{"id":289,"date":"2010-04-28T14:28:24","date_gmt":"2010-04-28T14:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=289"},"modified":"2010-04-28T14:28:24","modified_gmt":"2010-04-28T14:28:24","slug":"water-wednesdays-justice-and-the-water-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/04\/28\/water-wednesdays-justice-and-the-water-cycle\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Wednesdays: Justice and the Water Cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of God's Best Inventions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Psalm 104 is one of my favorite parts of the Bible because it poetically articulates what we enjoy hear in the Pacific Northwest with such clarity: \u00a0the water cycle. \u00a0The sun heats the ocean and water evaporates, condensing as it cools on the rise, to become clouds. \u00a0Prevailing winds push the clouds inland, where the clouds empty as rain or, in the cold places, snow. \u00a0This water becomes life \u2013 for plants, animals, humans, and bloggers like me. \u00a0All of us\u2026ALL OF US, need water to live.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I marvel at the water cycle. \u00a0Last night it I heard rain on my roof all night, and if I\u2019m lucky, sometime in the next week I\u2019ll make it up into the mountains to ski, where I\u2019ll be reminded that the snowpack miraculously provides water well into the fall around here most years, right when, amazingly, a fresh season of rain and snow begins. \u00a0This is beautiful to think about, even more beautiful to see. \u00a0Too bad it\u2019s disappearing\u2026.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still living in the land of denial regarding climate change, I\u2019d encourage you to read Bill McKibben\u2019s lastest book: Eaarth<\/a>. \u00a0His thesis: \u00a0the old, predictable climate patterns are gone. \u00a0He provides mountains of depressing evidence that, in spite of an anecdotal cold winter here and there, or advancing glacier in some remote spot, the net trend line is both unambiguous and alarming. \u00a0Oceans are rising. \u00a0Glaciers are receding. \u00a0Summer storms are carrying more destructive force because hotter summers mean more water evaporating out of the oceans. \u00a0Winter snow packs are receding, which means that some rivers are shrinking, which means that oceans are encroaching into river wetlands, which means\u2026<\/p>\n

1. Disappearing Water Tables<\/strong> \u2013 there\u2019s less ground water available in this new, warmer world. \u00a0We don\u2019t notice it because we\u2019re here in the land of cold tap. \u00a0But it\u2019s true globally and, as is usually the case, it\u2019s the poor of the world who are feeling it first. \u00a0The economic and public health implications of this reality are staggering.<\/p>\n

2. Arctic Ice disappearing<\/strong> \u2013 in 2007 the Arctic melt suddenly accelerated, so that by the end of that summer, photos of the ice from space revealed 22% less ice than any previous satellite picture from earlier years, and 40% less that during the Apollo projects. \u00a0It\u2019s now possible, for the first time, to travel through the polar ice caps in the summer because of the melt.<\/p>\n

3. Increased fires<\/strong> \u2013 the evidence isn\u2019t just anecdotal, like the vast California fires for the past few years. \u00a0It\u2019s statistical. \u00a0IN one day in June 2008, the increased lightening storms (a result of global warming) resulted in an unprecedented 1700 different fires starting in California alone. \u00a0There\u2019s more to come, and with it increased costs to government and insurance agencies.<\/p>\n

4. Increased disease and povert<\/strong>y \u2013 I\u2019ll give you just one example. \u00a0Have you heard of Dengue Fever? \u00a0Because of water shortages, people are starting to collect rainwater in open containers, and this is increasing the mosquito population. \u00a0Add to this, an extended breeding season and shorter incubation period due to warmer weather, and what do you get? \u00a0El Salvador has seen a 20-fold increase in the past 5 years. \u00a0\u201cDengue Fever has come to stay in Latin America\u201d says the Argentinian health minister.<\/p>\n

Two Responses:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m called to live generously, because I\u2019m incredibly wealthy, by any standard. \u00a0I need to challenge my lifestyle at every level, because the world in which we live is, increasingly, resource challenged. \u00a0How can I simplify? \u00a0How can I invest, in Jesus name, in addressing these pressing issues? \u00a0These are the main questions and goals of the Spilling Hope<\/a> initiative presently under way. \u00a0I\u2019d encourage you to join in, even if you\u2019re not part of the church I lead, and tell others about it \u2013 because lives are at stake, and we have the privilege and responsibility of making a difference.<\/p>\n

The world is changing, and we who follow Christ would do well to wake up to the global issues surrounding humanity\u2019s collective failure to steward the earth. \u00a0Creation is, indeed, groaning, as Romans 8 says. \u00a0The church can be at the forefront of offering models for living differently \u2013 but not if we mirror the consumptive, complacent, consumerist ways of our present culture and economic model. \u00a0Something different is needed \u2013 simplicity, generosity, community, interdependency, and so much more. \u00a0These cannot be slogans \u2013 they need to be deeply held values that challenge, and change, our life together.<\/p>\n

I welcome your thoughts\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Psalm 104 is one of my favorite parts of the Bible because it poetically articulates what we enjoy hear in the Pacific Northwest with such clarity: \u00a0the water cycle. \u00a0The sun heats the ocean and water evaporates, condensing as it cools on the rise, to become clouds. \u00a0Prevailing winds push the clouds inland, where the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nWater Wednesdays: Justice and the Water Cycle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Psalm 104 is one of my favorite parts of the Bible because it poetically articulates what we enjoy hear in the Pacific Northwest with such clarity: \u00a0the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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