By Reverend Austin Spry
Last month it was colder in the Mediterranean city of Rome than it was in the Arctic.
The normally stable Arctic vortex split in two, blasting southern climates with freezing wind and allowing warm air to penetrate north in an unseasonable melt that left scientists freaking out. The climate is changing. The reality that we have released a primeval giant of chaos is getting difficult to ignore.
Our cumulative efforts to address climate change do not seem to be enough, especially as there seem to be great powers in our human world that would resist or ignore the need for change.
There are those of us who have hoped we might come up with a science-based solution to climate change, but at this point we are counting on technologies that do not yet exist, like figuring out a cost-effective method for removing carbon from the atmosphere, or a Hail Mary like fusion power.
It’s impossible to read the future, but short some climate-change miracle, changes to our human world are coming. I have serious doubts that our current economic and political order will make it into the next century.
What can a typical person do? It’s all a bit anxiety-inducing.
Surprisingly I stumbled upon a wonderfully sane answer on the internet deep within the dark recesses of Reddit (to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi: “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”). There I encountered a comment thread full of the typical, “horde seeds, guns, ammunition, medical supplies,” and get ready to be the top dog in the new post-apocalyptic Earth. To which a light-filled person responded something like:
“And then what? How much ammunition would be enough? Sooner or later some other group with more people, more guns, and more ammunition will show up and you will be their next obvious target. You want to prep for the future? Get involved in a church. No individual can accumulate the knowledge and experience necessary to be prepared for any possible outcome. Working as a community, we are more than the sum of our parts.” No person can adequately prepare for an uncertain future, but a well-functioning community – like a church – will provide a pool of resources and know-how to everyone’s advantage. Our most important strategy is building relationships with those around us.
Things like insurance and the internet mask how much we depend on one another, but the community is vital. Climate change is scary, but when we work together and commit to helping one another we can overcome a lot.
Just a reminder: our ancestors made it through the rise and fall of an ice age with nothing but stones in their toolboxes. We are remarkably resilient. If you’re worried, get involved in your community.
As a wise person once said: “United we stand. Divided we fall.”