything can be, that the situation will become increasinglyintolerable within a very short time… If we fail to cope with this challenge, all the other problems will pale into insignificance.' A man ahead of his time. A voice crying in the wilderness.   Time passed. Pollution increased. Children died. Floods came and went and came again. Fires and drought joined in.   Whole states and nations were devastated by storms. Hunger ravaged the earth. Refugees died hopeless. Cars and trucks belched smoke. Coral died. Fish were poisoned. Dear David Attenborough grew more exhausted as he quietly and firmly told what was happening and warned of the dangerous levels of toxins in the air and sea, and the loss of countless species. People loved him, knighted him, but ignored his warnings. “Atta’boy Attenborough”, but only token actions. Another voice crying in ...

The house shook – even more than last week’s earthquake. A 20 foot tree crashed to the ground, its roots bare in the rain; an iron sheet flew from the neighbour’s fence. But we were the lucky ones. Some cars and houses were crushed; thousands without power even a week later; families homeless. Yet this was Melbourne!   I checked on family and friends but none of us could remember such winds in this city. It seems to get worse as the years go by. Perhaps global warming is also a warning. I wonder what storms in life my grandchildren will face. Yet we blithely continue as if nothing was happening. What will they think of our inactivity- our ignorance?   Many people were delighted to hear that Australia is to go to the Glasgow conference on climate change with a plan for net zero emissions by 2050. However, the conference in fact is seeking urgent action including new targets for 2030. By 2050 I will be dead, but my 8 grandchildren will face a world that is being destro...