As It Was in the Days of Noah: Global Warming
By Charles P. McGathy, Chaplain U.S. Navy (Retired), Madison, NC
I used to like hot weather. It signaled the end of the school year and the beginning of summer vacation. Though I still enjoy warm days and live in a warm place for just that reason, I`m also afraid things are getting too warm. Now more and more the heat reminds me that our planet is changing and trouble is on the way. I`m speaking of global warming of course. The predictions are dire indeed. Unless the steady temperature rise is reversed this planet, this living, dynamic planet, is bound for massive flooding, storms, and eventually another ice age.
It feels like the beginning of a disaster movie. In act one the people, except for a few enlightened folks, ignore the danger looming on the horizon. They fail to act in time. In the final scenes they get theirs and it isn`t very pleasant either. Only the ones who took heed are able to survive. It is their opportunity to build a new world upon the ruins of the old. In essence it is the retelling of the biblical story of the flood and Noah`s survival. Perhaps there is a lesson here we ought not to miss? Maybe we can learn from Noah something that can aid us as we face environmental upheaval?
ARROGANCE. The people in the days before the great flood arrogantly assumed they were in command of the situation. We need look no further to understand this attitude than to observe how we, as humans, have treated the planet ourselves. We live as if this blue orb spinning through space will always remain just as it is right now. The seasons will change, the warmth and cold will come on time, and the rain and drought cycles will be tolerable are all part of our assumptions. We even take them for granted.
Yet scientists are telling us that we have been enjoying an incredibly stable time in the life cycle of this planet. This stability has allowed life to flourish. There is, however, ample evidence that numerous times in its history Earth has changed dramatically and rapidly. Forests become sheets of glacial ice, oceans dry up, cold replaces warmth as the living planet remakes itself. In the course of all of this change animal species die out and others emerge. It is the ongoing creative act. Consequently, we need to cease from our arrogance and view ourselves as part of creation. We are not ultimately in charge and we can disappear as surely as the dinosaur.
WARNING. We do not know how many warnings had been given to the people of Noah`s day. Apparently quite a few since the act of building a huge boat on dry land serves as a bit of a conversation piece. Even so, the people managed to ignore the warning. In the end it was their undoing.
How many warnings do the people of this day need? Melting ice fields, dying polar bears and penguins, rising sea levels along with increasing storms in both power and number all serve to warn of disaster. Yet the warnings go unheeded. These warnings have even been ignored by some people of faith who "reject scientific claims that humans are to blame for global warming and dismiss governmental efforts to reverse it."
Jesus said, "When it is evening, you say, `It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.` And in the morning, `There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.` Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?" Perhaps we do not even know how to discern the warnings from nature?
At heart it is an ethical question. Christian ethicist Norman Geisler warned in 1989: "Each year a tropical forest the size of Scotland is destroyed on planet Earth. . . . In addition to this, chemical wastes have entered the food chain and are found in human body fat. Seventy-seven percent of Americans, and ninety percent of children, are carrying more lead in their bodies than the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe. Ten thousand people die every year from pesticide positioning and another forty thousand become ill . . . . In view of this dangerous ecological situation, what is the Christian`s ethical responsibility to the physical environment in which we live?"
What will be the response of the Christian community and of individual believers? Some will continue to turn their heads and deny a problem exists. Others may even rejoice in a twisted interpretation of eschatology that sees their dispensational beliefs coming to fruition. Many, I hope, will rediscover that they are part of the wonder of God`s creation and as such interact thoughtfully with the planet. They will use the power of the vote as well as economic and influential power to affect change for good. At this point many are insisting that change is still possible, disaster can be avoided or at least mitigated if we act with determination. As people of the Creator let us step forth and lead this effort and by doing so witness not only our love for the Creator, but for all of creation.
CHOICE. In Noah`s day people were given a choice to return to God or perish. It was, in fact, a moral choice between good and evil. The good of the creation properly related to the Creator as opposed to the creation usurping the role of the Divine. That is the choice facing humanity now. The ability to decide makes us human. Acting ethically in how we treat one another is only part of the moral equation. We must act ethically in how we live with creation. We do not own it. It is not ours to exploit, burn up, or destroy for profit. The biblical mandate is that we care for it. Implied in all of the warnings is the possibility that we can, if we are foolish, not take care of our Father`s world which will result in devastating consequences.
RESPONSIBILITY. As the waters rose and it became clear to all that the warnings were accurate, the people of Noah`s day got what they chose. Unfortunately innocent life also suffers, then as well as now. The overall implication is that while we must all do our part, some have a greater responsibility than others. Global warming is strongly linked to the emergence of the industrial age, in particular the burning of fossil fuel. It is reasonable therefore that the ones responsible for accelerating the climatic shift bear an increased burden to alleviate its consequences. Just as the civic leaders of the lecherous cities of Noah`s day had a greater responsibility to affect change, so too the major polluter nations bear an increased responsibility to turn the situation around.
That of course begs the question as to where we as a nation fall on the responsibility continuum? The answer from scripture still applies, "To whom much has been given, much is expected."
REPENTANCE. Although repentance did not happen on a large scale it surely happened in microcosm. Noah and his family changed what they were doing. Perhaps they were farmers or in business or hunters, but whatever they were doing they changed into ark builders. They built the large boat, established a zoo, and preached an unpopular and critical message. Noah and his family changed direction.
We too must change what we are doing. It starts by taking personal inventory of what each person can do. That can be amazingly hard when all around it seems as if no one else is listening. Others continue to live their lives as always steadily marching toward environmental disaster just as it was in days of Noah.
HOPE. As the ark settled upon the peaks and humans emerged from their horrific experience, they seemed to be reborn. Their world had changed. It would never be as it was, and yet they were ready to embrace it. They did so imperfectly, and so too will we make mistakes. Even so we too can have a new beginning. Better to do so before the disaster. The good news is that the Creator is on the side of the creation. He wants us to live with an ethic of care for one another and for mother Earth. Noah preaches also to our generation. Are we listening?
